Commissioner Dan, at $500K, leads Keeneland April all-ages sale
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Commissioner Dan, who was supplemented into the Keeneland April horses of all ages sale after an impressive debut victory last week, sold for $500,000 to lead Sunday night's sale in Lexington, Ky.
Keeneland reported 67 horses sold for a gross of $6,743,000. At last year's single-session sale, which was held on the Friday evening following the closing card of Keeneland's spring meet, 58 horses sold for a combined $5,349,000. Keeneland shifted the date of this year's sale to avoid a conflict with the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s sale of 2-year-olds in training, which ran April 25-28.
The single-session sale's average price of $100,642 rose 9 percent over last year’s $92,224. The median jumped 40 percent, to $70,000 from $50,000.
Keeneland has found great success with dynamic catalogs for horses of racing age sessions, reviewing and accepting supplemental entries even in the final countdown to sales. The 2-year-old Commissioner Dan won his debut on April 26 at Keeneland by 1 3/4 lengths. He thus became a hot commodity and was supplemented to the sale, with the Matejka Racing of trainer and co-owner Pavel Matejka acting as agent. He was purchased for his sale-topping sum by Pedro Lanz, agent for King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Sons’s KAS Stables.
The colt's sire, classic-placed graded stakes winner Commissioner, stands in Saudi Arabia, and has already found success there as the sire of 2023 Saudi Derby winner Commissioner King.
“We were looking for older horses, and I did not know there were 2-year-olds here,” Lanz said. “It was a last-minute call. When I saw [Commissioner Dan] and saw his numbers and saw he is by Commissioner, I told them [we should bid on him]. We saw him for the first time a few days ago. We looked at his videos. He has a lot of potential.”
Overall, three of the five highest-priced horses were supplements to the original catalog.
“This sale is really evolving, and there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm surrounding it," Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. "Consignors are really happy; a lot of them were here today. We had great participation from established buyers and also new owners, and it was great to see Saudi Arabian participation.”
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