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Keeneland, Kentucky Downs Team To Offer Racing Opportunities To Horses Sold At September Sale

Horses offered at auction during the upcoming Keeneland September Yearling Sale will be eligible to run in a pair of $250,000 allowance races at the 2022 FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.

Keeneland and Kentucky Downs today announced an arrangement where Kentucky Downs will stage one $250,000 allowance race for 2-year-old fillies and one for 2-year-old colts and geldings restricted to horses that go through the sales ring at Keeneland's world-famous yearling auction Sept. 13-24 in Lexington, Ky. Yearlings that are sold as well as those not reaching their reserve bid will be eligible for the lucrative allowance events the following September at Kentucky Downs.

“This innovative venture between Keeneland and Kentucky Downs is a win/win, rewarding those horsemen who buy yearlings at the September Sale with lucrative racing opportunities while enhancing Kentucky's racing circuit,” Keeneland vice president of racing Gatewood Bell said. “It is an investment very much in keeping with Keeneland's mission to strengthen the sport of racing, and an example of how collaboration among racing entities benefits our industry.”

“Every meet, owners tell us after winning a race that now they have more money for the Keeneland September Yearling sale,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' vice president for racing. “This is just another incentive to keep those sales horses in Kentucky or to bring them back to the state to race. This should also help breeders and consignors of yearlings with turf pedigrees, giving potential owners extra reason to buy a grass horse.”

Kentucky Downs already offers the largest purses in America. To put the $250,000 purse in perspective, an entry-level allowance race for 2-year-olds at the 2021 meet carries a purse of $145,800, of which $75,600 comes from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF).

The Keeneland sale-restricted allowance purses will not include any KTDF money, which is available only to registered Kentucky-bred horses. That means horses born anywhere will run for the entire $250,000, which is more than the purses of most stakes races.

Funding will come out of the Kentucky Downs' horsemen's purse account under an agreement with the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, which represents owners and trainers at the commonwealth's five Thoroughbred racetracks.

“This is just another example of horsemen and racetracks working together to strengthen the entire circuit,” said Marty Maline, executive director of the Kentucky HBPA. “This also gives owners buying horses in the middle and end of Keeneland's September Sale the opportunity to compete for big bucks with a horse that might not cost a lot of money.”

Kentucky Downs' 2021 meet opened Sunday, Sept. 5 and continues on Sept. 11 and 12. The six-date session was scheduled to pay out more than $15 million in purses, including KTDF supplements.

Keeneland's September Yearling Sale is the world's most important Thoroughbred auction, offering quality yearlings at all levels of the market. Attracting buyers from across the world, Keeneland September is racing's No. 1 source of future champions and Grade 1 winners. The 2021 auction spans 11 daily sessions, beginning Monday, Sept. 13.

A total of 2,481 yearlings were sold for a collective $248,978,700 at last year's September Sale. While the sales topper fetched $2 million, the average price was $100,354 with the median being $37,000.

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Keenelands September Yearling Sale Begins Monday

Keeneland's internationally important September Yearling Sale opens for the 78th time on Monday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. ET with the first of 11 sessions of top-class Thoroughbred racing prospects. A total of 4,037 yearlings have been cataloged to the sale, which runs through Friday, Sept. 24 and again will offer online bidding and telephone bidding to accommodate those unable to attend.

Keeneland has arranged Week 1 of the September Sale to present a large concentration of premium horses to as many of the prominent domestic and international buyers who annually participate in the auction as possible. A total of 1,102 yearlings were cataloged to Books 1-2 during the first four sessions on Sept. 13-16 before the sale takes a one-day hiatus and resumes Sept. 18-24.

“The importance of the September Sale to the health of the Thoroughbred industry and to the economy of Central Kentucky cannot be overstated,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “The finest yearlings from this year's crop will be offered during the two weeks of the sale, giving buyers from around the world the opportunity to select racing prospects at all price points to race in the U.S. or in their home countries. Keeneland has elevated the sale atmosphere to enhance the full experience for sellers and buyers and to celebrate all the Bluegrass has to offer those who are passionate about horses.”

Graduates of the September Sale excel in the world's most important races. Through Labor Day, the sale had produced the winners of 249 stakes this year, including the winners of 34 Grade/Group 1 races. Among them are holiday weekend Grade 1 winners Echo Zulu (Spinaway), Max Player (Jockey Club Gold Cup) and War Like Goddess (Flower Bowl) at Saratoga along with Pinehurst (Runhappy Del Mar Futurity) at Del Mar.

