Keeneland Sales

Keeneland Sales has become the presenting sponsor of the GI Alabama S. at Saratoga Race Course, and Keeneland November will present the GII Jessamine S. on opening day of the 2023 Fall Meet, the organization said in a release Thursday. This comes on the heels of last week's news that the sales division would lend its name to the GIII Sorrento S. at Del Mar. "Keeneland is excited to team with NYRA and Del Mar in sponsoring these prestigious summer stakes, and for Keeneland November to sponsor our Jessamine Stakes...

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club will officially partner over multiple seasons with Keeneland Sales beginning with their summer meet on July 21, the track said in a release Friday afternoon. As part of the orchestration around the partnership, Keeneland Sales will become the presenting sponsor for the GIII Sorrento S. on Saturday, Aug. 12. "We're delighted to be partners once again with the folks at Keeneland," said Tom Robbins, Del Mar's executive vice president of racing. "The name Keeneland resounds throughout our industry and Del Mar and Keeneland are a perfect...

5th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 2:45 p.m. PUMPKIN SCONE (Into Mischief), a $1.25-million Keeneland September Yearling purchase by Spendthrift Farm, debuts for Brad Cox from the outside gate on Sunday. Bred in Kentucky by the China Horse Club, the bay filly is out of Embellish the Lace (Super Saver), who has also produced three-time winner and fellow $1.25-million KEESEP graduate Tap the Faith (Tapit). Pumpkin Scone hails from a female family which includes GI Travers S. hero Afleet Express (Afleet Alex) and MGISP My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song),...

3rd-GP, $50K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:42 p.m. PARTY FAVOR (Practical Joke) debuts at Gulfstream Park for WinStar Farm and Siena Farm. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the $520,000 KEESEP purchase comes from a female family that includes MGISW Zazu (Tapit) and her full-brother, GSW Flashback. The bay filly will break from post four with Leonel Reyes in the irons. TJCIS PPS 1st-AQU, $80K, Msw, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:20 p.m. A Keeneland November Sale buy for $375,000 as a weanling, MAJESTIC MICHAEL (Justify)'s second dam counts GISWs Discreet Cat (Forestry) and Discreetly...

Pete McCormick, a longtime Keeneland bid spotter and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, passed away Thursday at the age of 75.  A native of Ontario, California,  Pete was just a boy when given his first job in the auction business from Tom Caldwell, the longtime head auctioneer at Keeneland, who took McCormick under his wing. "The Keeneland family mourns the passing of Pete McCormick, who was an iconic presence in the Keeneland Sales Pavilion during his four decades as a bid spotter," Keeneland said Friday in a statement. "Pete famously said,...

Acting Out (Blame), who most recently caused a 6-1 upset of the Carousel S. at Oaklawn Park Apr. 2 (video), was hammered down to Bill Farish, acting as agent for his parents Will and Sarah, to lead the way at Friday's Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale held following the conclusion of the closing-day program at the racetrack a handful of steps up the hill. Previously trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer for the ownership group of Sherman Racing Inc., Zivka Akin and Robert Hawkins, Acting Out won...

Keeneland recently announced that its April Horses of Racing Age Sale will take place on closing day of its spring meet, April 29, at the conclusion of the day's racing. Not to be confused with their prior April two-year-olds-in-training sale, there will be no breeze show, and breeding stock and stallion shares will also be accepted. The sale will, according to Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy, be a mostly traditional "live" sale with a "hybrid" aspect, offering sellers the opportunity to offer their horses from wherever they already are....

Former trainer William "Buff" Bradley, known in particular for his work with two-time champion Groupie Doll (Bowman's Band), GISWs Brass Hat (Prized) and Divisidero (Kitten's Joy), and charismatic MGSW The Player (Street Hero), has been named Associate of Sales Development for Keeneland. The newly created position will concentrate on sales of breeding stock and horses of racing age. Bradley will officially begin his new role Feb. 28. "We are excited to have Buff join the Keeneland sales team to further strengthen our outreach to horsemen and their participation in our...

The daily number of U.S. deaths from the COVID-19 virus neared 1,000 per day last week, the highest level the country has seen since February. The seven-day moving average of COVID-19 cases reported by the CDC, is at 149,263, and continues to rise. There are currently four variants circulating in the United States; Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma, with Delta making up over 99% of all cases. It seems like every day, someone we know in racing has contracted COVID, from trainer Todd Pletcher to the TDN's own Christina Bossinakis,...

As the calendar reaches the midpoint of June and the summer heat starts to rise in the Bluegrass, yearling inspections for the 2021 Keeneland September Sale are well underway. Former bloodstock advisor and consignor Tony Lacy, who was named as Keeneland's Vice President of Sales this April, is in his element as his team travels across Kentucky and beyond, inspecting the many young Thoroughbreds that will soon make up the massive catalog lineup come September. "I grew up a horseman and that's what my family is, so this is really...

Felicita (More Than Ready), an unraced 4-year-old half-sister to Grade I-winning juvenile and Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief), topped Tuesday's Keeneland December Digital Sale when hammering for $250,000 to Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables. The auction, Keeneland's third foray into the nascent online sale marketplace after its June Online Select Horses of Racing Age Sale and October Digital Sale, was seen by leading consignors as a clear improvement while still having kinks that need ironing out as the sector evolves. The one-day sale grossed $508,000 for 15 lots, for an average of...

Keeneland has cataloged 79 lots, including mares in foal to such noteworthy stallions as Not This Time, Nyquist, Practical Joke and Yoshida (Jpn), for its December Digital Sale, to be held Tuesday, Dec. 15 as part of Keeneland's Digital Sales Ring platform. The December Sale catalog is available at keenelanddigital.com. The catalog features 41 broodmares or broodmare prospects, 12 yearlings, eight weanlings, six racing or broodmare prospects, two racing or stallion prospects, one stallion prospect, six stallions, two shares and one breeding right. Online bidding opens at 10 a.m. ET...