Keeneland September: $420,000 Quality Road filly tops final day of Book 3

The Keeneland September yearling sale concluded its third of six books Tuesday night on pace for a record renewal.

A total of 271 yearlings sold during Tuesday's session, the eighth of 13 overall, for gross receipts of $19,603,400, led by a $420,000 Quality Road filly. The average price for the session finished at $72,337, while the median was $50,000. The day's buyback rate finished at 28 percent.

Keeneland revised the structure of the first week of its September sale this year, expanding Book 1 to four sessions followed by a pair of Book 2 sessions, compared with last year's single ultra-select Book 1 session followed by three Book 2 sessions. With the changes, it is difficult to make direct session-to-session or book-to-book comparisons with last year’s sale.

Through eight sessions of this sale, however, the cumulative average is tracking at $202,987, an increase of 22 percent from the same number of sessions last year, when it sat at $166,017. The median price sits at $130,000, trending upward 30 percent from $100,000 at this point in 2017. The cumulative buyback rate tracks at 26 percent, improved from 29 percent.

Last year's sale finished with a gross of $307,845,400, the first time since 2008 that the figure had exceeded $300 million. This year's edition of the sale surpassed last year's total revenues on Monday and currently sits at $345,890,600, already ranking fourth in auction history, with five sessions remaining.

Last year's average and median finished at $120,487 and $57,000, respectively, both record figures. While the average and median will fall through the second week of the sale, both figures for this year's renewal are currently on pace to finish among the best in sale history.

The Quality Road filly who led the session sold to Jamie McCalmont, acting as agent for Sarah Kelley. The filly, consigned by Stone Farm, is the first foal out of the Pulpit mare Chapel, a full sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Senada, dam of Grade 2-placed Layla Noor.

Chapel and Senada are both out of the Grade 2-winning Harlan mare Owsley, who also produced Grade 1-placed Arthur's Tale and stakes-placed War Hoot. Other notable named appearing on the catalog page include Grade 1 winner Dixie Brass and Canadian champion Sisterly Love.

Remaining in Keeneland September are two Book 2 sessions, a single-session Book 5, and two Book 6 sessions on Saturday and Sunday.

For hip-by-hip results from the auction, click here.