Second session starts off with a bang

The second session of Keeneland's two-week September yearling sale started strongly Tuesday when the first horse through the ring, an Unbridled's Song colt, brought $1.05 million. But that price was soon eclipsed by the $2 million that Coolmore agent Demi O'Byrne paid for Hip No. 265, an A.P. Indy colt from the family of Coolmore stallion Fusaichi Pegasus.

O'Byrne said he saw a resemblance to the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner in the $2 million colt, a strapping bay sold by Lane's End, agent.

Lane's End also sold the $1.05 million Unbridled's Song colt, a gray or roan son of Bally Five currently named Ballyhoo. The colt is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Yarrow Brae and two other stakes performers. John Moynihan, agent, signed the ticket but declined to indentify the buyers, saying only that he made the purchase on behalf of a domestic partnership that intends to race the colt.

Within a half-hour, a third Lane's End-consigned horse also had netted a seven-figure final bid. That was Hip No. 276, a $1.2 million Mineshaft colt out of Epsom Oaks winner Casual Look. Lincoln Collins, agent, bought the colt on behalf of My MeadowView Stable.

The Keeneland September yearling sale is taking place in Lexington, Ky., from Sept, 10-25, with a dark day on Sept. 14. This year the auction cataloged a record 5,553 yearlings.