Cormac Breathnach

With the Breeders' Cup returning to Lexington for the third time, headlined by the mighty Flightline (Tapit), the buzz in Lexington was electric from late October all the way through the nearly two weeks of breeding stock sales that followed the World Championships. Combine that with a deep and diverse buying bench and high demand and the result was gains in both gross and average for the 10-day Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which ran from Nov. 7-16. "With the close of the November Breeding Stock Sale, Keeneland is nearing...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY -- The momentum from Monday's opening session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale continued into the first session of Book 2 Tuesday in Lexington with a pair of mares bringing seven figures. "I would describe it as a solid day," said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. "Overall, we are very happy with the gross, very happy with the median and average being up over last year." During Tuesday's session, 197 horses sold for $35,073,000. The average of $178,036 was up...

Keeneland announced 295 horses have been cataloged for the November Horses of Racing Age Sale to be held Nov. 17, the day after the conclusion of the November Breeding Stock Sale. The catalog is now online at www.Keeneland.com for the single-session auction for racehorses, which will start at noon ET. A print catalog for the sale with Equibase past performances for the entrants will be available at Keeneland by Oct. 31. "Racehorses have traditionally been a popular segment of the November Breeding Stock Sale, and this is the first year...

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which surpassed $400-million in gross sales for the first time in its history, concluded Saturday with new records, not just for turnover, but also for average and median and with 30 seven-figure yearlings doubling the number from the 2021 auction. Keeneland sold a total of 2,847 yearlings through the ring for $405,495,700 during the 12-day auction, surpassing the previous record of $399,791,800 set during the 2006 September sale. The cumulative average and median prices surpassed September sale records set last year, with the average price...

LEXINGTON, KY- The 79th renewal of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale opens its 12-day run Monday with the first of two Book 1 sessions beginning at 1 p.m. Consignors started showing Book 1 yearlings Friday and an international cast of shoppers were getting second looks at those elite youngsters on a misty Sunday morning in the Bluegrass, while also getting a head start on Book 2 horses who will start selling Wednesday. "I think the activity is very good, particularly for Book 1," said Peter O'Callaghan, whose Woods Edge Farm...

ASCOT, UK--Racing at Ascot this Saturday may focus on the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., but a top-class card gets underway in style with the running of the G3 Princess Margaret Keeneland S., a race now in its fifth year of sponsorship by the American sales company. Shannon Arvin, who was appointed Keeneland's eighth president and chief executive officer last year, is the first woman to hold that position, and she arrived in the UK earlier in the week to meet some of the company's clients in...

Here's a conundrum for you. When does your outstanding yearling become merely one that stands out? It's something the Keeneland sales team find themselves asking a great deal right now, out on the farms, during the annual process of sieving entries into the right tier of the world's biggest yearling catalog. Time after time, they run into the same, nearly superstitious nervousness among some consignors about September Book 1. The action is too tight at the top end. Let this guy be a big fish in a smaller pond. Well,...

Acting Out (Blame), who most recently caused a 6-1 upset of the Carousel S. at Oaklawn Park Apr. 2 (video), was hammered down to Bill Farish, acting as agent for his parents Will and Sarah, to lead the way at Friday's Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale held following the conclusion of the closing-day program at the racetrack a handful of steps up the hill. Previously trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer for the ownership group of Sherman Racing Inc., Zivka Akin and Robert Hawkins, Acting Out won...

The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale concluded its four-day run in Lexington Friday with steady figures which continued to show strength in the marketplace into the new year. "We are very, very pleased with the sale," said Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy. "Continued competitive trade, high clearance rate and high median price have solidified some confidence in people who were nervous before the beginning of the sales season. They feel positive about moving forward into the rest of 2022 and are investing as such. The market...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, delayed a day due to last week's blizzard, took some time to find its footing, but gained in strength throughout Tuesday's opening session to end the day with figures up compared to its 2020 opening session. "We are very pleased with the way things ended up," said Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy. "We were expecting a very solid day. There was some nice quality, especially towards the end. And that is...

The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale gets underway at 10 a.m. Tuesday with the first of four sessions. The sale was originally scheduled to kick off Monday, but was delayed due to a winter snow storm in Lexington, which also pushed back the ship in date. The 1,631-horse catalogue is comprised of broodmares, racing/broodmare prospects, newly turned yearlings, horses of racing ages and stallions/stallion prospects. "It is a very solid catalogue with a lot of depth," said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland's Director of Sales Operations. "The January Sale catalogue...

The seasonal foliage was about the only thing falling at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which concluded a wildly successful run in Lexington Friday afternoon. Over the course of 10 days of trade, sales officials reported gross receipts of $203,585,500 for 2470 horses sold, good for an average of $82,423. Further demonstrating the strength of middle market, the median price of $37,000 established a new November record, eclipsing the previous mark of $35,000 set on five previous occasions, but most recently in 2014. The buyback rate closed at a...