By Jessica Martini
LEXINGTON, Ky – The Keeneland September Yearling Sale begins its 12-day run Monday in Lexington with a one-session Book 1 small in numbers, but packed with pedigree power. A total of 167 yearlings have been catalogued for the session, which begins at 3 p.m. Book 1 has been condensed from three sessions a year ago, while the auction's Book 2, previously held over two days, has been extended to three days. Book 2 sessions will run from Tuesday through Thursday with bidding beginning each day at 11 a.m.
“There were two primary goals that we were looking at when we, in concert with our consignors and breeders, changed the format,” said Bob Elliston, Keeneland's Vice President of Racing and Sales. “One was to start some momentum from the very beginning–to have that stellar group of nearly bullet proof or bullet proof horses kick the sale off. I think that's what we have in Book 1 and we invested against that also with our September bonus program.”
Keeneland announced plans for a Book 1 bonus in April. The bonus will offer cash rewards to the owners and sellers of graduates who win a Grade/Group I race as a 2- or 3-year-old anywhere worldwide. Bonuses will be doubled for Grade I races won at Keeneland and for the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. The bonus program was further expanded in August with the announcement of a sellers bonus covering the whole sale.
After its 167 catalogued Book 1 yearlings, Keeneland will offer approximately 345 a day through Thursday and, after Friday's dark day, the action returns Saturday with sessions through the remainder of the sale starting at 10 a.m. Elliston expects a strong buying bench throughout the 12 days.
“I can tell you we have credit applications and folks expecting to be here from north of 35 countries,” Elliston said. “They are not all here for just the first book or the second book. I guarantee you they are going to be here next week. And there will be another crop that will be coming in this weekend. I think it is going to be tough to get a horse bought up front because there are so many good offerings and so many folks that are excited about going after those. But that's the kind of momentum that will carry into next week and into the middle market, along with that deep buying bench. We see people here from the U.K., from France and Japan and there are lots of folks here who haven't been here in many years. I think that bodes well for, not just up front, but also as we get into Book 3 and 4, as well.”
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT KEENELAND'S NEW FORMAT
“I think they needed to do something to get the fireworks going early. Hopefully that momentum carries throughout the rest of the sale. I think it's going to get off to a good start this year and then carry on through.”
Walker Hancock, Claiborne Farm
“When you do something like this, you're always picking the lesser of evils. I think that the new format appears to be the best possible way to make as many people happy as you can. In an effort to give buyers who are here for the first three books more to do in the first four days, yet to set apart the truly select horses, I think Keeneland has done all that it could with this new format.”
Reiley McDonald, Eaton Sales
“Time will tell. We're ready and we've got nice horses. Hopefully it works out well for all of us, but the activity has been good and our Book 1 horse is a very international horse–he is the only Invincible Spirit (Ire) in the sale and he has a very live family with Churchill being a Classic horse this year. So we feel like he is in a good spot and then we have a lot of other good ones rolling in for Book 2.”
Joe Seitz, Brookdale Sales
“The only thing that I have a little hesitancy is on the fewer numbers. I think buyers want to look at as many horses as they can as quickly as they can. So there may be some push back there. But having fewer horses may help [the buyers] get organized and get into their flow of how they are going to look at all these horses. Because everybody is always rushing around for the first two books. So maybe they will have some extra time to look and not have to be up at the sales ring as much of the time with selling fewer the first day.”
Duncan Taylor, Taylor Made Sales
“I think [the new format] is good. I think it is about as many horses as that session can handle. I think it has to have the right sire power, both top and bottom, and the female has to be young enough and current enough, so only so many horses are going to be offered because a lot of people are going to keep those kinds of horses. I was lucky to get this horse [the Honor Code half-brother] because most people wouldn't sell a horse like this, they would race it.”
Chris Baccari, Baccari Bloodstock
“The best horses are at the front of the book–it doesn't matter if it's three days, four days or a week, the best horses are going to sell first here at Keeneland and I don't think that has changed. The dark day is still on Friday. I guess they made this a select portion and there are some very nice horses here, but I bet you there will be some pretty nice horses in Book 2, too. You are still going to work it the same way. You are still going to shop it the same way. I hope it provides a marquee afternoon session for the sellers and the breeders because everybody wants the breeders to be paid. It's a hard job raising these horses and jumping through all the hoops it takes to get to the sale. I hope it is an atmosphere that is conducive to people spending a lot of money. I think that is what Keeneland is aiming for. Fingers crossed that it happens.”
Jacob West, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners
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