'I think momentum is only building' - Keeneland's Book 1 session ends on high

The second day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale left buyers hungry for the quality individuals to come in the future books, while consignors and breeders were thrilled to see 13 yearlings realise the seven-figure mark on Tuesday alone.

A $1.8 million (£1.54m) Constitution colt topped the session, selling to the Louisiana-based operation of Lynnhaven Racing. Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned the colt as hip 311 for breeder China Horse Club.

"Coming out of day one, having that momentum was almost euphoric, and coming into day two, you are wondering, 'Can we maintain this?'" Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. "To put it into racing terms, we hit the wire hard; we finished off those last couple of hours with a euphoric feeling through the session."

The buying bench proved deep, with eight separate entities responsible for the top ten prices on Tuesday.

Session two figures show 106 of the 138 horses to go under the hammer selling for gross receipts of $56,565,000 at an average price of $533,632 and a median of $462,500. There were 32 individuals who failed to meet their reserve to represent an RNA rate of 23.1 per cent, posting a significant decrease of 33.3 per cent over 2021.

During the second session of 2021, 112 of the 160 horses on offer were sold for gross receipts of $52,300,000 at an average price of $466,964 and a median of $400,000. There were 48 horses who failed to meet their reserve, representing an RNA rate of 30 per cent.

Richard Knight was in action at KeenelandCredit: Keeneland photo

European bloodstock agent Richard Knight made five purchases for final figures of $4,150,000 to be the day two leading buyer by gross; three of those purchases broke the seven-figure threshold.

"We appreciate our sellers, breeders, and consignors that worked with us on the format and believed in us as we tried to put together the best possible Book 1 we could, and to the buyers for coming out," said Shannon Arvin, Keeneland's president and CEO.

"I heard from a lot of buyers saying they were trying to shortlist, but their shortlist was long. There are so many good horses here, which is great to hear, and I think the results speak for themselves."

The day can be confirmed as an affirmation for the sales company that has worked hard to showcase quality individuals during the first week, funnelling the upper echelon of the crop in front of industry buyers.

"We were listening to a lot of the feedback from buyers. There was a lack of consistency and nervousness about if horses were in the best spots in the market, and I think it was evident over the last couple of years," Lacy said.

"If you put the right horses in front of the right people, the market takes care of itself. There were a lot of horses that we encouraged to move forward, that were a part of the million dollar-plus sales and possibly would have ended up in Book 2 normally."

Perennial leading consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency sold nine head for receipts of $5,410,000 to be the leading consignor by gross.

Industry stalwart Larry Best of OXO Equine, responsible for purchasing one of the sale-topping yearlings, summed up the market in one word: "Rich."

Cumulatively, 224 of the 282 horses to go through the ring have sold for gross figures of $114,520,000, showing an increase of 26.3 per cent over 2021. Similarly, the cumulative average ($511,250) increased 17.3 per cent and the median ($450,000) jumped 28.5 per cent. An RNA rate of 20.6 per cent represents the 58 horses who failed to meet their reserve.

Horses are shown at the Keeneland sales groundCredit: Keeneland photo/photosbyZ

"When you end up with a $533,632 average for session two and a $511,250 cumulative average, it's really encouraging," Lacy said.

"Seeing the diversity and having 13 horses bring over a million or more from large to small breeders, everybody got a piece of the action. A lot of people were extremely happy with how it went. The demand for quality horses was beyond our expectations."

At this point in 2021, 208 of the 316 horses on offer sold for gross receipts of $90,622,000, for an average price of $435,683 and a median of $350,000. The RNA rate of 34.1 per cent represented 108 horses who failed to meet their reserve.

"With 22 horses being a million dollars or more, it goes back to the pre-pandemic days, back to the 2018-2019 years, which were robust sales. It's exciting to be back here," Arvin said.

Book 2 begins on Wednesday at at 11am local time with hips 380-758 slotted to go through the ring. As of Tuesday evening, there are 55 horses withdrawn from session three.

Lacy added: "I think the momentum is only building. As we move into another section of the market, I think you will find it's a crossover between the front-end buyers and some of the middle market. I anticipate it will be every bit as strong; obviously, the average and medians may adjust, but there are a lot of good horses coming down the pike."

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