Hip 749, a son of Tapit and graded stakes-winning mare Justwhistledixie, sold for $2.2 million, tied for the most a horse sold for during Keeneland's September Yearling Sale Photo Courtesy Keeneland.
The first book of Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale wrapped up on Sept 11 with solid statistics, highlighted by a couple of prominent Kentucky-based bloodlines.
Book 1 is the section of the sale with what Keeneland’s sales team estimates to be the most commercially appealing horses in terms of pedigree, conformation, and soundness—which makes it the source of several seven-figure horses each year. At the end of Book 1, which spanned four days, 13 yearlings had sold for $1 million or more.
Two colts tied for highest price of Book 1, garnering $2.2 million after hotly-contested bidding. The first, Hip 680, is a son of War Front out of Arch mare Gold Vault, making him a half brother of Grade 1 stakes winner Contested. M.V. Magnier of Coolmore, one of Ireland’s most powerful buying forces, signed the ticket.
The second topper came just a few hours later—Hip 749 is a son of Tapit and graded stakes-winning mare Justwhistledixie, who was consigned by Clearsky Farms and purchased by Shadwell, the Dubai-based racing and breeding operation belonging to Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashind Al Maktoum.
In general, the first book of this year’s September sale held steady with last year’s trends.
Although gross sales were down 7.3 percent compared to the same section last year, there were also fewer horses sold this year (13.4 percent fewer). Average and median were both up, however, indicating a strong demand for horses in the middle of the market’s upper echelon. The average price through Book 1 was $300,535, up 7 percent, while the median leaped 15 percent, from $207,500 to $240,000.
The percentage of horses not attaining their reserve, or the minimum price buyers set with the auction company, was almost identical to last year at 27 percent of the total horses offered.
Several sire lines enjoyed success at the auction, including Claiborne Farms’ War Front and Eclipse Award champion Bernardini. The biggest buzz name of the sale however, was undoubtedly Tapit. The average price for the 32 Tapit yearlings sold in Book 1 was $652,812.50, with a staggering $20,890,000 in gross sales. None of them left the ring for less than six figures, and four of them cost seven figures.
Tapit’s rise to success is exactly what breeders dream of when they buy into a stallion just off the racetrack. The gray son of Pulpit, out of Unbridled mare Tap Your Heels retired a winner of the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, one of three victories in six starts. He entered stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington in 2005 with a stud fee of $15,000. By the start of the 2014 season, his fee had surged to $150,000. According to a Racing Post report released last week, the horse’s value is estimated at $140 million based on a recent sale of shares.
According to Gainesway director of sales Michael Hernon, Tapit’s appeal to breeders comes from the versatility of his offspring.
“He has distanced himself from the competition on the general sires list this year,” said Hernon. “He’s had an extraordinary year, he’s had the Kentucky Oaks winner, Untapable, followed up that success with Tonalist, who won the Belmont Stakes.
“[His offspring] run on turf, dirt, synthetic. The market appeal now really has accelerated. He’s a horse that a lot of commercial breeders want to use—pretty much everyone who has bred to him has almost always made a profit.”
Luckily for Tapit, his progeny also tend to be fairly correct in their physical form, and the stallion’s increased popularity has allowed Gainesway to be extremely selective about the types of mares who visit him each year. Nearly all of the Tapit yearlings in the September sale qualified for Book 1 based on their physiques and maternal families.
With a commodity as valuable as Tapit, how does Gainesway find the balance between
putting good sales prospects out there and flooding the market?
A very strict limit on the mares in Tapit’s “book.”
“We breed the horse up to 150 mares or thereabouts [per season],” said Hernon. “We don’t overbreed him. Clearly the demand for him exceeds that number, but we recognize that’s a big number, and we’ve got to look after him. He’s a living, breathing animal. Horses are not machines… he’s the golden goose, you might say.
“We also recognize the market, and we recognize the supply and demand curve, and we want our customers to make money with the horse.”
Keeeneland’s September Yearling Sale continues daily through Sept. 21. The auction begins at 10 a.m. each day. It is open to the public and is streamed online at keeneland.com/sales.