The Keeneland September yearling sale continued rolling along at a brisk pace on day 13, putting up solid numbers that outpaced the comparable session of 2009.
During the Sept. 25 session, 197 horses sold for a total of $1,261,600, an average of $6,404 and a median of $3,700. Gross sales was up 4.3% over the comparable session of 2009 even though the number of horses sold dropped nearly 4%. The avearge was up 8.5% and the median was up 15.6%.
The buy-back rate for day 13 was 35.4%, which is higher than the 26.5% overall buy-back rate for the sale to date. This statistic is hard to compare with day 13 of 2009 when the buy-back rate was 17%. While trading appears to have been better in 2009, it is important to know that 39% of the horses that sold on day 13 in 2009 were bought for $3,000 or less. For day 13 of this year, only 27.5% of the horses sold in this price range.
Cumulatively, 2,862 horses have brought a total of $197,300,700, an average of $68,938 and a median of $30,000. Total gross sales to date are tracking 3.4% ahead of last year, while the average is up 7.8% and the median has doubled.
The top-selling colt Sept. 25 was from the first crop of Wilko and out of the winning mare Miss Attractive (by Running Stag). Adena Springs bred the bay colt in Florida and sold him for a final bid of $40,000 to Preston Stables. The day’s top-selling filly was a daughter of Mizzen Mast, out of Tussle (by Kris S.) that sold for $30,000 to Julie Cauthen as agent for Jerry Crawford and Donegal Racing, which own the grade I winner Paddy O’Prado.
Eisaman Equine purchased the second-highest priced horse of the day, a Holy Bull colt for $35,000. Out of the stakes-placed Housebuster mare Dominica, the colt is from the family of graded stakes winners Past Forgetting, Concerto and Illusioned. He was consigned by Longfield Farm, agent.
The sale finishes up Sept. 26 with the session starting at 10 a.m.