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Half-Brother To Classic-Placed Midnight Bourbon Headlines Day 2 At Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Keeneland concluded the premier Book 1 portion of its September Yearling Sale on Tuesday with vibrant trade among major domestic and foreign buyers that produced strong results and the sale of eight seven-figure yearlings, led by the $1.6 million paid by Woodford Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds for a Quality Road colt who is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Girvin and 2021 Preakness and G1 Runhappy Travers runner-up Midnight Bourbon.

Keeneland sold 112 yearlings for $52,300,000, for an average of $466,964 and a median of $400,000. Cumulatively, 208 horses sold through the ring have grossed $90,622,000, for an average of $435,683 and a median of $350,000. A total of 11 yearlings have sold for $1 million or more.

“It was a great couple of days. We're really excited about the results, about the feeling and the excitement on the grounds,” Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “You've probably heard me say that (retiring Keeneland Director of Sales Operations) Geoffrey Russell likes to talk about the 'hustle and bustle,' which felt really present. It was a very diverse buying bench. Out of the 10 highest prices today, there were nine distinct buyers, which is encouraging to see along with the domestic and international participation.”

“The session was electric, full of optimism,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “The sellers were having as much fun as the buyers, which across the board is what we're trying to encourage. That's an incredible mark when we get to that.

“The median was $350,000 cumulative over the last couple of days, $400,000 for the session alone. I don't think we've ever hit $400,000 (for a session). Cumulatively it's just short of 2019, which was a record year. As we go forward, I think it's really encouraging. It sets a really good tone for Book 2. When you see results today where Woods Edge Farm sold a homebred for over a million dollars, that floats a lot of boats.”

The $1.6 million colt, the highest-priced yearling to date in the sale, is out of the Malibu Moon mare Catch the Moon and was consigned by Eaton Sales, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised. He also is a half-brother to Grade 3 winners Cocked and Loaded and Pirate's Punch. Half-brother Midnight Bourbon won a Grade 3 race earlier this year.

“The plan is to gather a partnership together with Woodford Racing, West Point and a few others and (Stonestreet owner) Barbara Banke,” Woodford founder Bill Farish said. “He will go to (trainer) Shug McGaughey.

“The market is strong,” Farish added. “For horses like this, it's been very, very hard to buy as you can tell by that price. It's competitive. That's how we hoped it would be.”

“He is fabulous looking and, of course, the mare has had some great foals by some lesser stallions,” Banke said. “I am hoping this one takes it all the way. I think I will be back in for (a piece) of him. I am excited about that. He was on my list of favorites. We need sire power; we need another sire.”

Two colts consigned by Gainesway, agent, sold for $1.3 million each.

Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm paid the amount for a son of Tapit from the family of champion Jaywalk and Grade 2 winner Mission Impazible. He is out of stakes winner Danzatrice, by Dunkirk.

“I love Tapit, as everyone knows – we've been buying a bunch of them,” Pope said. “This one was raised at Gainesway. I have a lot of faith in how they raise their horses and their horsemanship on the farm. I felt like the horse had a good beginning, a good foundation built into him.”

Two hips later, Gainesway, agent for Stonestreet Bred & Raised, consigned a son of Curlin out of Dashing Debby who sold to M.V. Magnier for $1.3 million. The colt is a half-brother to Grade 1-placed stakes winner Dawn the Destroyer and stakes winner Bronze Star.

“(Gainesway general manager) Brian Graves – when we went down to see him first – really, really liked the horse,” Magnier said. “All our guys liked him as well. Barbara Banke, she's bred some incredible horses over the last couple years. Curlin's doing very well.”

Magnier said the colt would stay in the U.S.

Gainesway was the leading consignor Tuesday, selling 15 horses for $9,430,000. Consigning three of the session's five highest-priced horses, Gainesway also sold a $1.2 million War Front filly purchased by Seahorse Stables. She is a half-sister to Canadian champion Lukes Alley.

“All class, everything she is supposed to be and maybe a little better,” said Eddie Woods, who signed the ticket. “Has a little more leg and scope than most of your War Fronts. She vetted perfectly; she may go to Ireland. The client couldn't travel. I'm just doing a job that normally they would do on their own.”

Out of the stakes-winning A.P. Indy mare Vaulcluse, the filly also is a half-sister to Grade 3-placed stakes winner Arrifana.

