Keeneland to conduct Derby week horses of racing age sale

Keeneland will conduct a sale of horses of racing age in April as it continues to re-imagine its early-season sale offerings and to grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The April sale is set for Monday, April, 26, following Keeneland's spring race meet that runs from April 2-23 in Lexington, Ky. The date still falls on a dark day of the Kentucky racing calendar, at the beginning of Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

This auction will be conducted as an integrated event, with horses presented for sale both physically at Keeneland as well as digitally at off-site locations, at the choice of the sellers and consignors. Keeneland auctioneers will present and preside over all offerings on-site. Buyers both on-site at Keeneland and working remotely using telephone or internet bidding will be able to bid on all offerings.

“Keeneland is excited to have the April sale to showcase horses in training during the racing season,” said Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin, also the company’s interim head of sales. “Our goal with this innovative format is to provide flexibility for both buyers and sellers. For their convenience, buyers may attend the sale or participate via the internet. Sellers have the option to send their horses to Keeneland or keep them at the racetrack where they are in training. We hope this unique marketplace facilitates vibrant trade.”

Keeneland conducted an April sale of 2-year-olds in training from 1993 to 2014, after which the auction went on hiatus. The auction company revived and reinvented the sale in April 2019 as a combination of its traditional juvenile offerings along with older horses of racing age, a market segment that has gained popularity at the company’s November and January mixed sales in recent years.

The April sale immediately got a high-profile graduate from the addition of the racing age section. Higher Power sold for $250,000 to Lane’s End Bloodstock on behalf of Hronis Racing; less than five months later, he won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic and retired last fall as a millionaire with three other Grade 1 placings.

Keeneland planned to conduct a similar sale in April 2020. However, that sale, along with the track’s spring race meeting, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeneland was able to conduct its traditional sales in September, November, and January, with online bidding integrated into the live auctions and contributing a solid amount to the gross receipts at each auction. The company also has used its digital sales platform to conduct several smaller stand-alone online mixed sales.