A wave of change swept the Thoroughbred racing and bloodstock industry earlier this year as it grappled with the global coronavirus pandemic. That wave is set to crest at the end of this summer. The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, rescheduled for the first weekend of September, could wash continued momentum into Lexington, Ky., for this year's unprecedented yearling sale season.
A wave of change swept the Thoroughbred racing and bloodstock industry earlier this year as it grappled with the global coronavirus pandemic, and those changes will be seen in Lexington this month as the major-market North American yearling sales calendar belatedly begins. Take a look in our special edition, presented by Stonestreet Farm.
A $90,000 colt by leading Ontario sire Old Forester headlined the 2020 Canadian premier yearling sale at the Woodbine sales pavilion on Wednesday.
This year’s Kentucky Oaks features a highly-anticipated showdown between dual Grade 1 winner Gamine and runaway Grade 1 Alabama Stakes heroine Swiss Skydiver. Both of the superstar fillies were purchased at the 2018 Keeneland September yearling sale.
A colt from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Klimt topped the Texas summer yearling sale on Monday, when he fetched $120,000 from Al Pike, agent, according to a press release from the Texas Thoroughbred Association. The organization put on the sale along with host site Lone Star Park.
Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton have announced joint biosecurity protocols to guard against the spread of COVID-19 at their upcoming September yearling sales in Lexington, Ky.
Despite a significantly smaller catalog, Tuesday's Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale in Pleasanton recorded higher gross and average prices compared to the 2019 auction.
Tuesday's Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton will be the first auction in the state since January, a schedule disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
With traditional Thoroughbred auctions worldwide adjusting to new practices due to the coronavirus pandemic, a number of stand-alone online auction companies have emerged to provide another market outlet. Among those is Wanamaker's, which made a splash as its July sale closed this week, with the 3-year-old gelding Fiya selling for $400,000 to lead the way.
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to develop and COVID-19 cases on the rise in a number of states, including Kentucky, Keeneland issued an update this week on its biosecurity preparations for its September sale, including mandatory testing.
