The opening session of the 2015 Keeneland September yearling sale posted steady gains under a slightly tweaked format, led by a trio of high-priced offerings by War Front, on Monday in Lexington, Ky.
A filly by popular commercial sire War Front sold for $1.45 million to Shadwell Stud to take over as the session leader Monday afternoon during the Keeneland September yearling sale’s opening session.
A filly by popular young commercial sire War Front struck first at the Keeneland September yearling sale's opening session Monday in Lexington, Ky., going to Shel Evans for $1 million to become the first horse of the day to hit the seven-figure threshold.
A $65,000 colt from the first crop of stallion Hansen topped the horses on offer at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (British Columbia Division) yearling and mixed sale, which posted across-the board gains over last year’s edition.
Fasig-Tipton will host the 2016 Florida 2-year-olds in training sale on Wednesday, March 2 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky., has acquired the breeding rights to multiple Grade 2 winner Tapiture, who will race for the remainder of the year before retiring to stud. The 4-year-old son of Tapit is currently training at Saratoga toward a final start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, in which he finished second last year. Steve Asmussen conditions the colt for owner/breeder Winchell Thoroughbreds.
Though the format has been tweaked slightly, the 2015 edition of the Keeneland September yearling sale looks much like the one that it preceded. Once again, the 12-day sale will start after a record-setting juvenile sales season and a run of solid performances from the earlier yearling sales on the calendar. The catalog even maintained a head count close to the 2014 edition, which produced similar returns to the 2013 sale.
The Breeders Sales Company of Louisiana announced Friday that it has received six supplemental entries to its annual yearling sale.
Following are horses to watch during Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale, which comprises the first three sessions. Horses were selected based on their pedigrees and past auction results of notable family members. Conformation, veterinarian records, and pedigree updates after deadline were not taken into consideration.
Of the 25 stallions to enter stud in Kentucky in 2013, 16 (or about three-fifths of the group) were Grade 1/Group 1 winners – and, rightfully, they attracted stellar books. Two years later, the resulting foals are adding spice to a resurgent yearling market. Among that standout group of Kentucky’s first-year yearling sires, The Factor was the breakout success story of the August Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, the first boutique auction of the yearling calendar. The stallion now gets another chance to prove himself at the bellwether Keeneland September yearling sale, which tests a wide swath of the market across two weeks.