“She's just an absolutely lovely filly – best filly we had on the farm,” Gainesway's Brian Graves said. “We wish them a lot of luck.”

Spendthrift Farm went to $1.25 million to acquire a filly by Into Mischief out of Grade 1 winner Embellish the Lace, by Super Saver. She was consigned by Bluewater Sales, agent, and from the family of Grade 1 winners Afleet Express and Materiality and Grade 2 winners Eye of the Tiger and My Miss Sophia.

“She's just a beautiful filly, obviously by the right sire out of a Grade 1 winner, great depth of family,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. “She sort of ticked all the boxes, as classy a filly as we thought there was in the sale. We're really excited to have her. Sometimes you see that pedigree and you're disappointed in the physical, but there's nothing disappointing in any way about this filly. You just hope that you'll be able to afford her.”

Mayberry Farm spent $1.15 million for a colt by Quality Road who is from the family of Grade 1 winner Charlatan. Dixiana Farms consigned the colt, who is out of the English Channel mare Brielle's Appeal. Brielle's Appeal is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Authenticity, dam of Charlatan and stakes winner Hanalei Moon.

“He's been great. He's been solid,” Dixiana owner Bill Shively said. “I like him a lot and the mare is named after my daughter Brielle. Brielle's Appeal was a nice filly for us, a big strong filly, and this one came out right. What a way to start right?

“I've been doing this for 20 years and this is the first time we've broke a million, so we're very happy with that. I expected him to be the best we had, but I didn't expect him to get to a million.”

David Ingordo, who signed the ticket for the colt, began working with Dixiana when he was 21.

“I bought (this colt's) second dam (Court of Appeal) for Dixiana in 2006 when she was carrying (eventual Grade 2 winner) Authenticity,” Ingordo said. “I have followed the family. Dixiana is one of the better breeders, and I don't think they get the recognition that they should. I have probably seen this horse once a month since January. We have bought good horses from them. We knew he was a nice horse and the way the market it is, that is what it takes to buy one.”

Ingordo said the colt would go to trainer John Shirreffs in California.

West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable and St. Elias, purchased a colt from the first crop of Grade 1 winner City of Light for $1.05 million. Consigned by Woods Edge Farm, agent, he is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Biddy Duke and from the family of champion Essential Quality. The colt's dam is Ghostslayer, by Ghostzapper.

The City of Light colt was among the nine yearlings sold to West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable and St. Elias, for $5,185,000 to lead all buyers during the session.

A colt by War Front who is a full brother to European champion Air Force Blue sold for $1 million to Lynnhaven Racing. Consigned by Stone Farm, the colt is out of the Maria's Mon mare Chatham.

“You come up here with a nice horse, but you've got to have the buyer there,” Stone Farm's director of sales and racing Lynn Hancock said. “People liked him on the sales grounds. He's a beautiful physical – we think he's one of the nicest that the mare has thrown. We're heavily invested in the family and we love the family. The mare has been great to us. We're really happy that some nice people ended up with him. Can't be upset with a sale like that.”

Four horses that did not meet their reserve during Monday's session went through the RNA Reoffer at the close of the second session, and one of those horses sold.

“The RNA Reoffer helped solidify confidence if someone did not get a horse sold (on Day 1),” Lacy said. “They had options. We had many entries but some got sold privately, so at the end of Monday, we had seven entries. Three of those sold privately earlier on Tuesday. We think the RNA Reoffer program worked.”

The third session of the September Sale, which marks the first day of the two-day Book 2, begins tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET. TVG2 will have live coverage of the session from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The entire sale is streamed live at Keeneland.com.

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Justify Stands Out In Debut Keeneland September Book 1 Outing

With the number of horses he had cataloged, and the quality of pages under them, Triple Crown winner Justify was expected to have a big showing with his first crop at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and he lived up to that lofty goal in Book 1.

The resident of Ashford Stud was nipped in the final hour of the sale for the title of highest Book 1 gross by a sire, moving 25 horses over the auction's first two days for $12,522,000. He trailed leader Into Mischief by just $278,000.

Justify also finished fifth among Book 1 sires by average sale price among those with more than one horse sold, at $500,880. It was the biggest number by a rookie stallion, with the next closest being Lane's End resident City of Light, whose seven yearlings averaged $360,714.

