Quality Road colt brings $510,000 to lead Keeneland September Book 3 opener

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland September yearling sale's Book 3 opener continued to display positive figures when placed against comparable sections of the marketplace a year ago, with the continued presence of major buyers fueling strong activity at the top of the market.

A $510,000 Quality Road colt and a $500,000 Frosted filly led the way on Sunday, the sixth session of the 13-session sale overall, as 256 yearlings garnered gross receipts of $30,025,000. The 2018 Book 3 opener, which took place on a Monday as the seventh of 13 sessions, featured 289 horses sold for $22,360,500.

Keeneland tweaked the format of the September sale's Book 1 and Book 2 portions this year, with Book 1 cataloging 569 horses over three days, compared to four sessions with 989 horses in 2018, and the size of the Book 2 catalog 730 horses compared to 826, both over two days. With those changes, the general consensus is that quality horses have been pushed deeper into the catalog, creating a trickle-down effect of high-ticket horses through later books. That was borne out in the Book 3 opener, as two horses have alreadu surpassed last year's high price of Book 3, which was $450,000. Four horses sold for $400,000 or more on Sunday, making it a virtual certainty that this year's two-session Book 3 will better the five horses to reach that threshold over two days last year.

Fueled by those figures, Sunday's average price finished at $117,285, up 52 percent from $77,372 in the comparable session last year, which was the first session of the sale where the average dropped below six figures. The median price was $85,000, up 55 percent from $55,000. The blight on the rose was the buyback rate, which finished at 30 percent after coming in at an unusually low 20 percent in the corresponding session last year.

The high-profile partnership of China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Maverick Racing stretched past half a million to acquire the session-leading Quality Road colt, from the consignment of Select Sales, as agent for Machmer Hall. The colt is out of the Unbridled's Song mare Spring Storm, dam of multiple graded stakes-placed Stainless.

Spring Storm is one of three stakes producers out oft the unraced Storm Cat mare Kelli Cat, the dam of stakes winner Beautiful Daniele and stakes-placed Robie the Cat. Beautiful Daniele is the dam of stakes winner King of Speed, while another daughter, Goldilocks' Cat, is the dam of Group 3-placed Complimenti and stakes-placed Moon King. Kelli Cat is a half-sister to four stakes winners, led by Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and champion Countess Diana.

Trainer Ken McPeek, acting as agent for Walking L Thoroughbreds, signed the ticket for the half-million-dollar filly from the first crop of Frosted. The filly, consigned by Runnymede Farm, as agent, is the first foal out of the Scat Daddy mare Dream to Dream, a full sister to multiple Group 2 winner Daddy Long Legs.

Dream to Dream, out of stakes winner Dreamy Maiden, is also a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Tres Dream.

Book 3 concludes with the Monday session, and the Keeneland September yearling sale continues until Sept. 22 with Books 4 through 6.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.