Hip No. 712 proved to be the top selling horse in the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as it fetched $2.5 million. Keeneland Photo.
Looking for something to do ahead of Keeneland opening its fall racing season in October? Get your Thoroughbred fix with a trip to the upcoming Keeneland September yearling sale. Keeneland’s auctions are all free to attend and open to the public. An hour or two at the auction can be a nice way to see another side of the Thoroughbred business, as well as the prime reason horses are one of the commonwealth’s top five agricultural products.
The September Yearling Sale is only for horses that are around 1 year old and as such are unraced. Through the course of the auction, which runs Sept. 8 to Sept. 21, with the sale going dark on Sept. 12, observers might see prices from as low as $2,000 to as much as seven figures (last year’s topper was $2.5 million). The horses’ value will depend on a number of factors, including pedigree, physical makeup and way of moving. Buyers may be looking for a horse to keep and race when it gets older or a horse to resell for a profit in February or March (a practice called “pinhooking”). The highest prices are likely for horses whose pedigrees will lend them value as breeding animals later in their lives.
If you’re hoping to see horses go for more than your mortgage (and it does happen frequently), stop by in the first four days of the sale. Keeneland’s sales team has shuffled the most desirable horses into this first part of the auction so high-money buyers can do their purchasing all at once.
The September sale is typically a who’s who of the Thoroughbred world and sometimes attracts a few mainstream celebrities as well. Bobby Flay has a number of racehorses in his New York-based operation and occasionally appears in Kentucky for major sales; country music star Toby Keith owns both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racehorses under his Dream Walkin’ Farm operation and sometimes attends the Keeneland sales in person. Star Olympians Bode Miller and Michael Phelps have also gotten into Thoroughbred ownership in recent years, although they typically have agents purchase horses on their behalf.
As for celebrities of the horse world, most of the big names will be in town for the early, “select” portion of the sale, competing over the most expensive horses. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is fond of parking his private jet on the end of the runway at Blue Grass Airport for passersby on Versailles Road to see. Sheikh Maktoum has been a fixture at the sales for many years, although he himself has not appeared for the past several major American auctions.
Top trainers like D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, Roger Attfield and Ken McPeek are often in attendance. Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Farm, which campaigned fan favorite and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, is often on hand with a sizable wallet, as is Mandy Pope of Whisper Hill Farm, who purchased Horse of the Year Havre de Grace at a November auction for $10 million in 2012. Brazilian businessman Goncalo Torrealba, who owns a stake in the local Three Chimneys Farm, is likely to be purchasing some top-priced horses, as will the Ireland-based Coolmore affiliates, usually represented by M.V. Magnier. David Ingordo, the bloodstock agent instrumental in purchasing super filly and multiple Eclipse Award winner Zenyatta, is often scouring the selection of horses as well.
Food is available at Keeneland’s cafeteria in the sales pavilion. You can watch the auction from the hallway or from one of the unreserved seats in front of the sale ring — just don’t raise your hand or try to flag down one of the bid spotters, who notify the auctioneer of incoming bids. Simulcasting from other tracks is available in the bar across from the cafeteria. You can check out the horses in the covered walking ring directly behind the auction ring, where buyers get one last chance to inspect their potential purchases. Catalogues, which include each horse’s bloodlines, are available for free pick-up in the sales office, which is inside off the main hallway, just down from the press room.