Keeneland mid-level still strong

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Saturday's 12th session at the 14-day Keeneland September yearling sale in Lexington, Ky., continued a pattern of steep increases for middle-market to lower-middle-market stock, with gains across the board and a $105,000 session-topper.

The Saturday session sold 284 yearlings for $5,270,800, up 11 percent from last season's equivalent session, which sold roughly the same number of horses, 280. The 2007 average price also toppled last year's figure, rising 10 percent from $16,992 to $18,559. And this year's median price of $12,000 was 9 percent above last year's figure of $11,000.

Saturday's session-topper was a $105,000 Harlan's Holiday filly that Friendship Racing purchased from the Airdrie Stud agency. The filly is out of the Pleasant Colony mare Pleasant Kaye.

Cumulative figures through 12 days of selling showed mixed results, with 3,134 yearlings sold for $377,157,900, down 5 percent from last year's total for 3,147 yearlings. The average price was down by 4 percent, falling from $125,871 last year to $120,344 this season. But the median price was up, climbing 9 percent, from $55,000 to $60,000.

The Keeneland September yearling sale continues through Tuesday at the Keeneland sale pavilion in Lexington.