Tag: Bloodstock

Keeneland has cataloged 4,147 horses for the 79th annual Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the world's largest and most significant marketplace for Thoroughbred racing prospects.

The auction, which covers 12 sessions from Sept. 12-24, kicks off nearly three months when Keeneland will be the focus of the global Thoroughbred industry with events that continue with the Fall Meet, Breeders' Cup World Championships and November Breeding Stock Sale.

Click here for the online September Sale catalog, which will include walking videos and photographs of yearlings.

Print catalogs are expected to arrive in the mail around Aug. 20.

“The September Sale is a bellwether event on the annual sales calendar, and we at Keeneland are excited to once again provide a stable and successful marketplace for consignors and buyers,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “Last year's September Sale was vibrant from start to finish, resulting in record average and median prices and a record high clearance rate. This year, we look forward to welcoming back more international buyers who haven't been here in a few years due to COVID travel restrictions.”

Format is consistent with last year

Similar to the 2021 September Sale, Week 1 of this year's auction will feature Books 1 and 2 during the first four days, and more than 1,100 horses judged the sale's finest individuals based on pedigree and conformation are cataloged. The aim of the format is to position the largest number of exceptional horses possible before major domestic and foreign buyers prior to the “dark day” on Friday, Sept. 16 when no sale will be held.

“We've been listening to our buyers, both from the U.S. and abroad, and they have expressed a desire that we put forward more horses which are top physicals early on, and so we have emphasized that aspect,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “Book 1 encompasses more highly graded horses than in recent years, so buyers who come into town for only a short period of time will be able to see a larger percentage of really nice horses.”

Yearlings cataloged to Book 1 are out of 36 Grade 1 winners and out of a total of 89 graded stakes winners overall; 50 are half-siblings to Grade 1 winners and to 99 graded stakes winners overall.

The September Sale will present the following schedule:

Week 1

Book 1 – Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 12-13. Sessions begin at 1 p.m. ET. A total of 362 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Book 2 – Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 14-15. Sessions begin at 11 a.m. A total of 751 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Dark Day – Friday, Sept. 16. No sale will be conducted.

Week 2

Book 3 – Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 17-18. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 828 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Book 4 – Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 19-20. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 822 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Book 5 – Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 21-22. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 807 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Book 6 – Friday-Saturday, Sept. 23-24. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 577 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Keeneland will livestream the entire September Sale at Keeneland.com. As always, online and phone bidding will be available.

Barn renovations and hospitality

Keeneland's multi-year project to renovate the stable area resumed this year following a three-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021 and improvements made to The Thoroughbred Center in 2022, which meant horses who resided there relocated to Keeneland for several months while new barns were constructed. In this second phase of the renovation, Barns 20-27 now feature new roofs, re-graded walking rings, a new drainage system, upgraded LED lighting, new electrical wiring and new trees.

“We were very pleased to continue our stable area renovation this summer, which, when combined with Barns 11-19 that were renovated in 2019, makes for a total of 14 upgraded barns at this point,” Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Cormac Breathnach said. “While we work to enhance the entire barn area, our goal is to put the walking rings and areas where consignors present horses for inspection on par with the caliber of horses being presented. These renovations are among the capital improvements our sales clients will see around Keeneland.”

The September Sale will mark the return of the Saddling Paddock Chalet, which also will be in use for the Fall Meet, Breeders' Cup and November Breeding Stock Sale. Located adjacent to the Sales Pavilion and extending the entire length of the Paddock, the Chalet will expand the number of hospitality offerings for sales clients. It will include a dining room, where a buffet lunch will be available Sunday, Sept. 11 through Thursday, Sept. 15, as well as a lounge and bar open the entire auction. Additional private conference rooms in the structure also will be available.

World's leading sires have yearlings in catalog

The September Sale catalog has a total of 2,102 colts, 2,044 fillies and one gelding. Among them are 21 yearlings bred outside North America, exemplifying the auction's international appeal to overseas breeders.

