Keeneland announced Oct. 5 that 4,702 horses have been cataloged for its November breeding stock sale, a decline of 17.6% from the record 5,709 cataloged for the Lexington sale in 2008.
The sale will be held Nov. 10 through Nov. 22.
Tom Thornbury, associate director of sales at Keeneland, said the downturn in horses entered in the sale could be attributed to the recent declines in the marketplace and a cutback in production by some breeders.
"I really think that (the decline) can be based on a recognition that there is overproduction and a reduction in the number of mares that were bred this past year. I think a number of mares were not bred. They were judged to be not productive and they were not bred," Thornbury said. "The other half of the answer would be that some breeders are retaining horses that they do not want to sell in a buyer’s market."
In the release, Keeneland said it delayed the traditional start of its November sale by one day as an accommodation to horsemen attending the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita in Southern California Nov. 6-7. Sale sessions begin daily at 10 a.m. ET. Keeneland will provide live coverage of the entire 13-day sale at www.keeneland.com.
The first session of the sale contains 245 hips while 248 are cataloged for the second day, a total of 493 horses in the first book. Last year, there were 311 on day one and 303 on day two, a total of 613.
The one-session Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale will be held on Keeneland's opening day, Nov. 10, with a 5 p.m., start time.
"The November sale offers quality and quantity unlike any other breeding stock sale in the world," said Keeneland director of sales Geoffrey Russell in the release. "This year’s catalog features some of the most outstanding broodmares and race fillies on the market today."
Included in the November sale are dispersals of two of North America’s most prestigious breeding establishments – the W.T. Young family’s Overbrook Farm and Windfields Farm, founded by the late E.P. Taylor. Cataloged among the weanlings in the sale is one of the last three foals sired by Overbrook’s leading sire Storm Cat, who was pensioned in 2008.
The catalog also includes 22 mares consigned by Adena Springs with foals by their sides that were produced by Southern Hemisphere-timed matings.
All leading North American and some leading European sires are represented by in-foal broodmares in the sale or as the sire of broodmares and weanlings being offered.
The catalog is available online at Keeneland’s website, www.keeneland.com. Print catalogs will be mailed Oct. 19.