The opening session of Book 2 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale was headlined Nov. 9 by Cancel This , who realized $825,000 from Larkin Armstrong, agent for Helen Alexander. The 4-year-old Malibu Moon filly comes from a deep list of black-type earners under her first dam, Catch My Fancy .
Four Star Sales consigned the racing or broodmare prospect as Hip 601. She placed in the Satin and Lace Stakes this year for CJ Thoroughbreds and came into the sale with earnings of $241,103 in 20 starts.
Cancel This boasts grade 3-placed Dubini , by two-time champion Gio Ponti and What A Catch , a winner in the Rockville Centre Stakes, as half siblings. Her full sister Catch the Moon is the dam of Haskell Stakes (G1) winning sire Girvin ; millionaire earner and Preakness Stakes (G1) second Midnight Bourbon; Iroquois Stakes (G3) victor Cocked and Loaded , and Pirate’s Punch , winner of the Salvator Mile (G3).
Her other full sibling, Clarendon Fancy, has produced juvenile phenom Brightwork , winner of the Spinaway Stakes (G1).
“It’s been a realistic, selective market today,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. “It was evident for most of the day that people knew what they were after and specific in what they were willing to invest.”
Day 2 saw the top 10 offerings sell for $450,000 or more to nine different buyers. Three mares sold in foal to Horse of the Year Flightline for a gross of $1,875,000 at an average of $625,000, making him the leading covering sire by gross on Thursday.
“The first-season covering sires were very popular today, Flightline and Life is Good, and I think that will be more evident as we go forward,” Lacy said. “There is a lot of encouragement.”
Five mares by the late Malibu Moon sold for receipts of $1,582,000 and a $316,400 average to make him the leading sire Nov. 9.
“Speaking to many sellers, they were pragmatic about the market,” Lacy said. “If a mare was young, well bred, and had a lot of activity, you were in good shape, and foals were active. Mares that were a little older and exposed a bit were a tougher sale, and from a consignor’s standpoint, there was an acknowledgment that that is where the market is at the moment. A little bit of softening, but that is to be expected in certain areas, and I think there is a lot of protectionism going on.”
The highest-priced weanling, a colt by Constitution , Hip 286, sold for $525,000 to Cherry Knoll Farm from the Nursery Place draft. The colt was bred in partnership with Dicken Equine and his consignor in Kentucky out of the winning Munnings mare Gone to Town.
“We have gotten a lot of positive feedback from buyers on the strength of the weanling physicals in the sale, and it’s an exciting group of stallions when you look at the younger sires represented,” Keeneland director of sales Cormac Breathnach said. “Yaupon is having an excellent sale with his first crop, along with the Good Magics and Gun Runners; the next wave of the best sires are being fought for strongly. The weanling market is robust.”
Keeneland reported 223 of the 323 horses through the ring Thursday sold for gross receipts of $35,198,000, down 3.9% year-on-year. It was suitable for an average of $157,839 and a $120,000 median, which declined by 8.6% and 7.7%, respectively. The 100 horses who failed to attain their reserve represent an RNA rate of 31%.
“The market has been strong and on a bull run for some years,” Breathnach said. “We had a great September Sale and yearling market this year, which is reflected in strong foal sales. What we are seeing is some more realization in mare evaluation. The mares with the qualities people want, young and well covered, are popular, and the ones that are more exposed or have a bit of age, it’s gotten more selective.”
Last year, during the second session, 212 of the 273 horses to go under the hammer were traded for a $36,613,000 gross, a $172,703 average and a median of $130,000. An RNA rate of 22.3% accounts for the 61 horses that failed to sell.
“The market is feeling very realistic and pragmatic, and that is not bad at all,” Lacy said. “We are not seeing the drop-off, but a softening on some of the perceived lesser quality, and from that perspective, I don’t think it’s unhealthy.”
Cumulatively over the past two days 361 horses were traded of the 508 to head through the sales ring for a gross of $97,788,000, down 2.7% over 2022. The average price dropped 4.9% to $270,881, and the median of $180,000 remained unchanged from the previous year. There have been 147 horses unsold, representing an RNA rate of 28.9%.
At this point last year, 353 horses had sold of the 457 on offer for a $100,543,000 gross, setting an average price of $284,824 and a $180,000 median. An RNA rate of 22.8% represents the 104 horses that had not sold.
Keeneland’s director of sales Cormac Breathnach, left, and vice president of sales Tony Lacy
Gage Hill & Runnels Racing made three purchases for a gross of $1,525,000 to be the day’s leading buyer. All were mares in foal to attractive sires: Flightline, Good Magic , and Quality Road . To be the top seller, Lane’s End Farm sold 29 head for a $5,262,000 gross, averaging $181,448.
Breathnach added: “We still feel like we have a lot yet to come, and we have positive feedback on what’s going in (Friday’s) session. It’s how the world is and still a good sale.”
Selling from Book 2 concludes Friday with Hips 669-1071A to go under the hammer beginning at 10 a.m. ET. As of Thursday evening, 78 horses had been withdrawn from the third session.
