Keeneland realised significant gains in average and median prices during the third session of its September Yearling Sale on Wednesday, during which a half-brother to multiple champion Beholder received a round of applause after he sold to the Magnier family of Ireland’s Coolmore Stud for $3 million.
The colt was one of six yearlings to bring seven-figure prices during Wednesday’s session.
The $3 million yearling is the most expensive Thoroughbred sold at public auction in the world this year. He is the highest-priced yearling at the September Sale since 2010.
Wednesday’s session, the conclusion of the premier Book 1 catalogue, saw gains across the board despite fewer horses sold. Gross sales for 119 horses of $47,735,000 was up 2.1 percent from the corresponding session in 2015 when 151 horses sold for $46,754,000. The average price of $401,134 rose 29.55 percent from $309,629 in 2015. The median of $300,000 increased 20 percent from last year’s $250,000.
The average is the highest for a session during the September Sale since 2012, when opening day averaged $403,867 for 75 horses.
Coolmore, which has global breeding and racing interests, bought not only the session-topping colt but also was involved in the purchase of two other of the day’s highest-priced yearlings – all colts. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Shadwell Estate Co. Ltd. bought two million-dollar colts, each by War Front, and Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm acquired two seven-figure fillies by Tapit.
“We definitely broke through the glass ceiling today,” Keeneland Director of Sales Operations Geoffrey Russell said, referring to the number of horses that brought $1 million or more. “To see such interest, especially from long-term investors looking for stallion potential, was very exciting.
- Extract from Paulick Report
