Keeneland September: Gross, median prices leap 47 percent during 12th session
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland’s two-week September yearling sale carried the momentum of large increases into its 12th session Friday, which saw median more than double from last year.
Friday’s session sold 197 yearlings for $1,860,800, for an average price of $9,446 and a $7,500 median. Gross and average were both up 47 percent over last year, when 197 horses brought $1,261,600 for a $6,404 average price.
The session buyback rate was an extraordinarily low 13 percent, a long drop from last year’s 35 percent rate.
A $52,000 Fusaichi Pegasus colt from the family of Grade 1 winners Firm Stance and Au Bon Marche topped Friday’s session. Tim and Crystal O’Donohue bought the chestnut colt, a son of the Dixieland Band mare Whalah, from William Harrigan’s Miacomet Farm agency. The colt is a half-brother to three winners, including the Smart Strike colt Strikewhileitshot, an earner of more than $165,000.
Through Friday’s 12th session, the auction has sold 2,736 yearlings for $222,179,400, a 13-percent gain on last year. Average and median both also continued well ahead of their 2010 numbers. Average is running ahead by 18 percent at $81,206, and median is up by 17 percent at $35,000. Cumulative buybacks have fallen from 27 percent last year to 21 percent.
The September sale’s final session is Saturday with a continuous session starting at 10 a.m. in Keeneland’s sale pavilion.