Price increases during the Keeneland September Yearling Sale have tested some Thoroughbred buyers' budgets, at times leaving them paying more or buying fewer horses.
The rich sales tags over the first four sessions left others waiting for opportunities in later books, including one of the country's sharpest evaluators of young horses, trainer Kenny McPeek. McPeek, who bought 26 horses valued at more than $2.6 million as agent last year at Keeneland, did not sign for a horse over the sale's first two books.
"It's such a strong market," McPeek said Sept. 17. "A lot of horses we went up there for, and we were prepared to play on, and they just brought beyond what we felt they were worth, or at least my clients did. A lot of horses I would have liked to have had in my pocket. It just didn't happen.
"It's just been strong. I've probably pigeon-holed myself a little bit as a middle- and lower-market guy because of the big hits I've had. I have a lot of people in those categories. We're just gonna continue to work."
It is at this point in the sale that McPeek becomes most active. His purchases last year ranged in value from $15,000 to $330,000, and 16 of his buys cost $90,000 or less. All but two of his buys in 2020 came during or following Book 3 after many horses with the most commercially attractive pedigrees sold in the first two books.
McPeek attributes this to his clients wanting horses in a moderate price range due to "my history more than anything."
The trainer's history indicates he has some of the shrewdest auction eyes in the industry. A 2019 BloodHorse analysis of yearling buyers found McPeek ranked at the top ranks by number of black-type winners and by number of graded stakes winners from yearlings bought from 2014-17.
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Not even within the study are two of McPeek's champions. He purchased last year's eventual Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old filly, Swiss Skydiver, for $35,000 for owner Peter Callahan at the September Yearling Sale in 2018, and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin for $57,000 for initial owner Midnight Cry Stable in September 2005.
McPeek trains Swiss Skydiver, while Helen Pitts and later Steve Asmussen trained Curlin.
"I don't think I'll ever see a horse like Curlin," McPeek said. "He presented so well as a yearling. He looked like a 4-year-old. He was just so big and strong. He was special.
"He had a vet issue. His left ankle was the size of a grapefruit when he came through as a yearling, but we did some research and thought it was going to be OK. Those kind of things happen."
McPeek said his approach as the sale approaches the weekend is the same as when it began.
"Work through them. Go for the physicals. Cull them down. Cull them down again, and then get the ones we really like," he said. "If we get them, great, and if not, we go to the next book."
He sees value as the sale proceeds, recalling that he purchased his first Kentucky Derby (G1) starter, Roy and Joyce Monroe's Tejano Run, out of Book 7. The $20,000 September Yearling Sale purchase in 1993 was the runner-up to Thunder Gulch in the 1995 Derby and made more than $1.1 million.
"You know, I have bought plenty of mistakes, and you learn from them," the trainer said. "When I get a horse, I get to handle a horse from start to finish, typically. Each one is different. You learn what works and what didn't work. It's definitely a learning experience. I still learn each time I buy one.
"If I like a horse, I write the name of the horse it reminds me of. When I see one that reminds me of Take Charge Lady, I write 'Take Charge Lady.' When I see one that reminds me of Tejano Run or Swiss (Skydiver)—anything. The ones we've been successful with, it's a repeated pattern."
And a pattern the trainer hopes leads to promising acquisitions in the days ahead.
