Keeneland September

8th-Santa Anita, $63,000, Msw, 10-15, 2yo, 1m, 1:37.55, ft, 1/2 length. BAROSSA (c, 2, Into Mischief--Bouquet Booth {GSW, $527,279}, by Flower Alley) was sent off the lukewarm 14-5 favorite in a strong-looking two-turn maiden Friday at Santa Anita got just the better of a race-long tussle with Durante (Distorted Humor) to graduate at third asking. The latter, drawn the inside for his first try at a distance of ground, was aggressively ridden and led into the first turn, but was joined immediately to his outside by Barossa and the two...

There are folks who sound like broken records when it comes to first-crop sires, complaining that breeders who use them and buyers purchasing those yearlings at auction are about as foolish as dunk-tank clowns. However, when one of those sires succeeds with his first 2-year-olds, those same people are usually the first to wax eloquent with platitudes, forgetting what they'd said earlier. That's human nature, I suppose. What they forget is that all sires start out with first crops, and there are people on the other end that wildcat for...

The silks of Lee and Susan Searing's CRK Stable have been a formidable presence in California in recent years thanks in large part to MGSWs Express Train (Union Rags) and Midcourt (Midnight Lute). Both stable stars have excelled in their division for trainer John Shirreffs with Midcourt taking last year's GII San Pasqual S. and Express Train claiming winning honors in the same race this year before also adding the GII San Diego H. to his growing resume. While separated by two years in age, the stablemates also share the...

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale marched into its second week with continued competitive bidding as the auction's Book 4 section opened Monday in Lexington. "There is unbelievable trade here today," said consignor Peter O'Callaghan of Woods Edge Farm. "There is just a huge crowd up there. And they'd knock you down for a good horse. I'm actually not surprised it's this strong. Not with the way it started and the amount of people who have not yet got to buy horses. It was clear that trickle down effect was going...

LEXINGTON, KY - With five sessions of selling still to come, the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale surpassed the total gross of its 12-session 2020 renewal during a final Book 3 session which featured competitive bidding through to the very end Sunday night in Lexington. By the end of business Sunday, 1,169 yearlings had sold during six sessions for a total of $278,883,000. The auction's total 2020 gross, recorded during the uncertainty of the pre-vaccination pandemic, was $200,750,700. During the two-session Book 3, 571 yearlings sold for $80,011,500 for an...

8th-Arlington, $30,000, Msw, 9-17, 2yo, 5fT, :57.57, fm, 2 lengths. ELEGANT JOY (f, 2, Kitten's Joy--True Elegance, by Distorted Humor) tuned up for this debut with a strong four-furlong spin from the gate in :48 flat Sept. 8 and was off right at her morning line of 8-1. In the vanguard early, Elegant Joy held the rail chasing from third into the turn, was pulled out three deep at the head of the stretch and kicked on nicely to post a professional two-length victory over the fast-finishing Onyourmarkgetsetgo (Makors Finale)....

The cyclical nature of our business, from the foaling shed to the race program, invites a length of perspective that can only be of comfort in times of trouble. This, too, shall pass--even a global pandemic. And if COVID disrupted our routines in 2020 as seldom before, with a September Derby and no Saratoga Sale, we appear determined to make as seamless a resumption as its lingering challenges allow. Trade at Saratoga last month was eerily close to 2019. Of 180 hips into the ring for Fasig-Tipton's Select Sale, 135...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - The two-session Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale concluded with another day of competitive bidding and two additional seven-figure yearlings Thursday in Lexington, bringing the total number of lots to surpass the million-dollar mark to 15. "Excellent," Keeneland's vice president of sales Tony Lacy said when asked to gauge the day's activity. "The median was up 48% and the average was up 37% [for the session] and we've just passed the $200,000,000 mark for gross sales for the first...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY - Bidding was fast and frenetic when the first of two Book 2 sessions of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale opened Wednesday in Lexington, producing the auction's highest-priced offering yet when a colt by City of Light (hip 612) sold for $1.7 million to the partnership of Woodford Racing, Talla Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds. "That was amazing," an ebullient Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said at the close of business Wednesday. "That was one of the best sale days...

The early returns have been strong at Keeneland's marquee September Sale, both in the numbers on the board and the overall vibe on the grounds, and Wednesday morning, the company's president and chief executive officer Shannon Arvin joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about her first September Sale officially running the show, the return of some normalcy to the auction environment, what to expect at the upcoming Keeneland Fall Meet and more. "The word we keep saying is electric," said Arvin, calling in via Zoom as...

A colt from the first crop of Triple Crown winner Justify (Hip 580) became his sire's first seven-figure offspring in North America when summoning $1.55 million from Talla Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds. Trainer John Sadler was standing alongside West Point's Terry Finley as he signed the ticket. Bred and consigned by Stonehaven Steadings, the bay colt is out of GSP True Feelings (Latent Heat), who is already the dam of SW Feeling Mischief (Into Mischief) and GSP Royal Act (American Pharoah).

Hip 356, a striking daughter of Into Mischief out of 2015 GI Alabama S. winner Embellish the Lace (Super Saver), was hammered down to Spendthrift Farm for $1.25 million, the second filly to eclipse the seven-figure threshold Tuesday as the fireworks continued at Keeneland September. The bay was consigned to the sale by Bluewater Sales on behalf of China Horse Club International, which paid $2.4 million for Embellish the Lace, in foal to Uncle Mo, at Fasig-Tipton November in 2016. It is the second produce from the mare to make...