Yearlings in the catalog represent 199 of the world's most established stallions, including American Pharoah, Bated Breath (GB), Candy Ride (ARG), Caravaggio, Constitution, Curlin, Distorted Humor, Flatter, Frankel (GB), Galileo (IRE), Ghostzapper, Gun Runner, Hard Spun, Into Mischief, Kingman (GB) Kitten's Joy, Maclean's Music, Medaglia d'Oro, More Than Ready, Munnings, No Nay Never, Not This Time, Nyquist, Quality Road, Speightstown, Street Sense, Tapit, Twirling Candy, Uncle Mo, Upstart, Violence, War Front and Wootton Bassett (GB).

In addition, a number of exciting young stallions are represented by their first crop of yearlings in the catalog such as Grade 1 winner Audible, multiple Grade 2 winner Catalina Cruiser, multiple Grade 1 winner Catholic Boy, multiple Grade 1 winner Divisidero, multiple graded stakes winner Enticed, Grade 1 winner Leofric, champion Mitole, multiple Grade 1 winner Omaha Beach, Grade 1 winner Preservationist, champion Vino Rosso and multiple Grade 1 winner World of Trouble.

The catalog also includes progeny of other stallions who were accomplished on the race track and whose first runners are excelling this year. Among them are Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Always Dreaming, Grade 1 winner Army Mule, multiple Grade 1 winner Bolt d'Oro, Grade 1 winner Girvin, champion Good Magic, multiple graded stakes winner Good Samaritan, Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Justify, Grade 1 winner Mendelssohn, multiple Grade 1 winner Mor Spirit, Grade 1 winner Mo Town, multiple Grade 1 winner Oscar Performance, Grade 1 winner Sharp Azteca and champion West Coast. 

Graduates win stakes around the world

Through Aug. 8, graduates of the September Sale have won 224 stakes globally in 2022. Victories include graded stakes across the U.S. and in Canada, Japan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

Leading the Grade 1 winners are two winners of Triple Crown races: Early Voting (Preakness-G1) and Mo Donegal (Belmont-G1). At premier meets this summer at Del Mar and Saratoga, graded stakes-winning sales graduates are American Theorem (Bing Crosby-G1), Big Invasion (Quick Call-G3 Presented by Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation), Cabo Spirit (La Jolla-G3), Epicenter (Jim Dandy-G2), Golden Pal (Troy-G3), Heywoods Beach (Cougar II-G3), champion Jackie's Warrior (Alfred G. Vanderbilt-G1), Just Cindy (Schuylerville-G3), Life Is Good (Whitney-G1), Naughty Gal (Adirondack-G3), Nest (Coaching Club American Oaks-G1) and War Like Goddess (Glens Falls-G2).

Other major North American Grade 1 victories were recorded by sales graduates Casa Creed (Jaipur), Colonel Liam (Pegasus World Cup Turf Cup Invitational Presented by Baccarat), Express Train (Santa Anita Handicap Presented by Yamaava' Resort & Casino), Jackie's Warrior (Churchill Downs Presented by Ford), Life Is Good (Pegasus World Cup Invitational Presented by 1/ST BET), Nest (Central Bank Ashland) and Zandon (Toyota Blue Grass).

Winners of Group 1 races abroad include Country Grammer (Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline), Emblem Road (Saudi Cup) and Switzerland (Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Atlantis Dubai).

The post Keeneland Catalogs 4,147 Horses For 2022 September Yearling Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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As the summer rolls on, and more racetracks card more races for juveniles, the hunt for the coveted freshman sire title begins to take shape with a set of early leaders.

Though the general freshman title typically gets the headlines, there are plenty of other races within the rookie class that can provide a glimpse at what the future might hold for the young sires.

As a winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf during his own racing career, Oscar Performance has the prior form to suggest his first crop of juveniles might have some precocity over the grass, and so far, that has proven to be true. The resident of Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Ky., is the leading freshman sire by turf starters, turf winners, and turf earnings through Aug. 8.

Oscar Performance has had 15 turf starters through the first week of August, with three winners, and combined progeny earnings on the surface of $169,574, holding off current leading general freshman sire Sharp Azteca, with $163,645 on the grass.

