A $450,000 colt from the first crop of Unified led Saturday's session as the bellwether Keeneland September yearling sale reached the midpoint of its marathon run.
The popularity of Into Mischief, as well as the market trends of selectivity and restraint at the top, continued as Keeneland September moved into its Book 3 portion with Friday's session.
A $1 million colt by Into Mischief pushed a solid Book 2 across the line as the bellwether Keeneland September yearling sale begins to test different levels of the North American market in the second week of its run.
A $950,000 Uncle Mo colt led the way as the bellwether Keeneland September yearling sale opened its Book 2 portion Wednesday, beginning the second week of the sale that will test the strength of the middle and lower markets in North America.
A highly selective marketplace put some blights on the elite Book 1 portion of the bellwether Keeneland September yearling sale, but buyers were willing to stretch for what more than one of them described as “the right horses.” One of those horses was a Tapit colt that a large partnership assembled to purchase for $2 million, as the book concluded with urgency in the bidding in pursuit of that elusive creature.
Grade 1 winners Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. were the cover boys of the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling showcase, held just days after they met in the Kentucky Derby – and both had half-siblings in the catalog for that auction. Both have ultimately been retained to race in the colors of their respective breeders after not meeting their reserves in the ring.
Authentic's victory in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby gave historic Spendthrift Farm its first classic victory under B. Wayne Hughes's ownership and also delivered the thrill of victory to the partners in the micro-share ownership experience group MyRacehorse. Spendthrift and MyRacehorse quickly turned around to look for their next star, buying three horses in partnership for a combined $850,000 at the Fasig-Tipton selected yearling showcase.
The Keeneland September yearling sale continued the momentum established at the upper end of the North American yearling market last week, as five yearlings by five different sires sold for seven-figure price tags in a competitive but selective marketplace.
A pair of seven-figure yearlings led the way at the one-off Fasig-Tipton selected yearling showcase in Lexington, Ky., which also represented the belated start to the major-market North American yearling sale season.
Not This Time has emerged as one of the early leaders of the 2020 freshman sire class on the racetrack, and his first crop found smashing commercial success in a turbulent market. The young stallion, who bucked trends by getting a solid second book at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, looks to carry that success into the yearling sale season.
