The catalog for the Keeneland September yearling sale was released a bit more than a month before the sale begins its run on Monday, and the book has since been burnished by half-siblings to four Grade 1 winners as a result of racing updates. The catalog could garner even more luster as this weekend’s major races unfold, adding intrigue to some of the later books of the sale that runs over 12 sessions through Sept. 21.
A Liam’s Map colt who had already been selected into Book 2 – out of six by the stallion at this sale – got a major update when his half-brother, Chancer McPatrick, won the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes on Sept. 2, closing day of the Saratoga meet.
The Book 3 portion of the sale includes a colt by promising current freshman sire Volatile, who is another with big updates. Half-brother Carson’s Run won the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby shortly after the publication of the catalog, and has since finished second in the Grade 3 Nashville Derby.
Book 3 also now includes a full brother to recently minted Grade 1 Pacific Classic winner Mixto; both are by young classic sire Good Magic.
City of Light’s champion son Fierceness had a strong summer at Saratoga. The stallion’s representatives in Book 3 include a half-sibling to Raging Sea, a consistent competitor who notched her first Grade 1 win when defeating champion Idiomatic in the Personal Ensign in late August.
There are three Grade 1 races in the U.S. this weekend, and half-siblings to entrants in all three are cataloged at Keeneland. Saturday’s Grade 1 Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs has among its entrants Apollo Ten, Howard Wolowitz, and Smokey Smokey, all with half-siblings in the catalog.
Del Mar closes out its summer meet this weekend with the Grade 1 Debutante for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday, and the Futurity on Sunday. Debutante entrants Jack’s Magic Girl, So There She Was, and Tenma have half-siblings cataloged, while Futurity entrants Gaming and R Heisman are represented by relations.
Yearlings from the catalog, which numbered 4,407 prior to outs, began shipping in and showing at Keeneland on Thursday, beginning a parade of horses that will not end until horses from the final session are required to ship out on Sept. 22.
“Our Keeneland team stands ready to welcome our guests from across the U.S. and all four corners of the globe these next few weeks, and we are excited to offer them the most memorable experience possible during their stay in central Kentucky,” Keeneland vice president of sales Tony Lacy said in a release.
The format of the September sale remains unchanged for the fourth consecutive year. The run begins Sept. 9 and 10 with Book 1 – the smallest section of the sale, with the yearlings judged by Keeneland’s inspection team to be the finest individuals based on conformation and pedigree. Those two sessions begin at 1 p.m.
A two-session Book 2, a little more than twice the size of Book 1, follows on the next two days, with sessions beginning at 11 a.m., before the sale’s single dark day on Sept. 13. Books 3 through 6 run over two sessions each and begin at 10 a.m.
For more on the Keeneland September yearling sale, visit DRF.com to download the complete sale preview edition as a free PDF.
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