Keeneland November sets record sales median
The Keeneland November breeding stock sale concluded a 10-day run last week with improved figures across the board from its pandemic-hampered 2020 edition. Those figures included a sales-record median, a crucial figure for market health.
"The median is such a good guide of the health of the market, and the health of the middle market, in particular," said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland’s director of sales operations. "It's very gratifying."
Keeneland reported that 2,470 horses sold during the 10-day sale, which was arranged into five books, for gross receipts of $203,585,500. During the 2020 sale, 2,197 horses grossed $151,017,300. Both of these figures represent horses sold through the ring, with private sales not yet factored in. Keeneland does factor private sales into the official figures published in its media guides for all sales beginning with the 2009 editions.
The average price for horses sold through the ring was $82,423, rising 20 percent from the comparable figure, $68,738, in 2020. The average finished at its highest mark since $83,948 in 2015.
The median price finished at a record $37,000, soaring 61 percent from $23,000 last year. The November sale's previous record was $35,000, first achieved in 2005 and matched in 2006, 2007, 2013, and 2014.
The median is “more representative of the bulk of the market, so the very high prices or the very low prices don’t play into the median," Breathnach said. "We’re not just dependent on two really high-selling horses that skew the average for headline’s sakes. If you have a healthy median and a low RNA rate, that really indicates an active market, and that’s what we’re looking at behind the scenes to gauge where we are. From Book 1 of September to now, it is very encouraging.
“Oftentimes, we have conversations about how the market is selective and spotty, or how quality sells well but it’s soft in the middle, but what we are seeing now is a demand and a healthy appetite all the way through the market on every level of what we’ve been offering," Breathnach continued. "That’s where the median sort of comes from; there aren’t a lot of people going home with their tails between their legs. Most people are selling satisfactorily, and it’s just a healthy market, and long may it last.”
The overall buyback rate finished at 17 percent, slightly improved from 19 percent overall in 2020.
“I think it was really encouraging – the money is spread across the board a lot more,” said Tony Lacy, Keeneland's vice president of sales. “And people were protecting stock [with reserves]. They weren’t going to give it away. So again, a sign of strength."
The sale was led, overall, by seven broodmares who sold for seven-figure price tags, all in the early days of the sale. Leading the way was Grade 1 winner Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights, purchased for $3.1 million by Spendthrift Farm. General manager Ned Toffey said that the Curlin filly will be bred to Spendthrift’s two-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief in 2022.
“Very classic American racehorse,” Toffey said. “Big, scopey filly. I think she will fit Into Mischief really well. We are happy to have her.”
The sale’s highest-priced weanling was an $800,000 filly by two-time European Horse of the Year Frankel, purchased by Matt Dorman’s Determined Stud.
Horses of racing age sales strong
Keeneland began offering a selection of horses of racing age in the second week of its November mixed sale several years ago, in response to demand from consignors and buyers. That section of the sale has grown in popularity and scope with the success of its graduates, including Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil and Grade 1 winner Combatant.
To further highlight these offerings, Keeneland consolidated horses of racing age into their own dedicated session on the final day of the 2021 November sale. Leading the way to close the auction out on a high note was recent maiden winner Strava, who sold for $825,000 to lead 127 racehorses who contributed $8,029,000 to the gross.
“Breeding stock are not displaced in the flow of the sale, and it is perfectly positioned on the racing calendar as stables move south for the winter,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “Owners have young stock coming through, and they want to trade out some of their stock that maybe isn't working for their program or they want to capitalize on what they've got.”
Strava, a 2-year-old Into Mischief colt, won his debut Oct. 9 at Keeneland for trainer Dallas Stewart and breeder WinStar Farm, which co-owned him with Siena Farm. Denny Crum purchased the colt from the consignment of WinStar Racing and will keep him in training with Stewart.
“I’ve decided at my age there is no reason to save any money,” said Crum, the 84-year-old former University of Louisville men’s basketball coach who won two NCAA championships. “So I wanted a good horse, and I think we got one. He cost us a little more than I thought he would, but still is the best horse here.”
Stewart, who previously trained multiple Grade 2 winner Nasty Storm for Crum, said Strava would go to Fair Grounds for the winter.
Led by Strava, WinStar finished as the leading consignor of the horses of racing age segment.
“It's a sellers' market right now, and it's good for everybody,” WinStar president, CEO, and racing manager Elliott Walden said. “It's good to regenerate dollars and it's good for people to get inventory and have that appetite. The fundamentals are good on the racing side. Purses are good; it makes sense to buy horses. The economy is doing very well right now, but I think the fundamentals of owning a racehorse are there finally. It's been a long time.”
Gold for Kitten was the second-highest price among the racehorses, selling for $350,000 to Vineyard Racing. The 3-year-old Kitten’s Joy filly has won four of six starts to date, and has finished third in a pair of stakes at Colonial and Woodbine.
Mike Maker, who trains Grade 2 winner Stolen Base, signed the ticket on the 2-year-old colt as agent. Previously racing for Three Diamonds Farm and Deuce Greathouse, the son of Bodemeister finished second in the Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland before running seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.