Price Bell of Mill Ridge Farm acknowledged that the heart of the turf schedule for 2-year-olds is still to come, but being on top through the key summer meets shows that the Oscar Performance juveniles are doing what's expected of them.

“We don't write that many 2-year-old turf races in this country, and then when Churchill Downs had the challenges they had with their turf track, it throws it off even more,” he said. “Now, we're starting to get more turf races being written, and hopefully more entries and more results. Kentucky Downs is around the corner, and that's the stuff you dream about. The next 60 days will be really important.

“We had the pleasure to raise quite a few, and we always felt like they had class and quality, but once they leave our hands, you never really know,” Bell continued. “The 2-year-old people that got them liked them and felt positive, and trainers that got them have liked them. It's all hope, really, after it gets started, and we continue to be hopeful.”

Oscar Performance's standout turf runner through early August has been Lachaise, a ridgling who won a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight over the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 4.

A win in the right place at the right time can be a significant driver of commerce in the commercial marketplace, and a win at one of the meets watched and coveted by practically every major breeder or buyer helped drive traffic to the Mill Ridge barn on the sale grounds across the street from the track.

“Last year, even though it was his first crop, it had been a long time since racetrackers, owners and trainers had seen Oscar Performance,” Bell said. “Now, to hear about them training and winning, people are saying 'I want to see that horse.' Timing is everything, and it was perfect timing.”

Lachaise's win emulated his sire, who broke his maiden in Saratoga as a juvenile at the same distance by 10 1/4 lengths. Oscar Performance would go on to win that season's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita Park; the first of his four career Grade 1 victories.

Though Oscar Performance was himself a turf star, and his runners have shown a propensity for the surface, his highest-profile runner to date has yet to compete on the grass.

Andthewinneris, a homebred for Susan Moulton, overcame a slow start to win an April maiden special weight at Keeneland by two lengths, then he finished third in the listed Bashford Manor Stakes on the main course at Churchill Downs.

Bell said the Bashford Manor start was more about timing than surface, but it ended up showing that the sire is not limited by what's under the feet of his runners.

“They needed to run him, and the Bashford Manor came up with six entries,” Bell said. “He'd been training well enough on the dirt, and the rider made a move to win the race, and he ran into a very good horse. He moved at the top of the turn to not let the horse get away, and he got tired. It was really game.”

Andthewinneris is being targeted for a stakes race over the Saratoga turf for his next start.

Though the colt will be headed to what is likely his natural surface for his next start, Bell said the physical makeup of the Oscar Performance runners so far suggests he could have a future as a dual-threat sire.

“He's thrown a really nice balance to him,” Bell said. “I don't think they look turfy. Sometimes, some horses will get set in their hocks and they're good long-distance turf horses. He doesn't have that look. They've got good balance, good strength, and they look like nice horses – not just nice turf horses. I think 'turf' is a four-letter word at times, and the offspring have just been nice horses.”

The post Oscar Performance Setting The Pace Among Freshman Turf Sires appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The catalog for the 2022 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (Alberta Division) Thoroughbred Yearling Sale is now online, featuring 67 horses on offer.

The auction will take place Friday, Sept. 16 at Westerner Park in Deer Park, Alberta. A viewing day will be held a day earlier.

This year's catalog includes 58 yearlings, seven juveniles, one broodmare and one yearling. Those numbers could continue to grow after supplemental entries, which are due by Aug. 22. The majority of the yearlings in the catalog are Alberta-breds, with other offerings born in Ontario and Saskatchewan.

Alberta stallions with offspring in the catalog include Big Lightning, Cape Canaveral, Charming Assassin, Dynamic Sky, It's No Joke, Mank, Marine Landing, Mr. O'Prado, Mr. Recio, and Singing Saint. Saskatchewan sire Driven West is also represented by his first crop of yearlings.

To view the online catalog, click here.

The post CTHS Alberta’s 2022 Yearling Sale Catalog Now Online appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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