Book 3

LEXINGTON, KY - The two-session Book 3 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale concluded Sunday evening with figures well off the corresponding section from the 2022 auction. During sessions at Keeneland Saturday and Sunday, 494 horses grossed $30,888,000 for an average of $62,526 and a median of $50,000. The average is down 22.1% from the 2022 Book 3, while the median declined 16.7%. There were 15 horses to sell for $200,000 or over during the two sessions, down from 25 a year ago. "It is quiet," Sarah Sutherland...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale entered its Book 3 section Saturday in Lexington. Leading the day's trade was the 4-year-old broodmare Chameleon (Candy Ride {Arg}), who sold for $425,000 to the bid of Terri Burch of Stoneway Farm. The mare, in foal to Practical Joke, was bred and consigned by Mt. Brilliant Farm. During the session, 243 horses grossed $15,012,500 for an average of $61,780 and a median of $50,000. The average was down 27% from last year's opening Book 3 session and the median was...

A Golden Horde (Ire) colt topped Book 3 of the October Yearling Sale at 35,000gns bringing the two-week selling bonanza to a close on Saturday.  The top lot was sourced by Middleham Park and was described as "a standout" on the day by the operation's Tom Palin.  "We loved him, we thought he was a standout," said Palin of lot 1919. "He walked around there with a bit of presence. He goes to Eve Johnson Houghton, he's our first horse with her and he's a strong, racy, two-year-old sort and...

NEWMARKET, UK--As the week wore on, the shorts came off and the waterproofs went on. Goodbye summer, and hello more realistic weather for October, bringing with it more realistic prices for yearlings. Shamardal's sons have had plenty to say for themselves of late. Blue Point (Ire) leads the freshman sires' championship with his first runners, and Pinatubo (Ire) and Earthlight (Ire) have found favour in the sales-rings of Europe with their first yearlings. During the opening session of Book 3 on Thursday, an Earthlight yearling passed the test of one...

After a frenetic two weeks of selling, the curtain lowered on the final day of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, with the single-session Book 4 adding another 319,000gns to the previous three books' 199,006,100gns aggregate. A total of 53 yearlings found new homes of 73 offered, for a clearance rate of 73%. The average of 6,019gns and the media of 5,000gns were both well up on 2021's figures, leading to gains of 50.3% for the former and 66.7% for the latter. Topping Saturday's sale was a daughter of G2 Richmond...

NEWMARKET, UK -- "Trickledown" felt rather too contentious, given what was meanwhile happening to its proponents out there in the real world. In this environment, after all, the original label of "horse-and-sparrow economics" would always have conveyed the theory rather more intelligibly. Some alternative word was required on Friday, then, to describe how a rampant market at the front end of the Tattersalls October Sale was filtering somewhat more quietly into the base of the pyramid. In the end, the second half of Book 3--in which momentum reliably ebbs relative...

NEWMARKET, UK -- Even in what proved a record-breaking edition, Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year yielded just a couple of six-figure sales. On Thursday, we had two in the first half hour. Any prospectors who had staggered out of the opening two books gasping for some oasis of affordability already knew what they were up against. To be fair, trade would not remain quite as consistently wild as had been the case across the two preceding catalogues. While unsatisfied demand from Book 2 was transparent...

NEWMARKET, UK--There has been no respite for the hardy consignors and their staff since last week's heady renewal of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. No sooner had the hammer fallen on lot 549 than the next batch of yearlings came prancing onto the sales ground, ready for three days of inspections ahead of Book 2, which begins its three-day run from 10am on Monday. This is the week that really requires stamina from all participants: three new books to complete the October sale by Saturday, with the...

NEWMARKET, UK--The trickledown effect can perhaps be viewed as more of a flood this past fortnight at Tattersalls with unusually strong trade for each book of yearlings helping its successor to similarly eye-catching gains.  And so it was with Book 3, which just about equalled last year's figures in one single day following a bullish session on Thursday. Trade dropped another notch during the graded second session but its own returns were still way in advance of the corresponding day last year and helped to create record figures for Book...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale opened its two-session Book 3 with a day of solid trade Friday in Lexington, with bloodstock agent Mike Ryan making the day's highest bid of $625,000 to acquire a colt by red-hot sire Into Mischief (hip 1614). In all, 200 yearlings grossed $21,803,500 during the session for an average of $109,018 and a median of $85,000. With 134 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate remained elevated at 40.12%. The auction's cumulative buy-back rate stands at 39.72%. Last year's first Book 3...