'It's a symbolic benchmark in many ways' - gross record set at Keeneland September Yearling Sale

The 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale became the highest-grossing thoroughbred auction ever at $420,632,000 (including private sales), with two days left go, the auction house announced on Thursday. The previous record in 2022 was $418,271,200 for 2,963 horses that sold. 

Through the end of Book 5, the gross for the 2,459 yearlings that have sold is a 4.5 per cent increase from last year at this time, where 2,515 horses grossed $402,536,200.

"It's a symbolic benchmark in many ways, because I think it just shows the strength of the industry here in the US, the health and the confidence that there is in the sport at the moment," said Tony Lacy, vice president of sales at Keeneland.  

"Setting an all-time average record for a session of $611,000 on the second day, all of these metrics just show how dynamic this market place is. We as Keeneland, take great pride in watching the results, because again, it means so much to our customers," he added.

The demand for good horses continued through Book 5. On the sale's 10th day, 278 yearlings were sold from 343 offered for a total of $9,306,000. The average was $33,475, the median was $26,000. Sixty-five horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 19 per cent.

The average and median were both up from last year's tenth session, where Keeneland saw an average of $31,995, and a median of $25,000. 

Tony Lacy (left): "It's not just the focus on week one, its focus all the way through"Credit: Keeneland photo

"It's maintaining a marketplace for the entire population we have on offer. It's not just the focus on week one, its focus all the way through," said Lacy. 

Lacy mentioned seeing a lot of new faces at the sales, and faces he has not seen in many years. There is great depth in the market from buyers all over the world, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and elsewhere. He credits that to the confidence in the United States product and the US equine.

"I've always been so impressed how Keeneland, as a sales company, has built the confidence from all the buyers from every corner of the globe, and it makes this sale where you can trust to put your finest horses here and they're going to meet the market," said Brandon Rice, of RiceHorse Stable.

"It's really gratifying, but not only for Keeneland and for the team, but the people who have supported us through this process, the breeders, the buyers who have come here and afforded their time and discretionary income with us to find the next champion," said Lacy.

Hip 3375, a filly by Airdrie Stud's Beau Liam, was the top price of the session at $200,000. She was consigned by Ledgelands, agent, and purchased by Tom Tatum. 

"I think it's been a very good-feeling sale. The numbers reflect that. It's certainly not easy. Whether you've had a great sale, a good sale, or even a disappointing sale, for the overall market, I think we have to be encouraged and as always, looking forward to the future," said Airdrie's Bret Jones. 

The Beau Liam filly out of Moonlight Kiss tops the tenth session at Keeneland Credit: Keeneland photo

The bay filly was bred in Kentucky by Ledgelands [Shelley Ritter] and Andrew Ritter. She is the second foal of the Malibu Moon mare Moonlight Kiss.

"I was in the back ring and she [hip 3375] was walking in, and it's always a great feeling when you see an absolute swarm of people surrounding the horse," said Jones.

"The filly that sold today, she's a good representation of what [Beau Liam] is getting. He's getting very nice babies, and babies that will hopefully run fast when they're asked the question."

Beau Liam's first foals are yearlings of 2024. He stood his first year at stud in 2022 for an advertised fee of $6,000. He has had 19 yearlings sell thus far in the sale for a total of $1.5 million, and an average of $78,947. His top-priced horse of the sale was hip 1964, a colt out of Creative Trick, who was bred by the late Brereton C. Jones and consigned by Airdrie. He was purchased for $270,000 by JPM Bloodstock, agent.

"Athleticism is the word I think I would best describe [his foals]. They're athletic horses, people who look into his race record and go back and watch his races and see how brilliantly fast he was, and I think there's an expectation that these foals can follow suit," added Jones.

The highest-priced colt of the session was hip 3405, a colt by Caracaro. He is the first foal out of the Maclean's Music mare Paula Andrea. He was bred and consigned by Brandywine Farm [Jim and Pam Robinson]. The colt was purchased by Dr. Fawzi Bouresli for $170,000. 

The leading buyer of the day was Kenny McPeek. He purchased four yearlings for a total of $281,000. Taylor Made led consignors with a gross of $758,500 from 30 horses sold. Ashford Stud's Mendelssohn led the sire standings with nine sold for a total of $376,000.

The September Sale continues on Friday at 10am with the start of Book 6. Hips 3636-4035 will head to the ring for the 11th session. As of Thursday evening, Keeneland has reported 154 outs. 

"This is just an indicator of where we're going as Keeneland into the future, we want to be as approachable and dynamic as possible; as you see with a lot of our development that's going on in the facility, it's a display of our ambition, of our confidence, and just our overall mindset as we step into the next decade, if not two or three," said Lacy on the record sale.

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