The Keeneland September yearling sale, considered the bellwether for the market in North America, opened its two-week run on Monday with fireworks at the zenith.
A filly by Maclean's Music brought $145,000 from East Hickman to top the Consignor Select Yearling Sale conducted by the Equine Sales Company in Opelousas, La., on Sept. 5.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Midnight Bisou, the leading active older female, will be offered for sale at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale.
The Keeneland September yearling sale, which this year has 4,644 yearlings in the catalog for the 13-session sale that runs from Sept. 9-22, is considered the bellwether for the market in North America, testing the market at all levels. Not only that, as a sale that reliably attracts global buyers at many levels, the sale can give an indicator of how American sires and the American Thoroughbred are considered worldwide. The Daily Racing Form will have you covered throughout the sale's marathon run, beginning with our special preview edition, presented by Stonestreet Farm.
While Keeneland September yearling sale takes center stages, here is a look at other upcoming sales in North America where foals from the 2018 crop will be offered.
The first yearlings by young Claiborne Farm stallion War Front walked into auction rings in 2009 – not fortuitous timing for a young stallion attempting to prove himself, as the commercial market was reeling from the recession that began the year before. But one decade later, War Front, who stood for $12,500 in that debut season, has climbed his way up from humble beginnings to become the most expensive stallion in North America.
Frosted turned in his signature performances on New York racetracks before coming home to Kentucky to begin his stud career. Now, after his first yearlings delivered a breakout performance at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected sale in New York, the young stallion comes to the Keeneland September marketplace with a strong hand for continued success.
The Keeneland September yearling sale, which this year has 4,644 yearlings in the catalog for the 13-session sale that runs from Sept. 9-22, is considered the bellwether for the market in North America, testing the market at all levels.
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Tour of Duty, a War Front colt out of the winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Sabbatical, was the first foal delivered in the first season of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Foal Patrol project, and is cataloged at Keeneland September.
It’s typical for a young stallion to garner an outstanding book of mares in his first season as his stud farm and supporters look to get him off to a strong start. Then the quality and quantity of his book of mares may decrease somewhat in the ensuing few years, only picking up again later if the stallion’s first crops are a success on the racetrack. But 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, the hero the sport waited 27 years for, isn’t a typical case and the market has not responded in typical fashion.
