114 slated to go under hammer in Keeneland April horses of racing age sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland April horses of racing age sale is set to take place Sunday evening, with a slight date shift from last year’s edition.

Last year’s April sale was held on a Friday night, following the final card of Keeneland’s spring race meet. This year, the single-session sale will instead take place on Sunday, beginning at 4 p.m. Keeneland closed its spring meet Friday, while Churchill Downs opened its spring meet with a Saturday night card.

Keeneland announced in February that it would shift the April sale from its planned closing-night slot to the weekend to avoid a conflict with the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, which ran from April 25-28. Although the sales are essentially not in competition for a horse population – the Keeneland April catalog includes only four juveniles this year – a number of bloodstock agents and buyers from racing stables would plan to attend both sales.

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“The April selected sale feeds off the energy and excitement of the spring meet and gives horsemen a terrific opportunity to cash in on or buy quality individuals, especially those who run well at Keeneland, as they transition to summer racing,” said Tony Lacy, Keeneland’s vice president of sales. “While we feel closing day remains the ideal position for the April sale, the shift to Sunday this year still allows us to properly showcase these horses before attention moves to Louisville and Kentucky Derby week. We look forward to resuming the sale’s spring meet closing-day schedule in 2024 and beyond.”

A total of 114 horses are cataloged to this year’s auction, with 16 horses added in the latest round of supplements to the catalog on Wednesday. Keeneland will continue to review and approve supplemental entries until the sale date.

Noteworthy performers in the catalog include multiple graded stakes winners Cazadero, King Fury, and Messier; Grade 1-placed Commandperformance; and Grade 2-placed Carmel Road. The 2-year-olds cataloged include Hibernacle, a supplemental entry after a 7 1/2-length debut win April 12 at Keeneland.

Topped by the $600,000 racing and broodmare prospect Acting Out, 58 horses sold at the 2022 Keeneland April sale for gross receipts of $5,349,000. The average price was $92,224, leaping 40 percent from the figure in 2021, when the sale was held the Monday following the close of the race meet. The median price jumped 11 percent, finishing at $50,000. The buyback percentage also improved, checking in at 18 percent, compared to 23 percent in 2021.

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