Keeneland September Yearling Sale Kicks Off Sunday Night
From NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook, Sept. 8, 2011
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale – the most prestigious
Thoroughbred sale in the world – begins Sunday evening,
September 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET in Lexington, Ky.
Keeneland has cataloged 4,319 yearlings for the 13-day sale,
which runs through September 24.
The select Book 1 portion of the sale will be held
Sunday-Monday, September 11-12, when sessions begin at 7:00 p.m.
Book 2 will span Tuesday-Thursday, September 13-15, with
sessions starting at 11:00 a.m. There will be no sale on Friday,
September 16. Books 3-6 will be sold Saturday, September 17 –
Saturday, September 24; all remaining sessions will begin at
10:00 a.m.
The September Sale attracts the world’s most influential buyers;
in recent years horsemen representing nearly every U.S. state
and 49 countries have participated. The September Sale has a
global reputation for offering extraordinary individuals at
every level of the market; borne out by an unparalleled track
record.
To date this year, 23 September Sale graduates are Grade/Group 1
stakes winners – including classic winners Animal Kingdom,
Shackleford and Ruler On Ice; Woodward Stakes winner Havre de
Grace; Travers Stakes winner Stay Thirsty; four-time European
Group 1 winner Dream Ahead; Whitney Invitational and
Metropolitan Handicap winner Tizway; and yesterday’s Del Mar
Futurity winner Drill.
“The ‘summer success’ of our sales alumni has been very
exciting,” said Vice President of Sales Walt Robertson. “Since
May, 38 September Sale graduates have won 41 Grade/Group 1 or 2
stakes. We bookended the summer with Grade 1 wins, beginning
with Tizway in the Met Mile and closing with Drill’s victory in
the Del Mar Futurity.”
The September Sale also is renowned for the depth and breadth of
its stallion roster, with yearlings representing many of the
world’s most fashionable sires. In 2011, yearlings by 253
different stallions are cataloged.
Book 1, the two-evening select portion of the sale, will feature
yearlings by A.P. Indy, Arch, Awesome Again, Bernardini, Big
Brown, Candy Ride (ARG), Cape Cross (IRE), Curlin, Danehill
Dancer (IRE), Distorted Humor, Divine Park, Dixie Union,
Dynaformer, Elusive Quality, Exchange Rate, Galileo (IRE),
Giant’s Causeway, Harlan’s Holiday, Henrythenavigator, Indian
Charlie, Invasor (ARG), Lemon Drop Kid, Malibu Moon, Medaglia
d’Oro, Midnight Lute, Mr. Greeley, Pivotal (GB), Pulpit, Raven’s
Pass, Rock Hard Ten, Smart Strike, Street Cry (IRE), Street
Sense, Tale of the Cat, Tapit, Tiznow, Unbridled’s Song and War
Front.
Keeneland will offer multimedia coverage of the September Sale
via broadcast, social media and web.
Keeneland Broadcast Services and HRTV will partner to provide
live coverage of the opening two sessions of the sale, Sept.
11-12, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. Hosts Jill Byrne and Caton
Bredar will track top horses, interview buyers and consignors
and analyze the market with industry experts.
Again this year, Keeneland will reach out to fans who want to
follow the sales action, streaming the opening two sessions live
on Facebook coupled with updates and video links on Twitter.
News such as September Sale barn notes and session releases will
be posted on Keeneland’s social media sites. As usual, the
entire 13-day auction will be streamed live at
Keeneland.com.
Elsewhere on the technology front, buyers can now utilize the
new Equineline Sales Catalog app for the iPad, which can be
downloaded free from the App Store on iPad or at
iTunes. This unique app loads sales catalogs to your iPad
and enables you to write on and highlight catalog pages in
color; assign ratings; make conformation notes; record
veterinary information; create “short lists” and view mini
catalogs; and perform various catalog searches.
Keeneland offers more information than any other online catalog,
and features Keeneland Pedigree, a robust online catalog page
specifically for horses listed in Book 1. This technology
provides hyperlinks to race records, charts and race replays
from within the catalog page. Free daily updates on every horse
in Book 1 also are available.