A trio of seven-figure yearlings, including a $1.4 million American Pharoah filly, led the way as the Keeneland September yearling sale opened its marathon run in encouraging fashion on Monday afternoon, with demand at the top of the market leading to an improved average.
Our annual special edition, presented by Stonestreet Farm, previews the fall yearling sales and takes an in-depth look at various aspects of the marketplace, stallions and trends to watch, and more.
Among his first-crop sire class, Bolt d’Oro was the one for whom lightning struck at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. The multiple Grade 1-winning son of Medaglia d’Oro was represented by a half-brother to Hall of Fame racemare Rachel Alexandra who sold for $1.4 million to Larry Best’s OXO Equine, the second-highest price of the sale overall.
Good Samaritan stands at WinStar Farm, which co-campaigned him and which also stood Harlan’s Holiday.
Eclipse Award champion Good Magic has 81 first-crop yearlings cataloged at the Keeneland September yearling sale, the same auction at which he himself drew a seven-figure hammer price as a youngster. But John Sikura, president of Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, which stands Good Magic alongside his sire, Curlin, knows that the true proving ground is still a year or more off.
Ashford has another promising young son of Uncle Mo with his first yearlings this season in the versatile Mo Town. Winner of the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes on dirt as a juvenile, he concluded his 3-year-old campaign by winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on turf.
The respective last crops of yearlings by classic sire Pioneerof the Nile and his own influential sire, Empire Maker, both major losses from the North American stallion ranks in the last two years, will be represented at the upcoming fall yearling sales, including Keeneland September.
Some virtues were born out of necessity in the pandemic-challenged Thoroughbred sales marketplace in 2020. With limits on travel and attendance for buyers – particularly international buyers – in play, consignors and sales companies worked to fill in the gaps by providing a virtual picture of yearlings to potential buyers via expanded photography, walking videos, and more.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum, owner of champions internationally through his Shadwell Stables, died in March at age 75. The owner had been a force in the sport since entering Thoroughbred ownership in 1980, and his absence will be strongly felt at Keeneland.
It is a measure of the depth of the young stallion class at the Farish family's Lane's End Farm in Versailles, Ky., that West Coast finds himself somewhat overlooked.
