Keeneland officials announced July 31 that 3,908 yearlings have been cataloged for its 2013 September yearling sale. The sale which will run under a new format, will be held Sept. 9-21.
The two-week September sale has been reformatted for 2013 to reflect three distinct market segments—week one, the weekend, and week 2—in an effort to better meet the current needs of consignors and buyers.
The 2013 format will be as follows:
Week 1 (Book One) - Mon.-Thurs., Sept. 9-12: sessions begin at noon ET daily.
The premier Book One catalog will span the entire opening week with a total of 875 yearlings cataloged alphabetically by dam over the four-day period.
Fri., Sept. 13: The traditional "dark day;" no sale will be conducted.
Weekend (Book Two) - Sat.-Sun., Sept. 14-15: sessions begin at 10 a.m.
Week 2 (Books Three-Five) - Mon.-Fri., Sept. 16-21: sessions begin at 10 a.m.
"We strive to continually adapt the September sale to meet the current needs of our consignors, and to facilitate the sales process so that we engage buyers from beginning to end," said Keeneland director of sales Geoffrey Russell. "We believe these changes will aid consignors in marketing their horses to their fullest potential, and allow buyers to better navigate today's competitive marketplace."
For more on the new format, click here.
Of the total 3,908 yearlings cataloged, 2,031 are colts, 1,875 are fillies, one is a gelding, and one is a ridgling.
September Sales catalogs will be available online at www.keeneland.com beginning Aug. 6. Print catalogs will be mailed the week of Aug. 19.
Yearlings representing 239 of the world's leading sires have been cataloged, among them being Arch, Awesome Again , Curlin , Distorted Humor , Duke of Marmalade, Dynaformer, Elusive Quality , Fastnet Rock, Galileo, Ghostzapper , Giant's Causeway , Hard Spun , Harlan's Holiday, Henrythenavigator, High Chaparral, Indian Charlie, Invincible Spirit, Kitten's Joy , Lemon Drop Kid , Majestic Warrior, Malibu Moon , Medaglia d'Oro , Midnight Lute , More Than Ready , Pulpit, Raven's Pass, Scat Daddy, Sea The Stars, Sky Mesa , Speightstown , Stormy Atlantic , Street Cry, Street Sense , Tale of the Cat , Tapit , Tiznow , Unbridled's Song, and War Front .
Also cataloged are yearlings by such freshman stallions as Blame , Desert Party , Discreetly Mine, Eskendereya, Lookin At Lucky , Majesticperfection , Munnings , Quality Road , Super Saver , Tale of Ekati , and Warrior's Reward .
Keeneland notes they have sold more champions and stakes winners than any other sales company. Seven of the past nine Triple Crown races have been won by September sale graduates (Animal Kingdom , Shackleford , Ruler On Ice, I'll Have Another , Oxbow , and Palace Malice ).
To date, 76 September sale graduates have won 104 graded/group stakes, headlined by 19 grade/group I stakes winners, including Verrazano (William Hill Haskell Invitational and Wood Memorial), Palace Malice (Belmont Stakes), Oxbow (Preakness Stakes), champion Animal Kingdom (Dubai World Cup), champion Elusive Kate (Etihad Airways Falmouth Stakes and Prix Rothschild), Game On Dude (Santa Anita Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup), Marketing Mix (Gamely Stakes), champion Beholder (Las Virgenes Stakes and Santa Anita Oaks), Centralinteligence (Triple Bend Handicap), Graydar (Donn Handicap), Starship Truffles (Princess Rooney Handicap), Stephanie's Kitten (Longines Just a Game Stakes), Last Full Measure (Madison Stakes), Overanalyze (Arkansas Derby), California Memory (Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup), Reynaldothewizard (Dubai Golden Shaheen), and Swagger Jack (Carter Handicap).
"The September Sale is the one sale that shapes the sport," said Keeneland vice president of sales Walt Robertson. "September sale graduates have competed in 42 of the 47 grade I stakes held in North America so far this year. Buyers who want to compete at the highest levels shop the September sale."
Keeneland will provide live coverage of the entire September sale at www.keeneland.com.