Trade at Tuesday’s second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale continued the enthusiasm for Thoroughbred racing prospects shown during Monday’s opening day with nearly $75 million in sales and a September Sale record session average of $675,180 and median of $550,000. Twenty yearlings sold for $1 million or more to set a Day 2 session record.
On Tuesday, the final day of the premier Book 1, 111 yearlings sold through the ring for $74,945,000, up 15.71% from the second session last year when 106 horses brought $64,770,000. The average of $675,180 increased 10.50% over last year’s $611,038. The median rose 15.79% from $475,000 to $550,000.
Cumulatively, 217 horses have grossed $144,185,000, an increase of 20.59% from last year’s $119,565,000 when 204 horses sold. The average of $664,447 increased 13.37% from $586,103 in 2024, while the median jumped 15.79% from $475,000 to $550,000.
Keeneland sold 15 million-dollar horses Monday. With Tuesday’s action, a total of 35 horses have reached that mark.
“It was a good day at the sale for sure,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “It felt good, we built on what we started yesterday and we expect that to continue through Book 2 and through next week. It’s just a really strong market. There were so many people in the Pavilion and out back, and the grounds are full of excitement and new faces and the same faces too. It’s always good to have that continuity and steadiness. We have 20 horses that brought seven figures (on Tuesday). Of that, 13 were sold to different buyers, and we all like to see that diversity. It was just a fabulous Book 1.”
“We’ve heard a few times over the last couple of days that it felt like the old July Sale, which is really what we’re trying to create,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “We’re trying to create that theater, that fun, that excitement. What we do can be very transactional, but it also is a lot of fun if you allow it to be so. Having everyone concentrated in the Pavilion allows that energy to build. They’re all competitive. It creates an environment that allows the sellers to benefit but also showcases some really good horses with the horses bringing what they’re worth. That is really, really encouraging. We want to maximize the selling price for the sellers but also allow the buyers to feel they’re getting a good level of value. This went all the way through the session at the top end and the middle.”
“Keeneland is the epicenter of the business,” said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency, the leading consignor through two days with through-the-ring sales of $25,750,000 for 43 horses. “This sale is so important to the breeders. If they do well here, they reinvest at Keeneland November and then the whole ecosystem is doing well. This sale has been fantastic. I give Keeneland a ton of credit for their international recruitment. They have a really deep bench of buyers. I have never seen the Pavilion this packed for Book 1. This sale is unlike any other.”
The first session-topping yearling of the day sold to Wesley Ward, who paid $2.2 million for a colt by Gun Runner who is a full brother to Preakness (G1) winner Early Voting and from the family of North American champion Speightstown, Canadian champion Silken Cat and Grade 2 winners Irap and Phileas Fogg. Out of the Tiznow mare Amour d’Ete, he was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.
“His pedigree was outstanding, by the hottest sire going right now,” Ward said. “He’s a beautiful colt with a fantastic female family. We look forward to a partnership that we put together with Gonçalo Torrealba and the Three Chimneys team and with a client of mine, Roy Israel, who’s gotten into the business for about a year now. He’s a wonderful guy and it’s a really, really exciting colt to get in with.
“As I’m starting to get the white hair now, I’m looking to get horses that go a little further,” Ward added. “I’ve been centered on fast horses and speed horses, and I’ve decided it’s time now to get some horses into my barn that look like they can go at the classic level and this looks to be the one. I’m excited to get this colt and to get the opportunity to train a horse like this.”
LSU Stables went to $2.2 million for a filly from the first crop of Flightline who is the first foal out of Grade 3 winner Four Graces, by Majesticperfection. The amount is the highest paid for a yearling by Flightline sold at public auction anywhere in the world this year. Consigned by Gainesway, agent, she is from the family of Grade 2 winner McCracken.
Gainesway was the session’s leading consignor with sales of $12,675,000 for 13 yearlings.
Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, consigned a colt by Not This Time acquired by Pedro Lanz, agent for KAS Stables, for $1.7 million. Out of the winning Bernardini mare Wembley, he is from the family of Grade 1 winner Game Face and Grade 2 winner Turnerloose.
“When I see the physical … the way he behaves in the stall is amazing,” Lanz said. “This is my favorite colt of all the sale. (Out of a) Bernardini mare, by a hot sire, I’m very excited. This is the one that I really liked, so I’m very happy. I (said) ‘Let’s go all in.’ I was ready to go to one more.”
“We haven’t decided yet (on a trainer),” added Lanz, who said he purchased colts by Constitution and Into Mischief during Monday’s first session for KAS Stables. “The colts will go to the Scanlon farm in Ocala, and then we will decide. We have a filly here, a Bernardini filly with Bill Mott, but it’s kind of a new idea to race here in the United States with top-class horses like this. I think we might get one or two more.”
Four yearlings sold for $1.6 million apiece.
The first was a colt by Into Mischief purchased by Spendthrift Farm. Consigned by Gainesway, agent, he is out of Grade 2 winner Curlin’s Approval, by Curlin.
Lane’s End, agent, consigned the second, a son of Gun Runner out of Grade 1 winner Dame Dorothy, by Bernardini, acquired by Kia Joorabchian’s AMO Racing. He is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Spice Is Nice.
Three Chimneys Farm paid $1.6 million for a colt by Gun Runner who is a half-brother to stakes winner Saturday Flirt. Consigned by Four Star Sales, agent, he is out of the winning stakes-placed Broken Vow mare Dragic and from the family of champion Echo Zulu and Grade 1 winner Echo Town.
