Keeneland has started taking entries for the Internet portion of its November breeding stock sale. The online sale, which offers buyers a second chance at horses that did not bring their reserve prices during the live auction, will begin taking bids Nov. 18 at 9 a.m.
The auction will begin closing Nov. 20 at 1 p.m., when bidding ends hip-by-hip at five-minute intervals until 6 p.m. If necessary, closing bids will resume on any remaining horses Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. or possibly earlier in order to ensure the auction is done by 6 p.m.
Eight horses were entered in the online auction Nov. 9. New entries will be accepted today and Friday and posted for review on the Keeneland Internet Auction site after 5 p.m. each of those days.
Interest in the online auction is growing, though the number of horses actually sold has been sluggish. The auction registered about 250 bidders when it launched last September. So far, the November sale's online edition has registered nearly 500 bidders.
On the opening day of this year's September yearling Internet auction, Keeneland attracted almost 850 visitors to its auction site. On average, these visitors searched the site for 15 to 20 minutes.
"In today's Internet world, 15 to 20 minutes is eons," said Stephen Koch, Keeneland's Internet sales administrator. "People don't browse that long unless they've found something that really intrigues them."
Actual sales, however, have been slow. A year ago, the September yearling online auction sold 13 horses during three separate sessions for $500,200. This year, the online September sale sold five horses for a total of $27,800.
