In an auction highlighted by two $350,000 acquisitions by bloodstock agent Case Clay, the one-day Keeneland November Horses of Racing Age Sale concluded Nov. 17 with a sharp drop in gross sales, average, and median.
Impacting the sale was the withdrawal of 146 hips, among them Rich Strike , the 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner who was pulled by owner Rick Dawson of RED TR-Racing Nov. 16. It is common for racehorse sales to have a high number of outs, with some owners wishing to continue to race their stock and others pulling their horses due to unfavorable timing or unsatisfactory veterinary exams.
That left 185 hips to go through the ring Friday, generating gross sales of $8,259,000 from 159 sales (including post-sales)—a 28.5% drop from 2022. The average was $51,943 and the median $30,000—respectively down 23.5% and 14.3% from last year’s figures. Twenty-six horses failed to meet their reserve, an RNA rate of 14.1%.
Pointing to the low RNA percentage, Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said he was satisfied with the sale, which he characterized as being a healthy, fair HORA market that operates in a “more stringent environment.”
“I think last year we had some supplements that were high-valued horses that came at the very end that bumped the figures,” he said. “Outside of that, the median was down a little bit, but it was actually very consistent with the breeding stock market.”
Before 2022, horses of racing age had been sold within the longer November Breeding Stock Sale, which preceded Friday’s sale. That sale this year experienced a 12% decline in gross sales.
Last year, 201 hips went through the ring during the HORA, with 170 lots selling, topped by a $1 million sales horse that dissolved a partnership. The sale grossed $11,547,500 for an average price of $67,926 and a median of $35,000; 15.4% of horses did not meet their reserves last year.
Lacy said Keeneland officials continue to be pleased with having the HORA auction on its own day, not during the November Breeding Stock Sale.
“When it was inserted into the middle of the breeding stock sale, the entry date for that deadline is August 1, and the lead time into the sale is way too early,” Lacy said. “So what it did, it displaced a lot of breeding stock. … You’ve got a completely different buyer base in many cases.”
Attendees at Friday’s sale included numerous trainers as they looked to acquire race-ready horses for their owners. Mike Maker, Brendan Walsh, and Ben Colebrook were just three prominent Kentucky trainers who signed for purchases.
Lacy also noted that Friday’s sale included some buying interest from outside the United States.
Sale toppers Edgartown (Hip 4230), a Quality Road ridgling, and Double Dream (Hip 4226), a Curlin filly, went to Case Clay within moments of one another. Highgate Sales consigned the former and ELiTE the latter.
Double Dream is a daughter of the stakes-producing mare Enchanted Rock , the dam of multiple grade 1 winner and stallion Verrazano and grade 2 winner El Padrino . Clay indicated Double Dream would be sent to Australia.
Edgartown was bought on behalf of the global racing operation Wathnan Racing. The 2-year-old, second to Bourbon Stakes (G2T) winner Can Group in his Kentucky Downs debut, won a Nov. 4 maiden race at Churchill Downs for trainer Joe Sharp.
“We knew the colt was talented, and he showed it. We put a very low reserve on him,” said bloodstock agent Jacob West, co-owner of Highgate Sales with Jill Gordon. “I believe you get more money in the ring than you do privately. Based on phone calls I was getting before the sale, it proved true.”
Jacob West at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale
West, who raced Edgartown as West Bloodstock, praised the sale and the growth of HORA auctions.
“When you bring a horse to this sale, you can shoot X-rays, scope them, and (veterinarians) and buyers can lay their hands on them. You get top dollar because there is confidence buying them,” he said. “When you go to claim them, you don’t have all those options.”
Bradley Weisbord, co-founder and managing partner of ELiTE, the sale’s leading consignor, called Friday’s sale “a touch sticky,” continuing how he felt about the November Breeding Stock Sale. ELiTE sold 40 horses Friday for $2,830,000, averaging $70,750.
“Everybody’s gravitating towards quality,” he said. “So if you lead one up there that’s coming off a good race and vets clean, you get paid. If you lead one up there that’s missed some time or has some spotty vetting, you’re in trouble.”
Bradley Weisbord at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale
Dixiana Farms was the leading buyer by gross, acquiring two horses for $415,000. Their two buys were racing/broodmare prospects Train to Artemus (Hip 4132, $250,000) and Up and Down (Hip 4138, $165,000).
Judge Lanier Racing—the operation of Colorado Ranch owners Tom and Sandy McKenna—purchased the most horses, eight, spending $228,000.
Topping all sires, Into Mischief progeny fetched total receipts of $702,000 from nine sold.
