Spirited bidding continued Sept. 9 during the second day of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale that produced another record average for the session and 20 yearlings that sold for $1 million or more.
The top sellers for the day, the second session for sale's premier Book 1 selections, included two that brought $2.2 million—Hip 243, a colt by Gun Runner , and Hip 338, a filly from the first crop of 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline .
Trainer Wesley Ward signed the ticket for Hip 243, a full brother to 2022 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner and first-crop yearling sire Early Voting . Ward purchased the colt for a partnership that includes Ward's client, Roy Israel, and the colt's breeder, Three Chimneys Farm.
"As I'm starting to get the white hair now, I'm looking to get horses to go a little further," Ward said. "I've pretty much been centered in on fast horses and speed horses. I just thought it was time now to sort of get some horses into my barn that looked like they could go in the classic level.
"I'm excited to get this colt and have an opportunity to train a colt like this. I was (determined to buy him), but there were a lot more people in there who wanted him as well who could certainly step right over top of me. Fortunately, we got him. I felt that was a very fair price for a colt with the pedigree and physical stature."
The bay colt is out of the unraced Tiznow mare Amour d'Ete, a full sister to three-time graded stakes winner and thrice grade 1-placed Irap and half sister to champion sprinter and top sire Speightstown through the Storm Cat mare, Silken Cat. All four of her foals to race have won.
Ward was first introduced to the colt he purchased Tuesday during his annual July trip to Three Chimneys to survey the yearlings. This colt was the standout in his eyes.
"I fell in love with the colt and really looked forward to his future," Ward said. "I put a partnership together and told Roy how much I thought of this horse. He and (Three Chimneys chairman) Goncalo (Torrealba) had enough faith in me to get behind me where I was the one who signed the ticket.
"I'm excited for horse racing. I think it's great that there's so much going on. I'm glad that the future looks bright. There's hills and valleys in every sport, and it looks like ours is on the way up."
Hip 338, the top-priced filly of the session, sold to LSU Stables to become Flightline's top-priced offering to sell at public auction.
She is the first foal out of the multiple graded stakes winner Four Graces, who was purchased by Whisper Hill Farm in 2022 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $2.3 million. The filly was consigned by Gainesway as agent.
I'm really happy for Mandy (Pope)," said Brian Graves, general manager of Gainesway. "She's good for the game. She puts a lot into it. She puts her thoughts and heart and soul into the matings and raises those things up. It's nice to see her rewarded.
"The filly (Hip 338) was a queen. She was just absolutely beautiful. She had beautiful angles. Everybody in this place loved her. I think she was one of the best fillies here, and she proved it."
Graves said she brought a little higher than anticipated. "She was absolutely stunning. We weren't sure at her size if she was going to break through like that, but all the best judges found her."
Larry Sarf, co-owner of LSU Stables, said the plan is for the fillies to get their early training at Mayberry Farms in Florida, and then to trainer Miguel Clement for next year's Saratoga Race Course meet.
LSU Stables' most successful horse to date is multiple grade 1 winner Far Bridge, who has won graded stakes races from ages 3-5, including a win this summer at Saratoga in the Bowling Green Stakes (G2T).
"His big vision is to compete at the highest level in New York," Clement said. "That's the whole LSU Stables mantra. He's got all of his horses based in New York. He's had a phenomenal season with his horses, and he's decided to rebuild his stable here at Keeneland, so I'm very lucky."
The Day 2 average was a record-breaking $662,328 from 116 horses to change hands, with a gross of $76,830,000, including private sales. The median was $525,000. Twenty-five horses failed to meet their reserves, resulting in a buy-back rate of 17.7%.
"Great numbers across the board," said Keeneland's president and CEO Shannon Arvin. When asked what statistics excite them the most, Arvin replied: "The median. The median, we always look at, and it is a record median. Average certainly, too, but the median is more meaningful to us."
Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy also pegged the day's median as the most meaningful statistic.
"There's a lot of cool metrics when you look and start plugging the figures together," he said. "The average is fine, because it can be skewed by the number of (20) seven-figure horses, but the fact that the median is a record over last night's record is very, very strong.
"We want to maximize the selling price for the sellers but also allow the buyers to feel they're getting a good level of value. This went all the way through the session at the top end and the middle."
Gainesway led consignors for the second session with 13 from its draft selling for $12,675,000. Repole Stables was the leading buyer with 14 purchases totaling $8,225,000, including a Gun Runner half brother (Hip 278) to last year's Book 1-topping Curlin colt out of grade 1 winner Cavorting.
"Keeneland is the epicenter of the business," said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency, which sold the session's co-topper (Hip 243). "This sale is so important to the breeders. If they do well here, they reinvest at Keeneland November, and then the whole ecosystem is doing well. This sale has been fantastic."
The first day of Book 2 starts Sept. 10 at 11:00 a.m. with Hips 381-772 headed to the ring. Keeneland had reported 53 outs as of Tuesday evening.
