No Glitches During Inaugural Internet Auction

Keeneland Association reported the successful launch Saturday of its innovative Internet auction of horses that had not sold at the record-breaking September yearling sale earlier in the week. Seventy-five yearlings were offered during the online sale, with four changing hands for a total gross of $109,500. More than 200 buyers and agents registered to bid during the auction.

"First and foremost, it worked," said Keeneland president Nick Nicholson. "The Internet auction demonstrates that you can blend the tried and proven elements of Keeneland's live auction with emerging technology to provide an expanded service to our customers."

Under the Internet RNA auction format, only horses that failed to reach their reserve bids during the live auction were eligible to be sold online. Bidding began at 8:00 a.m. (EDT) Saturday at concluded at five-minute intervals after 4:00 p.m.

"It was a nice start," Keeneland sales director Rogers Beasley said. "We didn't know what to expect but we were encouraged by interest from both buyers and sellers. It was particularly gratifying to have 75 entries for the first session. People are feeling their way along. It's going to take time to develop. One thing about the Internet auction is certain...the system that we developed worked smoothly."

The Internet RNA Auction, administered by Stephen Koch, was developed in conjunction with The Jockey Club Information Systems. Keeneland plans two more Internet auctions of horses not sold during the current sale.