Union Rags colt tops Book 2 opener at Keeneland September

LEXINGTON, Ky. - After fireworks lit up Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale earlier this week, plenty of sparks were still left as the auction moved into its Book 2 portion, with a flurry of high-ticket horses in Friday's session led by a $1 million Union Rags colt who helped power a big day for the Lane's End Farm stallions and consignment.

The seven-figure colt by Union Rags was consigned as agent by Lane's End, and fellow farm stallion Quality Road was represented by a pair of colts sold for $950,000 and $900,000, respectively, with the first of those co-bred and consigned by Lane's End. The farm also consigned the day's second-highest-priced horse, a $975,000 American Pharoah filly, as agent for Dixiana Farms.

"It lined up well for us," said Bill Farish of Lane's End. "We had some really good horses in this book, and it was great to see a couple of our stallions represented there at the top."

The 221 yearlings sold in Friday's session, the first of two in the Book 2 segment, generated revenues of $54,229,000. This year, Keeneland has again tweaked the format of its top-market portions in Books 1 and 2. Book 1 made up the auction’s first three days with a total of 569 hips cataloged, compared to four sessions with 989 cataloged in 2018. The size of the Book 2 catalog is 730 horses compared to 826 last year. Because of the changes and differing catalog sizes, year-to-year comparisons for some figures, notably gross receipts, will not be applicable. However, the activity thus far at Keeneland has compared favorably when placed in context against similar sections of the marketplace. Book 1 wrapped up with a 30 percent gain in average price compared to 2018's Book 1, while the median price rose 18 percent and the buyback rate was slightly improved, at 26 percent compared to 28 percent.

Friday's average price for the Book 2 opener was $245,380, soaring 37 percent from $179,752 in 2018's fifth overall session, the corresponding Book 2 opener. The median price was $210,000, up 50 percent from $140,000 on the comparable day last year, in what Keeneland director of sales Geoffrey Russell described as a "vibrant" session.

"A solid start for Book 2," Russell said. "We made a concerted effort to trim the numbers a little bit. Our goal was to continue on with the quality from Book 1, to keep the quality level as high as we can, and the numbers reflected that that went very well.

"I think you're seeing some buyers left over from Book 1, you're seeing buyers buying a lot more horses in Book 2 than they could do in Book 1," Russell continued. "Very domestically heavy, which is great for our industry, and a good cross section of end users and pinhookers getting into it."

The one blight on the rose for the session was the buyback rate, which checked in at 30 percent after finishing at 22 percent in the Book 2 opener last year, an unusually low figure in what has been a selective marketplace. Still, sellers said they four success moving quality wares.

"We had a great day – we went six for six," said Griffin Mayer of Nursery Place, which consigned the $900,000 Quality Road colt. "It's a bull market, as they say, and today shows that. I thought we had a nice group of horses, but it very much exceeded my expectations. I think Keeneland has done a great job, with Book 1, then giving everybody a dark day, a breather, and [a chance to evaluate Book 2], and I feel like today is a very good market."

Because this year's Book 1 portion was smaller, horses who may have been slotted in that book last year, perceived as top-quality offerings, instead slipped into Book 2, creating strong activity at the top of the market.

"She was actually our top horse, even including of Book 1," Courtlandt Farm manager Ernie Retamoza said after that outfit purchased the American Pharoah filly. "We thought she was Book 1 quality. ... [The market is] strong on the ones we were after, I'll tell you that. We were having to stretch a little bit."

This year's Book 2 opener matched last year's with a single seven-figure horse in each. However, five horses sold for prices between $750,000 and $999,000, bettering the number to do so last year. An additional 10 horses sold for between $500,000 and $749,000, compared to nine.

The session-leading Union Rags colt sold to the partnership of SF Bloodstock, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stables, which landed four of the session's top six lots.

“It’s been a tough week to buy," Tom Ryan of SF Bloodstock said. "We bought no horses the first day, three the second day, none the third day, and now here we are in the first day of the second book. There’s a great selection of horses in here today to work with. When their pedigree comes together, their physical and everything works out veterinary-wise, that’s where we are.

