Medaglia d'Oro colt tops final Book 1 session at Keeneland September

A final flurry of high-ticket offerings pushed the revised Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale across the finish line on Thursday evening with positive economic indicators.

Six seven-figure yearlings – among them a $2.1 million colt topping a trio by Medaglia d'Oro – led the way as Thursday's fourth and final Book 1 session came home with 139 yearlings sold for $49,475,000, an average price of $355,935 and a median of $300,000.

"That went well," Keeneland's director of sales operations Geoffrey Russell said. "The new format, I think, worked very well."

Keeneland adjusted the format of the September sale this year, expanding the marquee Book 1 portion from one session to four in a move that actually had the net result of offering fewer horses prior to the sale's traditional dark day. Last year's Book 1 was a single ultra-select session with 167 horses in the catalog – ultimately resulting in an average of $570,263 and median of $500,000 – and was followed by three Book 2 sessions, with 1,202 total horses cataloged through the first four days of the sale. Keeneland officials said they received feedback from buyers that the format of Books 1 and 2 left them with too many horses to inspect, and potentially vet, in a condensed timeframe.

Book 1 was restructured to run over four days, with 989 hips in the catalog. Thus, this year's four-session expanded Book 1 effectively serves as a blended Book 1 and 2 in terms of quality. The first four sessions of the sale finished with 596 horses sold for $216,813,000 – a gain of 10 percent in gross compared to the 681 horses sold for $196,645,000 for the four sessions comprising Books 1 and 2 last year. The average price, $363,780, was a gain of 26 percent from $288,759 after this many days last year. The median was $300,000, up 50 percent from $200,000. The buyback rate sat at 28 percent, improved from 33 percent at this point last year.

"All indicators are very positive," Russell said. "Our goal with Book 1 [was], we consider these horses to be the cream of the North American crop, and they need to be showcased like it. We want to give the buyers the opportunity to have the chance to get through all four days."

At the top of the market, a total of 26 horses surpassed the seven-figure threshold during Book 1, doubling the 13 yearlings to do so during the entire sale last year. After an American Pharoah colt sold for $2.2 million on Monday and a War Front colt fetched $2.4 million on Tuesday, a Medaglia d'Oro colt became the third horse to crack that $2 million barrier, going to Amer Abdulaziz's Phoenix Thoroughbreds for $2.1 million to lead Thursday's finale.

Medaglia d'Oro, who stands for Darley, led all sires by gross sales during Book 1, with his 31 yearlings sold combining for $19,395,000, an average of $635,645. He trailed only Claiborne's War Front by average price, with the latter stallion's 18 yearlings averaging $782,500. Both Medaglia d'Oro and War Front finished Book 1 with five seven-figure yearlings overall.

Phoenix outlasted several other high-profile bidders for its purchase.

"It's a tough game – it just comes down to how much you're willing to stretch," Tom Ludt of Phoenix Thoroughbreds said. "I know [bloodstock agent Jacob West] was the underbidder, I know [bloodstock agent Donato Lanni] was on him, I know Chad Brown was on him. It's a tough game, those are great people to complete against, and you ultimately make a decision. [Abdulaziz] really wanted him. [Bob Baffert] loved him, and obviously Bob gets a lot of our good horses. It's a tough decision, but you sometimes have to make it."

The colt, out of the stakes-winning Montbrook mare Exotic Bloom, is a half-brother to 2015 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Stopchargingmaria, who won three Grade 1 stakes and placed in four others during her career. The colt was consigned by Taylor Made Sales – Book 1's leading consignor by gross – as agent for breeder Stonestreet Farm. Barbara Banke's operation acquired Exotic Bloom for $500,000 out of the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale to add to its star-studded broodmare band.

Stonestreet also bred and raised a Medaglia d'Oro colt sold for $1.6 million to Godolphin earlier in the session. The colt is the second foal out of Eclipse Award champion turf mare Dayatthespa. Stonestreet purchased the City Zip mare for $2.1 million out of the 2014 Fasig November sale days after she won the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, her third career Grade 1 triumph, to lock up her divisional crown.

As part of her business strategy, Banke regularly sells colts out of her high-profile mares while retaining most fillies to race and eventually join the broodmare band. That was the reasoning behind sending both colts, part of a strong group of yearlings for Stonestreet, through the ring on Thursday.

"It's so hard to get these great families," Banke said. "When I get these great mares, and I get a good filly out of them, I try to replace the mare with them. ... I think we brought a very good group this year, and the market is hot."

Godolphin's purchase was consigned by Gainesway on behalf of Stonestreet.

"He was very much the horse we wanted today," said John Gosden, who signed the ticket. "It stuck at [$900,000] and they made a speech! I thought we had him at 900. He was the one horse we wanted all day, so we were very keen to get him. We very much wanted him, but so did somebody else."

Gosden said that he expected the colt would be sent to Europe.

Godolphin, which was Book 1's leading buyer by both gross and number of horses, with 22 purchases, went to the well again for a $1 million Medaglia d'Oro filly later in the afternoon. She is the first foal out of the unraced Street Cry mare Esprit de Vie, who is out of Group 2 winner Irresistible Jewel, making her a full sister to Group 3 winner Princess Highway, as well as a half to Group 1 winner Royal Diamond and Group 3 winner Mad About You.

The filly was consigned by Runnymede Farm, as agent.

"[Medaglia d'Oro] has been producing on the track," Runnymede's Brutus Clay said. "Stud fees have been going up to reflect that, and I think the market is just acknowledging what's happening on the racetrack."

The session's other seven-figure yearlings were a $1.2 million Into Mischief colt, a $1.05 million Curlin filly, and a $1.05 million Pioneerof the Nile filly.

The Into Mischief colt, from the family of Grade 2 winner and sire Munnings, went to Larry Best's OXO Equine from the consignment of Castle Park Farm, as agent.

"Into Mischief has been very good to me," said Best, who campaigns the stallion's unbeaten juvenile Instagrand in California.

Jacob West signed for the Curlin filly, out of Grade 1 winner Dame Dorothy, on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low. The filly was consigned by Stone Farm, as agent.

"[The Lows have] made kind of an exerted effort to get some two-turn dirt horses, and that's exactly what this filly made me think that she was," West said. "Todd [Pletcher] told me Dame Dorothy was probably one of his best 2-year-olds, and she had a little setback, but that filly was very, very, very fast."

The Pioneerof the Nile filly sold to agent Shawn Dugan late in the session on behalf of an undisclosed client.

Consigned by Gainesway, as agent, the filly is out of Grade 3 winner Graeme Six, dam of graded stakes winners Cali Star and Delightful Joy and stakes winner Seymourdini.

"There's one word for this filly: Everything," Dugan said. "She's one of the top physicals. I know everyone says that about the horse they just bought for that kind of money, but I promise you she's a wow. There's always a residual value with a filly, and this filly has everything going for her."

After the dark day on Friday, Keeneland continues with its two Book 2 sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The sale then continues with Books 3 through 6, with the sale concluding Sept. 23. With competitive action in the first book, shoppers expected momentum to continue into the later books as they continue to fight for horses.

"I think [the momentum] has to [continue]," West said. "There's so many people that are walking around here that haven't bought horses."

For hip-by-hip results from Keeneland, click here.

– additional reporting by Matt Hegarty