“We are absolutely delighted with how the first crop of yearlings have been received so far at the Keeneland September sale,” said Robyn Murray of Ashford Stud. “They were a great bunch physically with top pedigrees to match, very indicative of the quality of mares he has bred in each of his three years at stud so far. The best validation of any horses first crop is to see who buys them, there was an international audience for them, befitting his stature and ability.”

The most expensive Justify yearling of Book 1 was Hip 161, a colt out of the stakes-placed Rockport Harbor mare Stayclassysandiego who sold to Japan-based Hideyuki Mori for $950,000. The half-brother to Grade 2 winner Pretty N Cool was consigned by Baccari Bloodstock, agent.

Bloodstock agent Barry Berkelhammer signed for a pair of Justify yearlings during Tuesday's session on behalf of Albaugh Family Stables.

He struck first on Hip 243, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Lord Nelson, for $500,000. Shortly after that, he went to $600,000 to land Hip 261, a colt whose second dam is Horse of the Year Azeri.

Even though he landed more Justify yearlings than most, Berkelhammer said he missed more times than he connected.

“These were the two that we could get bought,” he said. “We kept finding ourselves falling on them. I don't go to the sale saying I was going to buy some Justifys, but I find the horses I believe in, and let the chips fall where they may. Obviously, you'd be attracted to them. He was a beautiful horse himself and a great racehorse.”

Justify has 90 yearlings cataloged in the Keeneland September sale, which is the second most by a first-crop sire, trailing only fellow Ashford Stud resident Mendelssohn at 93.

With so many in the catalog, Berkelhammer said he has had plenty of opportunities to form an impression of what a typical Justify yearling looks like.

“They're athletic, they're big, and they've got some range to them,” he said. “They look like they're going to have turn of foot, and they're just beautifully balanced, with great toplines and good hips. He was that way, so it's just indicative that he's stamping himself.

“We were fortunate enough to buy two of them, and hopefully, they're the right two,” Berkelhammer continued. “Hopefully next year, we look smart.”

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Return To The Ring: Keeneland September’s RNA Re-Offer Sparks Trade In Different Ways

The catalog order was out of sorts at the end of Tuesday's session at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in Lexington, Ky.

Hip 399 was followed by Hip 399A and 399C, as one would expect when the main catalog turns into the supplemental catalog. Then, Hip 6 entered the ring, followed by Hips 72, 111 and 179.

The four horses causing the catalog detour were the inaugural class of Keeneland's RNA Re-offer program, which allowed sellers of horses that finished under their reserve during the auction's first session the opportunity to run them the ring a second time at the end of Tuesday's second day of trade.

Though each of the RNA Re-offer horses had a common touching point, each one took a unique path to and from it.

The quartet that went through the ring on Tuesday evening was narrowed down from an original group of seven yearlings that were announced by Keeneland at the end of Monday's session. Consignors had to notify Keeneland Sales officials of their intentions to run their horses through again within 30 minutes of the close of Monday's session. Buyers were then made aware of the horses to be offered through Keeneland's social media channels and advertising.

For a few of the horses, that little extra boost of promotion was all they needed to make a sale happen. Mill Ridge Sales had two horses entered in the RNA Re-offer, but neither made it to the ring.

“The one that was early, Hip 70, was for a partnership, and we thought we had action, but didn't have enough,” said Price Bell of Mill Ridge. “We RNA'd it for $125,000 and we wanted to support new ideas. Keeneland promoted it last night, and they promoted it today, and it probably let people know we wanted to sell these horses, that they weren't RNAs to race. This morning, we had three people ask us about her, and we got it done.

Hip 70, a First Samurai filly, sold privately to Madras Bloodstock on Tuesday morning for $90,000.

Bell said the other Mill Ridge horse set to go through again, Hip 195, an Uncle Mo filly who was a $140,000 buyback, was offered late on Monday, and was entered for the second chance mostly to hold the spot until the consignor could talk it over with the breeder, who elected to keep the filly to race. Still, Bell said the filly had an inquiry from a potential buyer on Tuesday morning after the initial list was revealed.

“It was effective to get more eyes on them, and positions them to be buyable,” he said. “It's not Plan A, but this late in the yearling season, sometimes you don't have a Plan B. For this to be a Plan B for that draw and that day, is great.”

Ramsey Farm also had a potential re-offer turn into a private sale, with Hip 197, a Nyquist colt, go to Daniel Pita for $70,000 after hammering for $80,000 in the ring.

