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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. We tagged along with Lacy for an inspection of the yearlings at Three Chimneys Farm.

There's been a palpable good feeling all week at OBS for the auction house's marquee Spring 2-Year-Old Sale, and you need look no further than the full parking lot to explain why. Business is booming, but perhaps equally responsible for the positive vibes is the easing of coronavirus restrictions as the country rapidly becomes vaccinated, which means old friends seeing and hugging each other for the first time in a long time. Wednesday morning, Joe Bianca and Jon Green talked about that and much more with four consignors and buyers...

What a difference a year makes; last year's OBS March Sale was held under a cloud of uncertainty and fear as American racing came to grips with the Coronavirus pandemic. This year, as we see the end in sight, most of the consignors and buyers are breathing a big sigh of relief. Katie Ritz is on the OBS Sales grounds with the report.

The first session of the Keeneland November Sale featured eight seven-figure horses, including the Book 1 topper: four-time graded stakes winner Concrete Rose, who sold for $1.95 million to Larry Best's OXO Equine. OXO Equine's Larry Best took home the top two lots Monday during the lone Book 1 session of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Early in the day he went to $1.9 million for Indian Miss (Indian Charlie) (hip 32), the dam of champion sprinter Mitole (Eskendereya) and last Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow),...

It is almost hard to believe that Hazelwood Bloodstock is still relatively new among the consigning ranks. The company, owned and run by Adrian and Philippa O'Brien, was only established in 2016 and, since then, its name has been found annually at the head of a Tattersalls leaderboard. This year Hazelwood Bloodstock offers 12 yearlings through the first three books of the October Sale, six of which are destined for Book 1, with the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude winner One Last Dance featuring again via her Frankel (GB) colt. The...

This coming week at Tattersalls, Highclere Stud offer 18 yearlings including lot 55 who is a half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Palace Pier (GB)(Kingman {GB}). Carolyn Warren talks to Alayna Cullen about the colt by Highland Reel (Ire). G1 St James's Palace S. and G1 Prix Jacques le Marois victor Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) will bid to keep his unbeaten record intact in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on Champions Day at Ascot on Oct. 17. Palace Pier is among 39 entries for the QEII, and those...

Up-and-coming horsewoman Sabrina Moore is the co-owner and operator of GreenMount Farm in Glyndon, Maryland. This year, she's looking forward to taking 10 yearlings to the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale. Last year Knicks Go (Paynter), a colt she co-bred with her mother Angie Moore, was named Maryland-bred Horse of the Year after winning the 2018 edition of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and running second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile behind Eclipse Award winner Game Winner (Candy Ride {Arg}). Moore's interest in the industry was piqued early in...

There was a flurry of activity at the end of Book 1, which ended up with more than a handful of million-dollar yearlings. With four of the day's nine million-dollar-plus horses selling in the final dozen or so hips to be offered, the second and final session of Book 1 of the Keeneland September yearling sale finished strong. The session topper and likely sale topper was hip 435, a son of Tapit out of the GISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Tara's Tango (Unbridled's Song) offered by Eaton Sales on behalf...

There was strong trade at the top end of the market at Keeneland September, with five yearlings selling for a million or more on day 1. While stringent COVID-19 protocols put in place to allow the world's largest yearling sale to be held at all may have dulled some of the electricity typically felt in the building when high-dollar horses are changing hands, competition for the top lots remained intense, with five transactions reaching the seven-figure mark and 23 offerings selling for $500,000 or more. In total, 109 head changed...

Fasig-Tipton's two-day Selected Yearlings Showcase concluded Thursday with solid enough trade-especially on flashier offerings-given the global uncertainty leading up to the first major yearling sale in the year of COVID-19. The auction, necessitated by the cancellation of the July, Saratoga and New York-bred sales, featured 348 transactions for gross receipts of $61,765,000 at an average of $177,486 and median of $120,000. The buy-back rate was 33.7%. The sale topper came on Wednesday when Robbie Medina, bidding on behalf of Joe Allen, went to $1.5 million to acquire a regally bred...

The long-anticipated and delayed start to the 2020 yearling season is underway, and day 1 of the Fasig-Tipton Selected Session featured a $1.5 million Quality Road filly. T he Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, a hybrid of the company's July yearling sale, Saratoga sale and New York-bred yearling sale brought about by COVID-19- induced rescheduling, kicked off the 2020 yearling sales season Wednesday with signs of life for the market. The sale began with a section of 164 New York-breds, and that group seemed to struggle a bit more than the...

With five weeks until the Keeneland September Sale, we sat down with President-elect Shannon Arvin to learn about some of the protocols that will be in place and some of Arvin's expectations going into the sale. On July 29, Arvin issued a racing and sales update that offered a glimpse into some of the protocols that would be in place next month once the yearlings enter the sales ground. She explained that Keeneland has been working closely with state and federal government officials, including representatives from Senator Mitch McConnell and...