Fifth highest aggregate in history as September Sale draws to a close

Topped by an $8.2 million daughter of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, Keeneland's September Yearling Sale ended its 13-session run on Sunday with its fifth-highest gross in history.

From 4,644 cataloged, Keeneland reported 2,855 yearlings grossed $360,004,700 (£289,494,180/€327,820,279 – down 4.5 per cent), averaged $126,096 (£101,400/€114,820 – down 2.5 per cent), and had a $45,000 median (£36,185/€40,975 – down ten per cent).

Keeneland reported 22 horses sold for seven figures, including seven that sold for $2 million or more. Last year, 27 yearlings were sold for $1m or more.

The RNA rate was up slightly to 24.2 per cent for 907 yearlings that went unsold, compared with a 23.7 per cent rate a year ago.

As the world's largest yearling sale – Keeneland reported buyers from 26 countries signed receipts – the September auction is the industry's bellwether of the health of the yearling market.

Sale company officials said this year's buoyant market was affirmation of Keeneland's decision to reformat the auction by significantly trimming the number cataloged in Book 1 by 42.5 per cent from 989 in 2018 to 569 this year.

"We've received positive feedback from horsemen about the format change, and we are pleased with the consistently strong level of trade it generated throughout the sale," Keeneland vice president of racing and sales Bob Elliston said.

"Buyers suggested we catalogue fewer horses up front, and we responded. By making that change, we extended the quality farther into the sale and created momentum for the second week."

"The new format worked very well," Keeneland director of sales operations Geoffrey Russell said. "Book 1 was a sale within itself. It had great energy to it. There was more energy on the grounds the weekend prior to the start of the sale than I've seen in a long time. It had a great buzz going into it. Having fewer horses in Book 2 really set that sale up very well and helped Book 3."

The sale topper, purchased by Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm from breeder Clarkland Farm, is a half-sister to 11-time Grade 1 winner and four-time champion Beholder, Grade 1 winner and sire Into Mischief, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and freshman sire Mendelssohn.

The top end of the market was fueled by the stiff competition from such high-end buyers as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's Godolphin and his brother Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum's Shadwell Estate Company, the Coolmore Stud interests led by MV Magnier, as well as bloodstock agent Mike Ryan, prominent American owner Peter Brant's White Birch Farm, and Pope's Whisper Hill, among others.

Accompanied by a large entourage, Sheikh Mohammed made his second straight appearance at the auction after an absence of nearly a decade. Godolphin led all buyers with $16m in purchases, topped by a striking son of Curlin out of Bounding, a champion sprinter in New Zealand, purchased for the sale's second-highest price of $4.1m from Eaton Sales, agent for Stonestreet Bred and Raised. Shadwell followed with purchases totaling $11.07m.

"Both him and Sheikh Hamdan are big supporters of the sale," Elliston said. "It is truly an honor to have those folks, for all they've done in the business, to choose Keeneland to buy their very best horses. Obviously, they have their own broodmare bands, but when they go to the commercial market, Keeneland is their choice for quality yearlings."

"This September sale sparked a positive energy that reverberated through the sale grounds and the region," Keeneland president and CEO Bill Thomason said. "The presence again this year of Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Hamdan, the strong representation of top domestic buyers, the high quality of the yearlings brought to market, and the great feedback we received about the format changes, barn improvements, and enhanced amenities all combined to make this a special sale."

The 2019 September sale was the first in which the sales company and consignors utilized videoscoping, with veterinary endoscopic exams of yearlings' throats made available from consignors or placed in the repository for viewing by buyers, their agents, or vets.

Elliston said 70 per cent of consignors placed videoscopes in the repository, including about 65 per cent of the horses offered in Book 1, and that approximately 85 per cent of those were viewed.

The sale was also the first in which buyers were provided with the option of requesting that any horse they bought be tested for bisphosphonates, at a cost to the buyer of $500.

Elliston said buyers opted to request the tests for about 200 horses.

The September sale's leading consignor for the fifth year in a row and the 21st time since 1988 was Taylor Made Sales Agency, with 290 horses sold for $40.66m including four seven-figure horses led by a $2.1m son of Pioneerof the Nile purchased by Ryan, agent for e Five Racing.

Using seven consignors, Barbara Banke's Stonestreet Bred and Raised sold 48 horses for $16.79m including four seven-figure horses.

American Pharoah, represented by his second crop of yearlings offered at the September sale, was the auction's leading sire for gross sales, with 55 sons and daughters sold for $24.04m.

Frosted was the leading freshman sire by gross, with 44 yearlings selling for $10.025m. Nyquist led freshman sires by average price, with his 24 yearlings averaging $251,375.

On Sunday's closing day, 207 horses sold for $1.308m, for an average of $6,319 and a median of $3,500.

At $55,000, the top seller was a colt by Temple City from the family of Grade 1 winner and sire Mizzen Mast purchased by LEG Group. The first foal out of the Yes It's True mare Amizzen Grace was consigned by Vinery Sales, agent for Haymarket Farm.

More Keeneland news:

Mandy Pope repels superpowers to secure American Pharoah filly for $8.2 million

Sheikh Mohammed spending spree fuels strong trade at Keeneland

Sheikh Fahad dreaming of Kentucky Derby glory with Keeneland yearling buys

For more news on US racing, sales and bloodstock news visit bloodhorse.com