Wednesday sees another six million dollar lots sold in Keeneland
Wednesday's third session of the Keeneland September Yearling saw another six lots sell for seven figures, taking the total number of million dollar lots to 28 so far at this year's sale.
The most expensive lot to sell on Wednesday was a colt by Spendthrift Farm's Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) who was bought by Larry Best's Oxo Equine for US$1.4 million.
Sold by Summerfield as Lot 604, the colt is the first foal out of the stakes winning and Grade 1 placed mare Dawn The Destroyer (Speightstown).
"It's always good when the breeder offers to partner with you on the horse (after he sells)," Best said.
"As you know I love Into Mischief. I have all these filters I use (in the selection process), and rarely does a horse meet all the filters when it's a colt. That's why you don't see me buying many colts.
"My filter is pretty stringent. Believe it or not, this one cleared them all and I said, 'Why am I not buying the horse when I've bought all these other Into Mischiefs and done well with most of them?'
"I waited until I saw it in the ring again, and I said if I'm going to roll the dice at a big number for a colt and I'm going to stick with the Into Mischief bloodline, this one looks as good as I've seen."
The colt was bred and raised by Stonestreet and sold by the Vanlangendonck's Summerfield operation.
"The horses like him, there aren't a lot of them," Francis Vanlangendonck said.
"There are so many agents and they have good eyes, so it doesn't matter where you put them. They're going to find them. (The colt is) just such an athlete. He's big, and he looks like an NBA player."
Champion sire Into Mischief stood for a fee US$250,000 this year, up from US$225,000 in 2021.
Momentum continues into third session
A total of 28 yearlings have sold for $1 million or more during the first three days of the auction, marking the highest number of seven-figure horses sold at the sale since 2007.
On Wednesday, the first day of Book 2, 219 yearlings sold for US$66,695,000, up 9.34 per cent from last year when 211 yearlings grossed US$60,996,000. The average of US$304,543 rose 5.35 per cent from US$289,081 in 2021, while the median increased 8.70 per cent, from US$230,000 to US$250,000.
Cumulatively, Keeneland has sold 439 horses for US$180,355,000, for an average of US$410,831 and a median of US$325,000. The gross is 18.95 per cent higher than the total from the corresponding period last year when 419 yearlings sold for US$151,618,000. The average is 13.53 per cent higher than last year's US$361,857, while the median is 12.07 per cent above US$290,000 in 2021.
"It was a great session," Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. "When you are seeing six million-dollar-plus horses in session three – which brings us up to 28 for the three days – it brings it back to the 2007 levels.
"The average and the median again are up over last year. It was a solid, competitive session with a diversity of buyers and the money spread among the sellers to large breeders and small breeders. That has been true the whole sale and that is very encouraging.
"It is very active in the barns," Lacy added. "There is a whole wave of pinhookers from Europe who are just arriving. There are a lot of international people who are coming for the first time or the first time in a long time. I predict the market to be energetic through the entire sale."
