Luck plays a part in getting a yearling to the sales ring successfully, just as luck plays a part in success on the racetrack. A horse's placement within the sale catalog can be compared to the luck of the draw in assigning post positions.
With Scat Daddy's first sons to stud having justified – pardon the pun – the hype, Triple Crown winner Justify will represent the late sire in this year's class of first-crop yearling stallions.
As the season moves into the fall and the leaves on the oak trees change colors to mark the passing of time, so, too, will there be a season of change in the Thoroughbred world. Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud announced in early August that it would take the most serious steps yet to end its commercial operations, dispersing the bulk of its stock.
The Stonestreet Farm broodmare band is always noteworthy, boasting multiple champions and championship producers in its ranks. But this year, in particular, Barbara Banke's operation has been on a roll, listed on the breeder line for such major winners as Kentucky Oaks heroine Malathaat, continually successful Eclipse Award champion Gamine, and Metropolitan Handicap winner Silver State. Off a summer of success, Stonestreet now comes into the Keeneland September yearling sale looking for continued scores at that venue.
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.