For the remaining four horses, it was a slightly different pre-sale experience than their first go-around. Book 1 of Keeneland September is often filled with all-shows and extensive vetting, as high-level buyers attempt to leave no stone unturned. By Tuesday, however, most shoppers have moved on with their inspections to the horses in Book 2.

It was largely business as usual for Taylor Made Sales Agency, which had two horses entered in the re-offer: Hip 72 by Justify (RNA at $200,000), and Hip 179 by American Pharoah (RNA at $140,000). The consignment regularly keeps its buybacks from the first session of Book 1 on the property for an extra day in an attempt to woo a private sale before taking them home. Taylor Made's Mark Taylor said the discussion with the sellers to re-offer was not much different than it would be for any other RNA situation.

“It's the same conversation you would have if this re-offer wasn't in existence,” he said. “We always sit back and say, 'Okay, we've got the horse back. Have you reevaluated what you would take for the horse, and if so, where do you think that is?' Then, we go and start calling people that were interested. A lot of times, those people seek you out, too. In this case, I would say there's no downside for putting them in. If someone calls you at noon and gives you the hammer price, and you want to go ahead and sell it, Keeneland's going to allow you to do that.”

For both horses, Taylor said he expected them to bring more the first time around. He theorized that buyers might have thought that as well, which might have made them think the horses were out of their budget and look elsewhere. Multiple potential buyers made private offers in about the same price range, but all of them were slightly lower than the what seller was looking for, prompting the decision to let the hammer sort it out.

Catalog placement came into play for Hip 6, an Into Mischief colt who was bought back on Monday with a final bid of $340,000. It can take a while for a buyer's bench to build up momentum, and the colt was re-entered with the hopes of catching the market once it's warmed up.

“It's been busy enough,” consignor Pat Costello of Paramount Sales said about an hour before the colt's second trip through the ring. “He's been out five or six times today. Hopefully, we'll get something done.”

Though the shoppers had largely moved on to horses later in the sale, Kerry Cauthen of Four Star Sales said he worked on getting the minds of potential customers back to day one for a moment. Cauthen had Hip 111, a More Than Ready colt who was bought back at $145,000 after his first trip through the ring on Monday.

“People have obviously moved on to the next spot,” Cauthen said. “We mentioned it to everyone at Barn 42 (Four Star's Book 2 barn), letting them know the horse was going to be offered again. A lot of people would have seen him, and it gets back in their head, and we had three or four people say, 'I'm gonna watch him.' I don't know if it'll work or won't work, but there's no harm in letting them have a look.”

Cauthen's strategy was successful. Of the four horses that went through the ring for a second time on Tuesday, the More Than Ready colt was the only one to change hands at the fall of the hammer, improving his price from $145,000 on Monday to $150,000 on Tuesday.

The remaining three horses hammered for less the second time around, with Paramount's Hip 6 getting the closest at $335,000 after initially bringing $340,000.

One of the caveats of the re-offered section was that reserves had to be set with 15 percent above or below the initial reserve on Monday, which could have affected the sale status of some of the horses that hammered for less. As horses clearly marked to sell, it is likely they will find buyers privately before the sale is through.

Tony Lacy, Keeneland's vice president of sales, said he was pleased with what he saw with the re-offer program, between the private and public sales.

“I think there was a little bit of uncertainty over what it really was, but now that we're at the stage of the day where you had a few people that felt the market didn't treat them the way they expected, they can come back, and hopefully there will be better reception,” he said.

“There was anxiety amongst a group of sellers about being early in the sale, and as a former consignor, it definitely felt there was a lack of safety net in certain parts if you had a horse that may be perceived as having less marketability, or less appeal,” he continued. “Quite frankly, I think it really helped, and it helped solidify people's confidence that if they didn't get one sold early, that they had options.”

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Pope Goes To $1.3M for Tapit Colt

Mandy Pope made her first big splash at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale, going to $1.3 million for Gainesway's hip 331. The Lexington nursery acquired the colt's dam Danzatrice (Dunkirk) for $105,000 at the 2014 OBS April Sale and raced her to seven victories, including a trio at black-type level and a third-place effort in the GIII Groupie Doll S. Danzatrice is a half-sister to Eclipse Award winner Jaywalk (Cross Traffic), who is a maternal granddaughter of the late Unbridled's Song the same as Danzatrice. Mandy Pope paid $3.8 million for Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song), the dam of multiple champion Unique Bella (Tapit) and carrying a full-sibling to that one at Keeneland November in 2016.

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