Keeneland
Keeneland Gains
The two-week Keeneland September yearling sale closed on Sunday, and to the relief of those involved in the business of breeding and selling horses, it closed with gains. “I mean, you have to be happy with it overall,” a consignor told the Blood-Horse, “considering everyone was going into it with grim prospects.” Reports the Thoroughbred Times:
Total sales, average price, and median all rose compared with the 2009 September sale, and the buy-back rate improved from 27.5% to 26.7%. Keeneland reported 3,059 yearlings as sold from 4,174 offered for $198,257,900, a 3.3% increase from $191,869,200 in total sales a year ago.
“It wasn’t a home run,” notes the Daily Racing Form. “But the Keeneland September yearling sale … posted solid returns that may have signaled that the bloodstock bust is over.” And it did so with sharply reduced spending by the Maktoums, points out the Paulick Report.
Whew. Everyone feeling a little more hopeful now?
Of the young sires, Bernardini was the standout, with 31 yearlings selling for an average of $199,323, a gross of nearly $6.2 million (numbers via). While I haven’t missed noticing that Bernardini’s first crop runners have been doing exceptionally well, I only noticed yesterday that he’s already an omnisurface sire, with winners on dirt, turf, and synthetics. His offspring have also either won or placed in group or graded stakes on all three surfaces. Interesting.
Is it too early to start talking about possible 2011 buzz babies? Here’s a 2009 filly to watch for, a half-sister to Zenyatta by Bernardini.
Weekend Notes
Please Henry Cecil, writes Steve Dennis, run Prix Vermeille winner Midday in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before the Breeders’ Cup: “She’s a virtual shoo-in at Churchill Downs, so why not give the Arc a crack on the way?
What makes a horse do this? As in the Yorkshire Oaks, Sariska refused to leave the starting gate in the Vermeille, compelling her connections to retire the 4-year-old filly immediately after the (non)race. “I’m proud of everything she has achieved but she does not want to play ball on the track,” said trainer Michael Bell, who reported on his website earlier in the week that Sariska had performed well in gate work at Lingfield. John Sparkman addressed the subject last month, noting that “when a horse reveals temperamental quirks, racing folk are always quick to look to the pedigree to find reasons for such behavior.” Sariska’s half-sister Gull Wing did pull the same stunt. An expression of the genes or equine will? Fascinating, either way.
At Belmont on Saturday, Heisman, a 2-year-old full-sibling to Any Given Saturday, won his first race running the final quarter in :28 seconds. That is not notable. It is though that Heisman was starting off a sixth-place finish in his debut, a six-furlong Saratoga maiden special won by Stay Thirsty, who finished second to Sovereign Default in his first start and second to Boys at Tosconova in the Hopeful Stakes. The hype was all about Boys after the Hopeful, but Stay Thirsty — a Bernardini baby, half-brother to Andromeda’s Hero and Superfly, with enough class to run well against his precocious peers — seems more likely to develop into an interesting 3-year-old.
The Keeneland September sale kicked off tonight and people in the blugrass must be relieved that big spenders are still around. The average price of the 69 yearlings sold was $347,319, up 49% over 2009, the median $250,000, up 25% (stats via Keeneland’s sortable auction results). And more good news: “The buy-back rate was 25.8%, down significantly from 41.2% in 2009.” Neither Sheikh Mohammed nor Coolmore was particularly active (the former purchased a Bernardini colt for $450,000, the latter an A.P. Indy for $600,000), but Shadwell bought six for a gross total of more than $2.8 million, including a striking Bernardini colt for $800,000. Of the young sires represented, the 2006 champion 3-year-old was the most successful both by number sold (three) and gross (almost $1.4 million).
First punch in another round of racetracks versus ADWs? TVG declined to show all but three races from opening day at Belmont Park, citing contractual obligations. “We have a plethora of tracks running today that are exclusive to TVG,” said TVG executive Tony Allevato. “NYRA is not an exclusive track.”
Notes for 2009-04-16
- Rachel Alexandra turned in a sharp work this morning at Churchill Downs, breezing five furlongs in :59.40 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:11.60. “As usual, she went a little bit faster than I really wanted, but she does it so easy,” said trainer Hal Wiggins, adding the filly would wrap up her prep for the Kentucky Oaks with a work on Monday, April 27. Catching wind of the bullet move, rival Justwhistledixie had this to say on Twitter: “Rumor has it my main competition Rachel Alexandra worked pretty nicely this morning. That’s okay, I get to show my stuff tomorrow morning.” Not only is this year’s 3-year-old crop showing a lot of depth, it’s proving pretty web savvy …
- During last year’s Keeneland spring meet, there was quite a bit chatter about lower handle and fewer favorites winning. What a difference a year makes:
Through April 11, the Polytrack and turf surfaces have been rewarding favorites with a usual share of the winnings. After 67 races, there have been 31.3-percent of the favorites on top, which is only slightly lower than the Thoroughbred racing’s historical 33-percent watermark figure.
Order restored. Maybe the Polytrack isn’t so inscrutable, maybe the stats even out, maybe trainer Dale Romans was onto something when he said last April, “I’m not so sure [betting on Keeneland] would be a problem if it were longer than a two-week meet, so they can get a gauge on who’s running well.” With another year to adjust, seems like bettors now have a better gauge.
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Jessica Chapel is a writer, editor, and web producer living in Massachusetts. Railbird is a thoroughbred horse racing blog published since June 2004. More ›
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