Keeneland September sale: Lord Nelson filly sells for $125,000 to top first Book 6 session

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland September yearling sale is eyeing a set of records established last year as it concluded its penultimate session Friday, led by a $125,000 Lord Nelson filly.

Eleven of the 12 sessions of this Keeneland September sale are now in the books, with Friday's session representing the Book 6 opener. Keeneland reported that 2,663 horses have sold through this point for gross receipts of $402,977,700. The sale had already, with Thursday's session, eclipsed the record gross of $399,791,800 established during the 2006 Keeneland September sale, which took place over 14 sessions.

True session-to-session comparisons are difficult in the final days of this sale. While this year's renewal is finishing with a two-session Book 6, last year's 11-session sale concluded with a three-session Book 5 – which had slightly more horses cataloged in its individual sessions than this year's corresponding book, although the sale will offer more horses overall.

The cumulative average price for Keeneland September currently sits at $151,325, trending upward 15 percent from the final 11-session figure of $132,091 from horses sold through the ring last year, which was a record. The median sits up 23 percent, at $80,000 from the record $65,000 to finish last year. While the average and median are likely to dip slightly with the horses sold Saturday, the record figures still appear well within reach.

The current cumulative buyback rate for the September sale is steady at 19 percent.

The session-topping Lord Nelson filly was purchased by Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stables, with Michael Wallace acting as agent, from the consignment of Legacy Bloodstock, agent for breeder Spendthrift Farm. The latter operation raced and stood the multiple Grade 1-winning Lord Nelson, who died in October 2021 following a long battle with laminitis. This filly is from his penultimate crop.

The filly is out of the unraced Warrior's Reward mare Bonita Mia, whose first runner is the winning colt Super Chow, a full brother to this filly. Bonita Mia is a half-sister to Miss Match, a Grade 1 winner in both the United States and Argentina; to Grade 1 winner Carina Mia; to Miss Sixty, the dam of stakes winner Rainbow Danny; and to Miss Valent, dam of Group 1-placed Mister Key. This is the immediate family of Miss Linda, a champion in Argentina who was then a Grade 1 winner in the United States.

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