Sale passes 2003 gross

John McCormack Bloodstock, buyer of Monday's session-topping $190,000 Arch filly, struck again on Tuesday as the two-week Keeneland September yearling sale reached its eighth session.

This time, McCormack signed for a $340,000 Forest Wildcat colt consigned by Judy Klosterman, who represented Langsem Farm and Eutrophia Farm. The colt is a son of Naughty, a multiple stakes winner and earner of more than $266,000. The colt was the session's top price as of 4:45 p.m.

On Monday, with seven days left in the selling, the auction surpassed its 2003 total when revenue reached $285 million. The Monday session sold 283 yearlings for $14,169,700, for an average of $50,070 and a median price of $42,000. Those were gains across the board from last year's seventh session, which sold 285 lots for $12,305,000, an average of $43,175, and a $30,000 median.

Through the first seven sessions ending Monday, the auction had sold 1,711 yearlings for $285,579,700, up 15 percent from last year's auction at the same stage. The seven-day cumulative average of $166,908 represented a 14 percent gain over last season's $146,610, and the 2004 median of $90,000 was up 20 percent from last year's $75,000.