Book 3 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale began fast and furious Sept. 13, with a colt by Into Mischief bringing $2 million less than an hour into selling.
Bloodstock agent Justin Casse signed the ticket on behalf of himself, M.V. Magnier, and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm. M.V. Magnier represents interests from Coolmore.
When asked about the appealing characteristics of their $2 million acquisition, Hip 1197, Casse said, "The sire, the pedigree, the individual. He could've been easily in any one of the last few days, and he just ended up in this day, and he was a real standout. He's a beautiful physical with a lot of scope, and obviously by a sire of sires, who can do no wrong."
This was Into Mischief's highest-priced yearling of the sale so far, and his sixth to command $1 million or more. The six-time reigning champion general sire is represented this year by Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) winner Sovereignty. Into Mischief stood the 2025 season for an advertised fee of $250,000 at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington.
Casse said if you had asked him five days ago if he would be surprised to pay $2 million for a horse in Book 3, the answer would have been "absolutely."
"But not given the way the last few days have gone," he said. "I feel like basically Book 2 was like Book 1 five years ago. Now, I don't know if Book 3 is going to be like Book 2 five years ago, but it's almost like Book 1 was in a whole other stratosphere from what we've seen in the past.
"And, the other books have shifted up as far as the value and all of the statistics, as far as what horses are bringing. I mean, there's a real hunger, just waiting to see what lies ahead for Book 3, 4, and 5, because you have a different buyer base coming into town and leaving town, and the pedigrees are a lot different."
Gainesway consigned the $2 million colt, who is out of an unraced Empire Maker half to Jaywalk, champion 2-year-old filly of 2018, and multiple stakes winner Danzatrice, dam of grade 1 winner and current Gainesway stallion Tapit Trice . Hip 1197 was bred in Kentucky by Al Shira'aa Racing and Gainesway Thoroughbreds
Casse was optimistic about the next half of the sale.
"Just hope for the market's sake that it all transitions, which it should, maybe not at that level that we've seen so far, but definitely everything should be up," Casse said.
"I think there's a number of contributing factors. I think there's an excitement about racing now, as opposed to two years ago, there was a lot of doom and gloom. But, we also have the tax factors coming into play."
Not This Time Gets Two Seven-figure Colts
A colt (Hip 1426) by Taylor Made's Not This Time brought the second-highest price of the session at $1.4 million to Douglas Scharbauer. The colt was bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm and is the first foal of the stakes-winning Gun Runner mare Bella Runner.
"He had almost 30 vettings on him, so he was the most vetted horse we had," said Frank Taylor of Taylor Made about Hip 1426. "He was a very good walker, very well-balanced. Just a nice horse.
"That was a really good sale, but I wasn't surprised (about the price)."
Hip 1426 became Not This Time's 13th seven-figure purchase of the sale, topped by a $2 million filly (Hip 144) who sold on Day 1 of the sale.
The son of Giant's Causeway who led all sires in the fifth session, sat atop the list of sires of 2-year-olds by progeny earnings through Sept. 12, and and ranked second on the leading general sires list behind Into Mischief. He stands at Taylor Made Stallions near Nicholasville Ky. for an advertised fee of $175,000.
"He's a blessing," Taylor said about Not This Time. "Just, what an amazing horse. They seem to be able to run long, short, early, late, dirt, turf, it doesn't make a difference."
Hip 1517, a colt by Not This Time out of the winning Pioneerof the Nile mare Flash Magic, brought a final bid of $1.15 million from Eclipse, Bridlewood, Lapenta, and Warren to bring Not This Time's seven-figure count to 14. Flash Magic is a half sister to 2017 champion 2-year-old colt and sire Good Magic .
Hip 1517 was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and consigned by Summerfield, agent for "Stonestreet Bred for Brilliance."
Eclipse, Bridlewood, and Lapenta also partnered up on another Not This Time colt—Hip 1167 for $450,000. The colt, who was consigned by Gainesway, agent is the second foal of the Candy Ride mare Lenni Girl, who is a half sister to first-crop sire and 2021 champion male sprinter Jackie's Warrior .
He was bred by Resolute Bloodstock and purchased as a weanling at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale for $200,000 by Milan Bloodstock.
Record Fifth Session
A total of 293 horses changed hands for $64,939,000, including private sales, up 31% from last year's $49,595,000 for the fifth session. The average was $221,635, up 34% from $165,870; and the median was up 25% to $175,000, compared to $140,000.
The day ended with three seven-figure sales, bringing the total number of horses sold for $1 million and above to 56 for the first five sessions.
"Today marks the fifth consecutive session in which we've set a record, an achievement that speaks volumes about the strength of Keeneland as the global marketplace," Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy said. "The sustained momentum we've seen each day reflects both the exceptional quality of horses on offer and the depth of this sale."
Gainesway led the consignors for the fifth session, selling 36 horses from their draft for $12,460,000. Belladonna Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing were the top buyers, securing five yearlings for $2,435,000.
Although colts have proved to be in demand, the top-priced filly of the session was Hip 1155, the first horse through the ring Saturday who sold for $525,000 to Tracy Farmer. The filly by McKinzie is a full sister to the multiple grade 1-placed McKinzie Street. She was bred and consigned by Clearsky Farms. Tracy Farmer was in the top five buyers for the fifth session, with four purchases totaling $1,570,000.
"We're fortunate to have some of the most astute judges of Thoroughbreds in the world here. One thing that really stands out is how many major players are still on the grounds and active. There's been a convergence of new participants arriving with those who were here in the early books and remain determined to secure horses," Lacy said. "The competition is still incredibly strong, and it's been exciting to watch so many engaged buyers driving the market forward. The energy that defined the opening books has carried over through each session. What we're experiencing here is truly extraordinary."