The half-sister to Echo Zulu (Hip 43, a filly by American Pharoah) is among the siblings to a number of recent Grade 1 winners of 2021 at Saratoga and Del Mar that highlight the September Sale catalog. Others include the half-brother to champion and Ketel One Ballerina winner Gamine (Hip 486, a colt by Kantharos), the full sister to Hopeful winner Gunite (Hip 539, a filly by Gun Runner), the half-brother to Forego winner Yaupon (Hip 73, a colt by Good Magic) and the half-brother to TVG Del Mar Debutante winner Grace Adler (Hip 99, a colt by Into Mischief).

Among the notable stallions with their first crop of yearlings in this year's September Sale catalog is 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Other first-crop stallions include Accelerate, Always Dreaming, Bolt d'Oro, City of Light, Cloud Computing, Collected, Good Magic, Good Samaritan, Mendelssohn, Mo Town, Mor Spirit, Oscar Performance, Tapwrit and West Coast.

Cataloged yearlings represent such leading sires as American Pharoah, Australia (GB), Bernardini, Candy Ride (ARG), Churchill (IRE), Constitution, Curlin, Distorted Humor, Empire Maker, Fastnet Rock (AUS), Flatter, Galileo (IRE), Ghostzapper, Gun Runner, Highland Reel (IRE), Into Mischief, Kingman (GB), Kitten's Joy, Le Havre (IRE), Lope de Vega (IRE), Malibu Moon, Mastercraftsman (IRE), Medaglia d'Oro, More Than Ready, Munnings, No Nay Never, Not This Time, Nyquist, Pioneerof the Nile, Quality Road, Saxon Warrior (JPN), Speightstown, Tapit, Tiznow, Twirling Candy, Uncle Mo, Union Rags, War Front, Wootton Bassett (GB) and Zoffany (IRE).

COVID-19 protocols

For the September Sale, Keeneland's grounds are open to sales participants and the public, and the Sales Pavilion and Arena will operate at full capacity. Keeneland continues to follow the direction of local and national health guidelines that pertain to the COVID-19 pandemic to create the safest environment possible for sales participants.

Keeneland strongly encourages vaccinations for all eligible individuals.

Consistent with current CDC guidelines, Keeneland strongly recommends that all sales participants, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask when indoors. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available.

For additional safety, all Keeneland employees regardless of vaccination status will wear masks while indoors. Unvaccinated employees will continue to be tested weekly.

“Rising Stock” preview show airs Saturday; follow the sale on TVG2, Keeneland.com

Coverage of the September Sale begins Saturday, Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. when TVG2 will air “Rising Stock,” an hourlong preview show hosted by Gabby Gaudet and Scott Hazelton at Keeneland with Christina Blacker in the TVG studio. “Rising Stock” will be rebroadcast Sunday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 a.m. on TVG and at 11 a.m. on TVG2.

TVG2's live coverage of the September Sale will take place the first four days of the auction:

Sept. 13-14: 1-7:30 p.m.
Sept. 15: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sept. 16: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

As always, Keeneland will livestream the entire September Sale at Keeneland.com.

2021 September Sale schedule

The September Sale will take place as follows:

Week 1

Book 1 – Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 13-14. Sessions begin at 1 p.m. A total of 404 yearlings, including five supplements, are cataloged over the two days.

New for 2021 is the RNA Reoffer, which will begin immediately following the final hip of the Sept. 14 session as an option for sellers of yearlings that do not meet their reserves during the first session. (Click here for information about the RNA Reoffer.)

Book 2 – Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 15-16. Sessions begin at 11 a.m. A total of 698 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Friday, Sept. 17 – A “dark day” when no sale will be conducted.

Week 2

Book 3 – Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 18-19. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 827 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Book 4 – Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 20-21. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 829 yearlings are cataloged over the two days.

Book 5 – Wednesday-Friday, Sept. 22-24. Sessions begin at 10 a.m. A total of 1,279 yearlings are cataloged over the three days.

Amenities enhance unique experience

For the September Sale, Keeneland is committed to hosting a world-class event that facilitates business while creating an enjoyable atmosphere for guests. Click here for the On-Site Experience Guide to learn more. In addition:

Keeneland Hospitality will offer a variety of culinary options around the grounds ranging from seated meals to grab-and-go snacks. Venues include the Limestone Café, Terrace Grill (weather permitting), Phoenix Room and Track Kitchen.
Valet parking will be offered. Otherwise, patrons may park in any spot not marked as reserved.
Golf cart shuttles will be available to transport sales clients around the grounds.

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The Jockey Club Projects 2022 Foal Crop Of 18,700

The Jockey Club is projecting a North American registered Thoroughbred foal crop of 18,700 in 2022. This represents 500 fewer foals than the 2021 foal crop estimate of 19,200.

