By Jessica Martini
LEXINGTON, KY – After a week punctuated by frenetic bidding, the Keeneland September Yearling Sale took a one-day hiatus Friday and, while the pavilion may have been quiet for the first time in four days, action at the sales barns was brisk as buyers worked their way through the over 800 head catalogued for the two-day Book 2 which begins Saturday at 10 a.m.
“We've been very, very solid,” Darby Dan sales director Hunter Houlihan said of action around the farm's sales barn 10. “We're very happy with the activity. We were absolutely slammed yesterday and it's been pretty much non-stop today.”
After heavy rains hampered showing last Sunday, Keeneland pushed back the start time for its four Book 1 sessions, and by Thursday buyers were already moving on to see Book 2 horses.
“Most everybody probably had [Book 1] knocked out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, so they were able to use Thursday morning to get a head start on Book 2,” Houlihan said.
During a blockbuster Book 1, Keeneland sold 596 head–including 26 seven-figure yearlings–for a total of $216,813,000, an average of $363,780 and a median of $300,000. The buy-back rate was 27.8%.
Consignors look for the strong results from week one to carry into Book 2 when bidding resumes Saturday morning.
“I think it's absolutely going to keep on rolling down hill,” Houlihan said. “You can't have a market this strong and not have it continue on. It's simply going to be a trickle down theory, I would say.”
Zach Madden of Buckland Sales is hoping buyers who got shut out of a competitive Book 1 will be ready to spend their money in Book 2.
“I am hoping to be right on that wave of some people not being able to get stuff bought in Book 1 who are going on to spread their resources to Book 2,” Madden said. “It's been really healthy up there and all the indicators say that it will continue on.”
Derek MacKenzie of Vinery Sales was seeing new faces join the fray Friday at his barn 24.
“I think Book 2 will be really, really strong, that would be my expectation, but you never know for sure,” MacKenzie said. “There are a lot of faces I didn't see in Book 1 and I think they'll be here in Book 2. I think from the pushback from Book 1 that didn't get horses, plus the new arrivals, I think it will be really good.”
MacKenzie looks to get a more accurate reading of the market in Book 2 after the high-end selectivity of Book 1.
“I think the horses that ticked the boxes, everybody wants those horses,” he said. “So they need more horses that tick the boxes, but they have to tick them all or there is nobody home. At least that's the way it was in Book 1. I felt like [Book 1] was really strong if they met the criteria, but the ones that didn't, it was pretty tough. I think Book 2 will be the real sale, if that makes sense.”
Last year's sale featured a very select one-session Book 1 followed by a three-day Book 2. The change this year to an expanded four-session Book 1 has presented consignors with a placement conundrum.
“I think the new format is the wild card, strategically, as to where to position these horses when you are doing book placements,” Madden said. “I think you're going to see a blend of Book 2 and Book 3 this weekend, but it still seems like there are a ton of people around and good action this morning.”
MacKenzie admitted a preference for the 2017 format.
“I wasn't crazy that we had to have the horses here as long as we had to have them here,” he explained. “Especially the Wednesday/Thursday horses. I polled a few buyers and I didn't see them loving it either–just because they had so much back-tracking with horses all over the grounds. I was one of the guys that liked it last year with the 150 boutique session and the three-day Book 2.”
The Keeneland September sale continues through Sept. 23 with bidding beginning daily at 10 a.m.
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