Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale, one of the largest public sales of young Thoroughbreds in the United States, finished Sept. 26 with strong numbers. The 12-day auction ended with total receipts of $281,496,100, up from last year’s gross sales of $279,960,500 — the highest total sales since 2008. The average price increased 3.3 percent from $99,312 to $102,549.
The median was a steady $50,000, which equaled a record for the auction set in 2013, and repeated in 2014.
The rate of horses not attaining their reserve was up slightly from last year at 24 percent as compared with 22 percent.
This year’s auction followed a slightly different format, with a Book 1 that lasted three days instead of four with longer sessions on each day. Book 1 numbers were solid in comparison with last year’s session, with 473 horses selling for $142,153,000 at an average of $303,298 (compared with $300,535 last year) and the median rising from $240,000 in 2014 to $250,000 this year.
Reaching the highest gross since 2008 was significant for the auction, as public horse sales took a hit along with the economic downturn. People were less willing to spend money on horses, but the number of horses available for sale declined too. Breeders took horses out of production to compensate for a less competitive market, and in 2008 the United States Thoroughbred foal crop was down 5.9 percent from the year before, and has decreased year over year ever since. There were 32,329 Thoroughbreds born in 2008 and 22,104 live foals estimated for 2015. This year marks the first foaling season where there has not been a decrease (in fact, an increase of 1.9 percent over 2014) since 2006.
As the auction market has seen a turnaround over the past couple of years, sales officials have been quick to point out that the improving market is not the fickle one that has characterized the business in the past; horses of strong quality sell, and sell very well, but buyers are not so desperate that they are willing to compete seriously over horses lacking in their pedigree, conformation, or soundness.
And indeed, those top quality horses sold very well — 11 yearlings reached $1 million or more, with the most expensive being a $2.1 colt by Tapit, which was purchased by Whisper Hill Stables’ Mandy Pope after a bidding war with owner Kaleem Shah, Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert, and Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm president John Sikura. Pope noted at the time that she had struggled to prevail in other bidding wars for yearlings she’d had her eye on.
“I was hoping [the price point] would be around $700,000, so I went a little bit more,” she said with a laugh. “The Tapits, you just can’t buy one, I’ve been trying to buy one all day long. I was like, ‘I’m buying this one.’”
Pope wasn’t the only one — agent Ben Glass, racing manager and bloodstock adviser to California owners Gary and Mary West experienced a similar competitive edge.
“We try to buy athletic-looking horses. We don’t try to spend over $500,000 on them, so I get outbid on some that I really like that people go crazy on,” he said.
There was one horse who caused some fireworks late in the sale, as a filly by Curlin tempted bidders up to $975,000 on the auction’s seventh day. John Brocklebank, agent for Utah-based Dickman’s Legacy Ranch, paid the highest price on record for a horse in Book 3 of the Keeneland September sale since 2007, when J. J. Pletcher went to $1 million for a colt by Johannesburg. Lane’s End consigned the filly for Stone Street Stables. She is out of Epitome of a Lady, making her a relative of Grade 3 winners Above Perfection and Hot Dixie Chick.
“We’re just going around trying to find the best horses. This is the best one we’ve seen, so I wanted to have her,” said buyer Vern Dickman, who is new to the Thoroughbred business and making his first trip to the Keeneland sale.
The biggest spender at the sale this year was John Ferguson, advisor to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, buying 24 horses for $8,235,000. Japanese buyers were out in force, and China Horse Club was also spending toward the early part of the auction. Korean buying group K.O.I.D. also joined the usual American purchasers (including Three Chimneys Farm, Spendthrift Farm, Gainesway Farm, Calumet Farm, Zayat Stables, and New Castle Farm) in the early part of the auction, marking an increased budget for that developing racing interest.
As usual, Nicholasville-based Taylor Made Sales was the leading consignor, selling 256 yearlings for $32,822,200, marking the 17th time it has topped the sellers list since 1988.
The next major Thoroughbred auction in Kentucky will be Fasig-Tipton’s October sale of yearlings, which is scheduled Oct. 19-22 on the Fasig-Tipton sale grounds off Newtown Pike.