December 27, 2024

Keeneland’s new-look Book 1 a smash hit

Last updated: 9/13/13 6:36 PM











Thursday’s $2.5 million War Front colt put an exclamation point on the revamped Book 1
(Keeneland Photo)





Results from the opening week of Keeneland’s 2013 September Yearling Sale,
the world’s premier yearling auction, signaled a continued resurgence of the
Thoroughbred market, evidenced by brisk trade among a deeply diverse buying
bench and 18 horses selling for $1 million or more. Strong performance was
driven in part by changes to the sale’s format, which assembled a critical mass
of top-quality yearlings and the world’s major buyers during week 1 to produce a
level of trade not seen in the five years since the global financial crisis.

Through the four elite Book 1 sessions, 546 yearlings were sold for
$153,385,000, for an average of $280,925 and a median of $207,500. This year’s
opening week totals realized significant gains over 2012. Cumulative gross rose
15.4 percent, average is up 38.5 percent, and median increased 38.3 percent.

The 18 yearlings sold for $1 million or more is the most since 2008, equaling
the 18 seven-figure horses sold then.

“Mission accomplished,” Keeneland Director of Sales Geoffrey Russell said.
“Our goal with the format change was to get as many high-quality yearlings and
as many buyers on the grounds as possible. It worked; week 1 was a great
success. Our consignors did an extraordinary job. They brought us the cream of
the North American foal crop.”

Keeneland reformatted the September Sale this year to reflect three distinct
market segments — week 1, the weekend and week 2. This year, Book 1 spanned the
entire opening week, Monday through Thursday, rather than a single day as in
2012. Opening-week sessions began at noon (EDT).



The new design enhanced the sale in a number of ways: it gathered a broad
cross section of yearlings at all levels of the market, it allowed buyers more
time to inspect a variety of horses, and it aided consignors in marketing their
horses to their fullest potential.

“The format change has been well received by consignors and buyers alike,”
Vice President of Sales Walt Robertson said. “The barn area has never been
busier, and the tremendous activity at the barns is carrying over to the horses
in Book 2.

“Consignors tell us they have been overwhelmed with buyer interest today. We
see this excitement continuing throughout the remainder of the sale.”

Buyers from across North America and all parts of the world converged at
Keeneland beginning September 6. Domestic buyers flexed their spending power at
the highest levels, accounting for a majority of the seven-figure purchases. Of
the week’s two top-priced yearlings, one went to a foreign interest, M.V.
Magnier of the Irish-based Coolmore Stud, who paid $2.5 million for a colt by
leading sire War Front, while American buyer Mandy Pope took home a filly out of
multiple Grade 1 stakes winner Take Charge Lady (Dehere) for $2.2 million.

“There was a hugely diverse group of buyers participating this week —
foreign, domestic, new buyers, familiar faces, prominent pinhookers, and
end-users,” Russell said.

“You name the criteria of the buyer, and they were here. And buyers elevated
their game; the quality of the yearlings and the strength of the market demanded
they do so, and they stepped up.”

Earlier this week, several prominent buyers and consignors commented on how
the sale was unfolding.










Hopes are high that the momentum from Book 1 will carry over into the rest of the sale
(Keeneland Photo)





“The new format is working because there’s a lot of money here,” Peter
O’Callaghan of Woods Edge Farm noted. “We’ve been sweating it out the last three
or four years. It slowly started to turn around last year, but it looks like
it’s very healthy at the moment.”

“The market is really strong, which I really applaud because I love this game
and I want to see it succeed,” Barbara Banke of Stonestreet Stables said.

“The right people are here, there are good horses here and they deserve to
make (the prices),” M.V. Magnier of Coolmore observed.

“I thought demand was great (Wednesday),” Bluewater Sales’ Meg Levy said. “We
RNA’d (our) first horse through the ring. Within about two minutes, I had six
people following me back to the barn and I got him sold. I was very happy about
that. Some of the horses brought more than what we thought, and some brought
about what we thought. It was great because with this new format, demand was
there for all levels of our horses.”

“There really aren’t a lot of the fillies with great pedigrees that have the
great physicals to match, so that’s why I think they’re bringing a premium,”
said Case Clay of Three Chimneys Sales. “The one that Borges Torrealba bought
($1.75 million Tiznow filly who is a half-sister to champion Speightstown) and
is coming back to Three Chimneys is stallion pedigreed, and our plan is to get
pages with stallion pedigrees. It’s exciting on the buying end, and on the
consigning end I think (the sale is) quite strong.”



“I think the buyers find the horses wherever they are,” said Richard Hogan,
agent for Nat Rea’s Regis Farms. “I can’t speak for everybody else, but we’re
getting what we want. The nice horses you gotta reach for. But we’re getting
what we want, and I’d rather do that than come in here and settle.”

“I think Keeneland did an excellent job of putting a very nice group of
horses together and I commend them on that,” Mandy Pope of Whisper Hill Farm
said. “I mean, we were taking horses off the list that any other time would have
been great horses and we would have been excited to own them. But you can’t vet
every horse on the sales grounds so you have to be selective. For the buyers,
it’s tough, but for the sellers I think it’s an excellent sale.”

“It’s not very convenient for me because I have to overpay,” Goncalo
Torrealba of buyer Borges Torrealba said, “but I guess if it’s not very
convenient for me, it’s good for the market.”

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Shadwell Estate Company Ltd. purchased
25 yearlings for $11,300,000 to rank as the opening week’s leading buyer.

Taylor Made Sales Agency, as agent, sold 68 yearlings for $18,390,000 to be
the leading consignor.

After the usual day off on Friday, the auction resumes with Book 2 yearlings
on Saturday and Sunday. Next week comprises Books 3-5. Sessions begin daily at
10 a.m.

For the complete catalog, latest updates and live video of the sale, log on
to keeneland.com.