Keeneland catalogs 3,604 yearlings for September sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland has cataloged 3,604 yearlings to its upcoming September yearling sale, which will take place Sept. 10-21 this year. The catalog numbers are down 17 percent versus last year, when 4,319 yearlings were in the Lexington auction’s catalog.

The decline was expected in light of sharp declines in the North American foal crop, but contrasted with recent sale catalogs for Fasig-Tipton’s July and Saratoga yearling sales. Despite the foal crop decline, the July auction cataloged 11.5 percent more yearlings, and the Saratoga select and New York-bred sale catalogs featured increases of 18 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The Keeneland catalog includes 1,852 colts, 1,750 fillies, and two geldings.

Keeneland also has changed the 2012 September sale’s schedule slightly. Book 1, the auction’s select portion that previously ran over two night sessions, has scaled back to a single afternoon session at 4 p.m. Sept. 10. The select session will feature 132 yearlings. Book 2 will take place Sept. 11-13 and will offer 915 yearlings, or 305 per session; the Book 2 sessions begin at 11 a.m. each day. Both the Book 1 and Book 2 catalogs will be published in a single catalog volume.

After a dark day Sept. 14, selling will resume with Book 3 on Sept. 15. That session, and the remainder of the sessions through Sept. 21, will begin at 10 a.m.

Keeneland’s vice president of sales, Walt Robertson, said in announcing the changes that the new schedule “fits the needs of our horses and our sellers perfectly.”