Keeneland concluded its January Horses of All Ages sale on Jan. 15 with solid demand for its top-level stock and slightly reduced enthusiasm overall. The four-day auction, which included broodmares, broodmare prospects, racing prospects, yearlings and stallion prospects, finished with gross receipts of $35,305,500, down 14 percent from last year’s total. In 2015, 948 horses sold for an average of $37,242 and median of $20,000 — both figures down 6.8 percent and 20 percent respectively.
On the sale’s second day, a broodmare brought the highest price seen at the January auction since 2008. A horse named Up commanded $2.2 million from Robert Naify and his wife, Jan Van de Bos. The 6-year-old Irish-bred is the daughter of Galileo, leading international sire, and is carrying a foal by War Front, one of the most valuable American names on a catalogue page these days. Up was a Group 2 winner in her own right and runner-up in the Group 1 French One Thousand Guineas. Her first foal, a daughter also by War Front, sold for $800,000.
The mare brought the highest price ever achieved by local consignor Four Star Sales.
“They were the kind of horses you look at each day and you like them a bit more — truly not just in the sense that they’re going to bring a lot of money. They just exude class,” said Four Star managing partner Kerry Cauthen. “We were very privileged to be able to sell [them].”
Four Star was launched in 2002 by Cauthen, John T.L. Jones, Jr., David Greathouse and Dan Kenny. The group, headquartered on Georgetown Road, has been involved in the sale of Breeders’ Cup winners Mizdirection and Slip Away, as well as Eclipse champion Uncle Mo.
Up has since shipped to Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., where she has been exploring her new home with great enthusiasm, according to photos posted on the farm’s Facebook page. Her next foal is expected in a few more weeks.
One other horse, Blind Luck, drew a seven-figure bid ($1.4 million) on the auction’s first day, but did not meet her reserve. The 8-year-old Pollard’s Vision daughter, who won multiple Grade 1 races on the track and over $3.2 million in earnings, has had two foals. She entered this sale after having been bred to Midnight Lute last March, but later lost the pregnancy. Broodmares usually produce one foal each year, with occasional rest years depending on individual circumstances.
Keeneland officials believe the sale’s numbers are an indication of the last year’s trend toward greater discernment among buyers, with the best-bred and best-conformed horses enjoying the most competition.
“This sale confirmed that there is plenty of money at every level, but you have to bring a quality product to market,” said Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland director of sales. “Buyers today are now much more discerning and sophisticated. Consignors who present quality horses are rewarded with plenty of buyer interest.”
Keeneland announced prior to the January sale that it will not hold its April Two-Year-Olds in Training auction this year, following depressed clearance numbers last year. Keeneland’s next auction will be its famed September Yearling Sale. The breeding stock sales continue in Lexington with Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky Winter Mixed, which has been extended to two days on Feb. 8 and 9.