A filly by Flightline from the family of champion Arrogate sold for $1.6 million to Douglas Scharbauer. Consigned by Clearsky Farms, she is out of the winning Into Mischief mare Immediate Impact.
Two horses each sold for $1.5 million.
A colt by Into Mischief who is a half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Pizza Bianca and Grade 3 winner West Hollywood sold for the amount to Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm. Consigned by Brookdale, agent, he is out of the Galileo (IRE) mare White Hot (IRE).
“Typical Into Mischief: big, strong and he has a great pedigree,” Whisper Hill’s Todd Quast said. “And he’s an athlete to go along with it. He checked all the boxes as you would say. He looks like a racehorse, and we are very excited.”
Bringing $1.5 million from Mike Repole’s Repole Stable was a colt by Gun Runner who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Clairiere and to the 2-year-old Courting, who topped the 2024 September Sale at $5 million. Out of Grade 1 winner Cavorting, by Bernardini, he was consigned by Indian Creek, agent for Stonestreet Bred for Brilliance.
“Last year’s horse (Courting) sold for $5 million,” said Repole, the session’s leading buyer with 14 purchases for $8,225,000. “Todd (Pletcher) has it now, and it’s actually training against one of my horses. It beats it so bad I figured it must be a good horse.
“I have a great team from Todd to Ed Rosen to Jake West, Jason Lith, Alex Solis and Madison Scott and Danielle Bricker,” Repole continued. “It was pretty obvious they all liked it the most. It was our No. 1 draft pick.
“I’m not afraid to be outbid. As everyone knows I’m a little aggressive with everything I do in this game, but I’m patiently aggressive.”
Bradley Thoroughbreds, agent, paid $1.3 million and $1.2 million for two colts by Gun Runner who were consigned by Gainesway, agent. The first was a son of Grade 1 winner Wicked Whisper, by Liam’s Map, and from the family of Grade 2 winners Point of Honor and Mr Freeze. The second was a colt from the family of champion Covfefe out of the Discreet Cat mare Acrobatique.
Scharbauer also went to $1.3 million for a colt by Not This Time consigned by Gainesway, agent. A half-brother to Grade 2 winner Window Shopping, he is out of Grade 3 winner Delightful Joy, by Tapit, and from the family of Grade 3 winners Graeme Six, Cali Star and stakes winner Quickick.
A colt by Not This Time consigned by Katierich Farms sold for $1.15 million to Albaugh Family/Railbirds/West Point. Out of the stakes-winning Race Day mare Josie, he is from the family of Grade 1 winner Kalypso and Grade 3 winner Prospective.
“His physical said it, but I wasn’t sure about the page,” Katierich’s George Barnes said. “He had a lot of sire power. He was showing well all week, so we really thought he was the best one we were bringing to the sales this week. So we were happy to see the result. I would be lying if I wasn’t a little surprised.”
“You see the number of buyers that come through here at all levels,” Barnes added. “That really showcases that they’re looking for all types of horses. This is the best place when you have a horse like this. It could do anything; it could be a pinhook, it could be a straight to the track, it could be turf or dirt. Especially with a sire like Not This Time, this venue offers the most variety of buyers.”
Mitsu Nakauchida, a trainer in Japan, paid $1.1 million for a colt by Flightline consigned by Stonehaven Steadings. A half-sister to stakes winner Feeling Mischief and from the family of champion Wait a While and Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky, he is out of the Grade 3-placed winning Latent Heat mare True Feelings.
“Very athletic; he moves very good,” Nakauchida said. “He’s by Flightline, and the Japanese want to bring some of them back to Japan. Flightline had super performance at the racecourse. His race record is outstanding, so we are expecting him to be a super sire. I bought a few horses here last year. I have been lucky with American-bred horses, so I came back this year to buy more.”
“He was a beautiful horse with all the right people on him,” Aidan O’Meara of Stonehaven Steadings said. “You can make no assumptions in this business no matter how things are lining up. He was just a beautiful colt. His momma has been so good to us. He’s got so much upside to him. It’ll be interesting to watch him and see how he does over in Japan.”
The Flightline colt is a half-brother to Metro, a son of Quality Road consigned by Stonehaven Steadings who topped the 2022 September Sale on a bid of $2.5 million.
Two yearlings each sold for $1.05 million.
AMO Racing paid the amount for a colt by Curlin out of Grade 2 winner Venetian Harbor, by Munnings. He was consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa.
A colt by Flightline who is the first foal out of stakes winner Exotic West, by Hard Spun, sold to Yoshizawa Stable for $1.05 million. Consigned by Lane’s End, agent, he is from the family of Grade 2 winner Musket Man.
Repole Stable also paid $1 million each for three yearlings. The first was a colt by Good Magic from the family of Grade 1 winners More Than Looks and Critical Eye. Out of the Union Rags mare Twiga, he was consigned by Indian Creek, agent.
The second was a filly by Not This Time who is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Skippylongstocking, who has earned $3.68 million. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent, she is out of the War Chant mare Twinkling.
Selling to Repole Stable with partner St. Elias Stable for $1 million was a colt by Nyquist who is a half-brother to stakes winner Diamond City from the family of Grade 1 winner Sweet Talker. Warrendale Sales, agent, consigned the son of the winning Tapit mare Callista.
