The Keeneland September yearling sale, the biggest dedicated yearling auction in North America, also bills itself as the world's yearling sale. This year, with a strong start to the North American yearling marketplace, Keeneland hopes to indeed welcome the world back to Lexington.
Following are horses to watch during the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale.
The upcoming Keeneland September yearling sale is the bellwether for the North American marketplace and essentially marks a midway point to the season. Yearling sales began with one auction in July and picked up steam through the month of August, with sales rebounding from the market chaos of 2020 to post strong figures across the board. The market will look to continue that momentum over the next two months. Here's a snapshot look at this season's remaining sales.
A $180,000 Practical Joke filly led the way as the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's Ontario division's premier yearling sale posted a strong gross and slightly improved average on Wednesday at the Woodbine sales pavilion in Toronto.
On closing weekend of the summer meeting at Saratoga Race Course in 2009, Rachel Alexandra brought the house down on the meet by winning the Woodward. That same weekend, her stablemate Hot Dixie Chick won the Spinaway. This summer, half-siblings to those top-level winners created their own fireworks at the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling sale.
A colt by Too Much Bling brought $175,000 to top the Texas summer yearling sale Monday at Lone Star Park near Dallas.
Mill Ridge Farm's general manager Price Bell says the Fasig-Tipton sales in Saratoga are special because the boutique catalog and several days of showing allow more time to spotlight individual horses, and for buyers to spend time with a horse they're interested in.
The three months preceding the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sales saw the loss of prominent sires Malibu Moon and Bernardini, both sons of the great A.P. Indy. Each had a pair of yearlings for what will be their third-to-last crops change hands in Saratoga, with quiet results that will likely set the table for more demand this fall.
Every consignment faces its challenges preparing for and executing its work at a Thoroughbred sale, but South Point Sales Agency faced a massive hurdle at this month's sales in Saratoga. Agency co-founder Mike Recio was stricken with sudden and severe sepsis on July 24 and has had a lengthy stay in a Lexington, Ky., intensive-care unit as he continues to recover.
The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale made a triumphant return to its usual place on the calendar. After last year’s edition of the sale was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, this renewal, led by a $495,000 Uncle Mo filly, finished with significant gains from its most recent edition two years ago.
