Keeneland September: $2.5 million Quality Road colt tops strong first session at sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A $2.5 million Quality Road colt led group of nine seven-figure horses as the Keeneland September yearling sale, considered the bellwether for the North American marketplace, opened its 12-session run Monday with gains across the board.

While sales sometimes take time to establish momentum, the buyers assembled at Keeneland took absolutely no time to warm up Monday afternoon. Four of the first five yearlings who stepped into the ring sold for more than $500,000, and the sixth horse in the ring, a Quality Road filly, sold for $1.2 million to agent Bernie Sams to kick off a strong day for his sire. From there, the activity did not slow, with a relatively sizeable group of nine seven-figure lots. Last year's Book 1 finished with 11 seven-figure horses sold over two days, with just three of those coming in the opening session.

"I think if you've got the right individual, it's very strong – there seems to be a lot of money around," said John Gunther of Glennwood Farm, which sold a pair of seven-figure yearlings – a $1.2 million Curlin half-brother to Triple Crown winner Justify, who went to Hideyuki Mori, and a $1.15 million Into Mischief filly, who went to Mandy Pope.

"I've never seen so many people at the sale," Gunther continued. "We were going steady all day long [showing horses]. We never had a break, so there were a lot of people.”

With those horses at the top of the marketplace leading the way, Keeneland reported gross sales of $57,095,000 from 114 sold Monday, compared to $38,322,000 from 96 horses in last year's corresponding opening session of the sale.

Monday's average price was $500,833, jumping 25 percent from $399,188 last year. The median price, considered a key figure for market health because it does not fluctuate as much due to outlying horses at the top of the marketplace, soared 38 percent, to $450,000 from $325,000.

The buyback rate also improved, checking in at 21 percent compared to 38 percent.

"Looking at the raw numbers, these are figures we haven't seen in recent years," Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said, marveling that the first horse in the ring sold for $850,000. "Nine million-dollar horses in the first session, I think that's the first time since 2007. We can't find a horse that brought more than $850,000 as the first hip through the ring. The energy that was building, that was something we were leaning into. Also, it was the focus that we tried [to have] – we worked with the consignors, with the breeders, that we needed the best physicals.

“We were recruiting heavily for buyers to come to the sale, and I think that now there's a resurgence of travel, people were more encouraged to come back. The enthusiasm for racing at the moment – I think we're in a little bit of a golden era, and I think we've got to learn how to not take anything for granted and find how we develop and work forward on this."

The session-leading Quality Road colt was purchased by a partnership familiar to the Keeneland sale leaderboard in recent history, with Talla Racing, Woodford Racing, and West Point Thoroughbreds joining forces. Various iterations of that partnership landed the top three lots at last year's September sale. The colt was consigned by his breeder, Stonehaven Steadings, which will come back in for a piece of the partnership, a common practice.

Quality Road, who finished Monday with three seven-figure yearlings, led the national earnings list early this year, thanks to Emblem Road's victory in the Group 1, $20 million Saudi Cup. Far from a one-hit wonder, however, Quality Road also is the sire, this year, of Grade 1 winner Bleecker Street, graded stakes winner Friar's Road, and stakes winners Alydiva, Blackadder, Ethereal Road, and Park Avenue.

Quality Road, the sire of three career Eclipse Award champions, led the 2021 Keeneland September sale by average price among stallions with multiple lots sold. He was represented by two seven-figure horses, and his son City of Light also had two seven-figure September yearlings from his first crop, including last year’s $1.7 million sale-topper.

Quality Road and City of Light were off to a strong start at this edition of the sale Monday. Quality Road had his $2.5 million session-topper, the $1.2 million filly who started the day off, and a $1.15 million colt purchased by D. Wayne Lukas for BC Stables. City of Light, meanwhile, was represented by a $1 million colt sold to Courtlandt Farm.

"When they're handsome like [this colt] was, usually you have a good shot," West Point’s Terry Finley said of Quality Road's offspring. "You go to the racetracks and you look at those stakes races and you look at the Quality Roads, and they're really big, pretty horses. So this horse is the same, and we just hope we get to Saturday afternoon with him."

After his early lessons, the colt will eventually go to California-based trainer John Sadler for the partnership.

"Just a great physical," Finley said of the colt. "When you see a physical like that, you have to stretch a little bit [in the bidding]. There's a lot of good buyers that are well prepared and have a lot of capital behind them, and when you get to that level, they're people who usually get what they want. And when you have a number of people [like that], you usually have to pay a pretty good price."

Quality Road's session-topper, a May foal, is out of the Grade 3-placed Latent Heat mare True Feelings. She is the dam of three winners from as many starters, including stakes winner Feeling Mischief and graded stakes-placed Royal Act.

True Feelings is out of Grade 3 winner Grand Charmer, making her a half-sister to Flirtatious, dam of Eclipse Award champion Wait a While. Another Eclipse champion appears on the page in Lookin At Lucky, voted the best of his class at ages 2 and 3.

“From the moment he was born he’s been special," said Aidan O'Meara of Stonehaven. "When he was born, he got up off the ground – usually foals, they fall over couple of times, but he jumped up and got stuck under his mother’s legs. But he doesn’t do anything crazy. He just stands there and backed himself up, real cool, and walked away.

“At that moment, it told me he was special. He was a May foal, so he was always behind the others. We knew he was a special type physically, and when he started to develop as a yearling he developed that walk he has. . . . He held his own as a Book 1 yearling as a May 5 baby. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better moving horse in my life."

The day's second-highest price was the result of a partnership buyout. A $1.7 million Curlin colt out of Grade 1 winner Carina Mia was co-bred by Three Chimneys Farm and Hill 'n' Dale Farm. The two entities have since dissolved that partnership, resulting in a number of high-ticket offerings at public auction over the last year – including Carina Mia, as the Malibu Moon mare sold to Shadai Farm for $2.6 million at last fall's Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Three Chimneys bought out the partnership on this colt, purchasing him outright from Hill 'n' Dale, which handled consigning duties.

"Having seen him grow up, he really continued to improve," Doug Cauthen said after signing the ticket. "Everybody liked him, and [Three Chimneys owner Goncalo Torrealba] and his family wanted to have something out of that mare. Hopefully, he'll go on and do big things. Just a really athletic, medium-sized horse with a lot of stretch who moved wonderfully and was only on the improve."

Carina Mia's colt keyed a solid day for Curlin, as he also was represented by the half-brother to Justify sold earlier in the day. Joining Quality Road and Curlin as stallions with multiple seven-figure lots sold was three-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, whose filly from the Glennwood consignment was joined by a $1.25 million filly sold to Frank Fletcher Racing.

Joining the aforementioned yearlings by Quality Road, City of Light, Curlin, and Into Mischief to round out the seven-figure lots was a $1.5 million Gun Runner filly, purchased by the partnership of Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys, which raced her sire.

With the strong start to the sale, anticipation will be high for Tuesday's session, the second and final day of Book 1. While sale order is based on luck of the draw, as a letter of the alphabet is selected and then yearlings are ordered alphabetically according to dam name, it is often considered advantageous to be placed later in a sale, with market momentum established.

Last year's second session produced eight seven-figure lots, and this year's corresponding session also mah be teed up for success after Monday's solid opener. Following outs, the session includes 12 yearlings by sire of the moment Quality Road – including a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Guarana, also bred by the Three Chimneys and Hill 'n' Dale partnership. The session also includes a full sibling to Horse of the Year Authentic and a half-sibling to Horse of the Year Knicks Go.

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