LEXINGTON, Ky. - Prominent young sire Nyquist sired a pair of seven-figure colts to fuel the action on Thursday evening as the Keeneland September yearling sale concluded its upper-market portions with solid figures.
Keeneland September kicked off earlier this week with a two-session Book 1 comprised of the yearlings judged by the company’s inspection team to be the finest based on pedigree and physical factors. It was followed by a two-session Book 2, which began on Wednesday and concluded Thursday, with horses throughout the 13-session sale sorted by their perceived quality.
Through the opening four sessions, Keeneland has reported 640 yearlings sold through the ring for gross receipts of $252,528,000. Last year, through the first four sessions and two books, 637 horses brought $234,300,000. Both sets of figures represent only horses sold through the ring and do not include any private sales that Keeneland will later factor into its official historic results.
Led by a $1.3 million Nyquist colt purchased by China Horse Club, WinStar Farm's Maverick Racing, and Siena Farm, and a $1.2 million Nyquist colt landed by John Stewart's Resolute Racing, five horses brought seven figures in Book 2, compared to seven in 2023.
However, the next bracket on the result chart expanded greatly. Sixteen horses sold for prices between $750,000 and $1 million the past two days, compared to seven in that range last year.
Fifty-six horses sold for between $500,000 and $750,000, up from 48 a year ago.
Fueled by a double-digit gain in Book 1, and by those strong numbers, the cumulative average price for Keeneland September currently sits at $394,575, up 7 percent from $367,818 at this point last year.
The median and buyback rate are relatively stable compared to 2023. The median sits at $300,000, equal to last year at this point. The buyback rate sits at 30 percent, up a tick from 29 percent.
"We have to be very, very pleased," said Tony Lacy, Keeneland’s vice president of sales. "The median was up 25 percent [Thursday] in the session over last year, which is a metric that we always use - and I think that sort of lends to the fact that it was really difficult to buy a nice horse. Everybody was fighting over the ones they wanted, and there was real vibrant trade.
“The RNA rate admittedly was a little higher than we would like, but there's pretty vibrant [private sale activity]. So I think it's very healthy, it's very much on track from last year."
Stiff competition has led to diversity in the buying bench, as robust bidding wars meant individual buyers didn't walk away with a multitude of high-ticket horses. The 30 horses sold for seven figures during Book 1 earlier this week had 22 different buyers. The five to reach the threshold during Book 2 had five different buyers.
“We are hitting plenty of targets, but have to fight for them," SF Racing's Tom Ryan said of the bidding.
Keeneland reconfigured Books 1 and 2 to run consecutively a few years ago in order to put a “critical mass” of quality horses in front of deep-pocketed buyers, and for that competition to perhaps create a trickle-down effect into later books of the sale.
That has been the case in past years, and early on in this edition. The vast majority of the buyers who purchased seven-figure lots in Book 1 were active in Book 2, including in various partnerships. That could create continued momentum, as buyers just beginning to play in Book 2 still had to compete with major money, and could find themselves looking in Books 3, 4, and beyond to stock up.
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“We have a tremendously diverse buying bench,” said Cormac Breathnach, Keeneland's senior director of sales operations. “There are a lot of people here with significant money to spend and a real thirst and hunger for competition at the top end of the market.
“Others are getting pushed back. Those people obviously have other orders to fill as well so that is what is really buoying Book 2 and creating the momentum."
The China Horse Club, Maverick, and Siena partnership that purchased the session-leading $1.3 million Nyquist colt on Thursday was among the entities active throughout the week. The latest acquisition for this long-established partnership is out of the winning Bernardini mare Spa Treatment, whose first starter is a winner.
The cross of prominent young sire Nyquist over Bernardini mares is responsible for recent Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes winner Immersive, as well as Grade 1 winner and Canadian champion Gretzky the Great and graded stakes winner Encino.
“Obviously, Nyquist over Bernardini is a great cross," WinStar executive Elliott Walden said. "He was one of our favorite horses in the sale. Very strong, but we will see what happens. That cross works very well, it’s a high-statistical cross, and he’s a beautiful horse, one of our favorites of the sale.
“Book 1, Book 2 - it didn’t matter. We were very bullish on him."
The colt, who was bred by Springhouse Farm and Hunter Valley Farm, was a successful pinhook, as he was purchased for $385,000 by Goodwill Bloodstock as a weanling at last fall's Keeneland November breeding stock sale. He was consigned to this sale by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, as agent.
“He was always a beautiful colt, and we felt like Book 2 would suit him better - he would stand out," consignor Ron Blake said. "He has such presence in the way he carries himself, in everything he does."
In addition to Immersive, 2015 Eclipse Award champion juvenile and 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is the sire of Grade 1 winners Johannes, Randomized, and Tenma in 2024. Nyquist, who stands at Darley, continued his tremendous day late in the session, when Stewart won the bidding war for the $1.2 million colt, who was among the final 20 horses through the ring.
"I like the way that his horses have run," Stewart said of Nyquist. "I really think that there is nothing but upside there. Then the physical of this horse, he was our top colt for the day.
“I was joking around that I was waiting for that horse for four hours, and there was no way I wasn’t buying it. Whoever I was bidding against on the phone, I was just watching, thinking, ‘I’m going keep going. Let’s go.’ ”
Stewart's latest purchase is out of the unraced Candy Ride mare Candy Swap, a full sister to Grade 1 winner Sidney's Candy and Grade 3 winner Sweet Swap. Candy Swap's lone starter to date is stakes winner Bluegrass Parkway.
The colt, bred by County Line Farm, was consigned by Indian Creek, as agent.
"The stallion speaks for himself," Sarah Sutherland of Indian Creek said. "He can do no wrong right now. [This colt] has got a really nice pedigree. Classic-distance type of horse, and I think he is one that is not even close to what’s his best right now.
“He is a beautiful mover, but a lot of improvement [still to come] in this colt. It will be fun to watch and follow him along. . . . He is just one of those horses that really shows that he wants to do it. I think he is going to want to train and be forward in everything that he does."
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The Keeneland September yearling sale now takes its single dark day on Friday. The sale resumes Saturday morning, as Books 3, 4, 5, and 6, each consisting of two sessions, run without break through Sept. 21.
In the past, Keeneland has tinkered with the size of various books and the placement of the dark day. Now, however, the auction has kept the same format for four consecutive years, often cited as a factor in the market stability that has been seen since returning from the pandemic-hampered marketplace of 2020.
"I think it will continue to trickle down," Sutherland said of the marketplace. "A lot of people are saying, ‘I can’t get anything bought, it’s tough, it’s so strong,' so I hope that it continues on.
“There are going to be quality horses all the way through here. You just have to stick around and keep working and shaking the bushes. I think it will translate well to everybody.”
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