The foal crop projection is computed by using Reports of Mares Bred (RMBs) received to date for the 2021 breeding season. RMBs are to be filed by August 1 of each breeding season.

Additional foal crop information is available in The Jockey Club's online fact book at jockeyclub.com/factbook.asp and in the online state fact books.

Stallion owners who have not returned their RMBs for the 2021 breeding season are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Interactive Registration, which enables registered users to perform virtually all registration-related activities over the Internet, is the most efficient means of submitting RMBs and is available at registry.jockeyclub.com.

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Bloodlines: Gun Runner Sets A Blistering Pace In Freshman Sire Race

After his offspring won both of the Grade 1 stakes for 2-year-olds on the Labor Day weekend at Saratoga, freshman sire Gun Runner (by Candy Ride) has rebroken on his competition, and the Three Chimneys Farm stallion has a margin of more than $400,000 in progeny earnings over second-place Practical Joke (Into Mischief), who stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

The third- and fourth-place positions on the freshman sire rankings are taken by fellow Ashford stallions Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile) and Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). Then, well-separated from the leading quartet, are a six-pack of young sires who have progeny earnings within $100,000 of each other. These are Connect (Curlin) at Lane's End, Klimt (Quality Road) at Darby Dan, Unified (Candy Ride) at Lane's End, Mohaymen (Tapit) at Shadwell, Gormley (Malibu Moon) at Spendthrift, and Stanford (Malibu Moon) at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in California.

The weekend results added emphasis to the unexpectedly precocious showing of the first-crop racers by Gun Runner, who was a good racer at two but improved greatly at three and thereafter. Now the sire of four stakes winners from his first crop, all graded winners, Gun Runner has had three of those stakes winners at Saratoga, the fourth at Del Mar.

A tidy four-length victory in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga made Echo Zulu the first Grade 1 winner for her sire, and then Gunite powered through the stretch to win the Hopeful by 5 3/4 lengths on Labor Day to become a second Grade 1 winner for Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year and champion older horse for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC and Three Chimneys Farm.

Having Gunite as a homebred, Winchell Thoroughbreds bought Echo Zulu for $300,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale. Echo Zulu was one of two Gun Runner yearlings that Winchell Thoroughbreds bought last year. After racing Gun Runner with partner Three Chimneys, Winchell Thoroughbreds already had several young prospects coming along last year.

David Fiske, the racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, said that “we had taken the position that you don't go out on a limb with a young stallion” prior to Gun Runner. But he thought “if we were ever going to breed a bunch of mares to a single stallion, this was the one. I managed to convince Ron of this, and to his credit, Ron loves to gamble, and we ended up with 17 foals from the first crop.

“The good news was they all looked alike. None of them were bad; all looked like they'd be trainable, and of the 15 that survived to go into training, I told a fellow last year that I thought we could win with every one of them. They grew up well, kept good proportions, stayed sound, and appeared to have good minds.

“Off the results of that group, we bred another 17 mares to him the second year, didn't sell any mares in foal, have hung onto the ones we've had, and we're getting rewarded for doing that.

“Because Gun Runner is having a fairytale beginning to his stud career,” Fiske concluded.

The fairytale has only begun, but it is getting seriously exciting for all involved.

Although he improved markedly at three and four, Gun Runner was unbeaten at two in his first two starts, winning a maiden special at Churchill Downs on Sept. 11, then an allowance at Keeneland on Oct. 17. The effect of those two performances was enough for bettors to make the chestnut colt the third favorite at 4.9-to-1 in the G3 Iroquois for his third start. After laying up with the pace, Gun Runner had a narrow lead at the stretch call, then was ambushed by winner Airoforce (Colonel John), Mor Spirit (Eskendereya), and Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) to finish fourth, beaten 3 1/4 lengths by the winner.

None of those made progress comparable to Gun Runner over the coming months, who won both the G2 Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby, and the son of Candy Ride finished third in the Kentucky Derby behind juvenile champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo) and subsequent Preakness winner Exaggerator (Curlin).

Subsequently third in the G1 Travers and second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Mile, Gun Runner won the G1 Clark at the end of his second season, and of the final eight races in his career, Gun Runner lost only one, when second in the G1 Dubai World Cup to Arrogate, who performed miracles after a dodgy start to get up and win the race by 2 1/4 lengths.

After winning the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Horse of the Year award, Gun Runner signed off on his racing career at five with a victory in the second running of the Pegasus Stakes at Gulfstream, retiring to stud at Three Chimneys. For his fourth season at stud in 2021, Gun Runner stood for $50,000 live foal. That is virtually certain to increase for 2022.

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