Keeneland sale: Average, median continue to climb after Day 8 of yearling sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A $260,000 Even the Score colt topped Tuesday’s eighth session at the Keeneland September yearling sale on a day that extended the auction’s upward trend for average and median price.

Stonestreet Stables bought the session-leading colt, a May 8 foal out of Runaway Grey. The gray or roan colt is a half-brother to Grade 3-placed Mystic Mama. Penn Sales was the consignor.

Cumulatively through Tuesday’s session, the 2012 auction had sold 1,843 yearlings for a total of $205,811,000, down just more than 1 percent through the equivalent point at last year’s sale, when 1,933 horses had sold. But the eight-day average price was $111,672, up 4 percent, and the $70,000 median was up by 17 percent.

Cumulative buybacks also were down from last season, from 24 percent to 22 percent.

(For Keeneland September sales results, click here)

Compared with last season’s second Tuesday session, the eighth session sold 302 yearlings for a combined $11,648,500, up 22 percent from last year’s gross for 302 horses. The $38,571 average price also was up 22 percent, and the $30,000 median was a 20 percent increase above last year’s second Tuesday figure.

The buyback rate also fell from 21 percent in 2011 to 17 percent.

Tuesday’s top-priced filly was a $155,000 Hard Spun daughter of stakes winner Two Punch Gal, by Two Punch. The California-bred filly sold to Phase II Thoroughbreds from the Glennwood Farm agency.

The sale was to continue through Friday at the Keeneland sale pavilion in Lexington. Sessions start at 10 a.m. daily, and the auction sessions are available online via live streaming at www.keeneland.com.