“He’s a big, obvious horse," Ryan said of the seven-figure colt. "Competition was strong from all over the ring as I could see. We found ourselves in the position where that’s what we had to give if we wanted to buy him.”

The Union Rags colt, out of the winning Smart Strike mare Miss Squeal, was bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. Miss Squeal is out of stakes-placed Miss Kate, making her a half-sister to stakes winners Katerbug, Outplay, and Raconteur. Japanese champion To The Victory and Belmont Stakes winner Creme Fraiche appear on the catalog page, as do Grade 1 winners Clear Mandate, Dream Deal, Romantic Vision, and Strong Mandate.

This was the second seven-figure lot of the sale for young sire Union Rags, who was also represented by a $1 million filly sold to Godolphin in Book 1.

The American Pharoah filly purchased by Courtlandt is from the second crop of her 2015 Triple Crown-winning sire, who is currently North America's leading freshman sire by earnings, is tied for the top spot by individual winners, and leads his class by number of black-type stakes horses, with seven worldwide.

This filly is out of the winning Indian Charlie mare Momentary Magic, who in turn is out of Grade 1-placed Magical Illusion. That makes Momentary Magic a half-sister to Grade 3-placed Stage Magic, a multiple stakes producer whose foals include none other than 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.

Bloodstock agent Josh Stevens, on behalf of Tom Durant, stretched to $950,000 for his Quality Road colt, noting that the price was higher than he expected due to strong competition for top lots.

"When you look at paper, and look at the physical, and you appraise them, right now, in this market, you might as well double it," Stevens said. "There's a lot of guys out there who haven't signed their name yet this sale, so you know there's money out there. If you want to get horses like this, you have to step up."

The colt was bred in partnership by W.S. Farish of Lane's End and Kilroy Thoroughbred Partnership, Quality Road, who is currently third on the general sire list, already sported several Grade 1 winners on his résumé, including Eclipse Award champions Abel Tasman and Caledonia Road, but Stevens believes the standout City of Light, winner of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and now standing alongside his sire at Lane's End, increased the horse's popularity.

Durant's purchase is out of the winning Storm Cat mare Storm Showers, who in turn is out of Grade 3 winner Welcome Surprise. Two of the latter's daughters have produced stakes horses – with Guest House the dam of Grade 3 winner Guest Suite, by Quality Road.

Welcome Surprise is out of the graded stakes winner and Broodmare of the Year Weekend Surprise, dam of 1990 Preakness Stakes winner Summer Squall, followed by 1992 Belmont Stakes, Breeders' Cup Classic winner, and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy. Both went on to become classic sires for Lane's End, with A.P. Indy multiple times a leading sire and broodmare sire.

"People that are buying horses at this level are looking down the barrel at stallion futures and stuff like that," Stevens said. "You just have to dig in and pay for these types."

Nursery Place's Quality Road colt, who was owned in partnership by Mayer, his father, his uncle, and two close friends, also went to the partnership of SF, Starlight, and Madaket. In addition to the Union Rags and Quality Road colts, that group also appeared on the leaderboard with an $800,000 Curlin colt – who was also consigned by Lane's End, as agent, giving the operation four of the top five lots – and a $775,000 Empire Maker colt. The partnership's purchases are expected to be eventually trained by Bob Baffert in California.

"He's always been a really nice horse, and coming in here, we knew he was nice," Mayer said. "Over the last couple of days, it kind of became evident how popular he was. It's very, very special, and great for our family."

The colt is out of the stakes-placed Salt Lake mare Hot Spell, the dam of five winners from as many starters, including stakes winner Saratoga Heater and stakes-placed Malocchio. Hot Spell's granddam is French group stakes winner and Italian highweight Relasure.

For hip-by-hip results, click here. The Keeneland September Book 2 portion closes with the Saturday session; the sale then continues on until Sept. 22 with Books 3 through 6.