Cover image courtesy of Keeneland
The 2026 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale opened with the first of two sessions Monday and optimism remained high across the board as a pair of top-class mares crossed the seven-figure mark for the first time in two years.
“Today was a great day,” said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. “Obviously, it's a long day, but I think the structure of what we did in creating two big sessions sort of lent itself into building a momentum that carried through right to the end of the day.”
“It's a reflection of a really positive, strong day,” Lacy continued. “Across the board, mares, short yearlings. I think the mares were incredibly healthy from, not just the top, but all the way through to a strong middle market. I think that was incredibly encouraging. There was a very large crowd, probably the largest crowd we've seen at a January Sale for quite awhile, even though we had a couple of inclement days. People got to see the horses and they responded.”
"I think the mares were incredibly healthy from, not just the top, but all the way through to a strong middle market." - Tony Lacy
Tony Lacy | Image courtesy of Keeneland
For the session, 319 horses sold for US$31,706,400 (AU$47.2 million). Compressed from three sessions to two this year, the sale saw a 9.9% increase in average to US$99,393 (AU$148,000) while the median dropped 35.38% from the same opening session last year to US$42,000 (AU$62,600). The opening session last year saw 200 horses bring US$18,087,000 (AU$26.8 million) with an average of US$90,435 (AU$134,700) and a median of US$65,000 (AU$96,900).
Mandy Pope adds Tiffany Case for $3.2m
Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm added another illustrious broodmare to their collection when Pope went to US$3.2 million (AU$4.77 million) to acquire Tiffany Case (Uncle Mo) (hip 465), who sold in foal to Not This Time.
Stakes placed in her racing career, the mare got on base with her first foal, producing stakes winner Love to Shop (Violence). Len and Jon Green's D.J. Stable, who bought Tiffany Case for US$320,000 (AU$477,000) at Keeneland November in 2019 with Love to Shop in utero, has also bred Canadian champion 2-year-old filly and Eclipse finalist 3-year-old filly Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) from her.
Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency as agent for DJ Stable, Tiffany Case makes it two in a row as her daughter, Love to Shop, co-topped last year's Keeneland January Sale at US$700,000 (AU$1.04 million).
Hip 465 - Tiffany Case | Image courtesy of Keeneland
Tiffany Case's price tag marked the highest-priced horse sold at the Keeneland January Sale since champion 3-year-old filly Abel Tasman (Quality Road) brought US$5 million (AU$7.45 million) back in 2019.
Simply In Front leads Greenwell trifecta
Greg Tramontin wound up the winner on a quick but exciting bidding battle for GISW Simply In Front (Summer Front) (hip 413), paying US$2 million (AU$2.98 million) for the 5-year-old mare from the consignment of Richard G Hogan, acting as agent for Colebrook Farms.
Hip 413 - Simply In Front | Image courtesy of Keeneland
Signing the ticket as Greenwell Thoroughbreds, Tramontin continues to add mares for his recently-purchased Siena Farm–now renamed Greenwell Farms. Simply in Front marked Tramontin's third purchase on the day; he also picked up a close relation to the mare in Closing Statement (Blame) (hip 91).
“I came up here with my friend from Baton Rouge, and I came to help him,” Tramontin said. “I said, 'I'm not buying anything'. I've bought three! All of them will be good for the farm. That's what we're trying to do, raise some quality top-end horses. We had her priced between two and three (million), and so did the consigner,” continued Tramontin.
"I came up here with my friend from Baton Rouge, and I came to help him. I said, 'I'm not buying anything'. I've bought three!" - Greg Tramontin
“So when it stopped, I was close to the end myself.” Tramontin confirmed that the GI First Lady Stakes winner is set for a visit with Taylor Made's sire on fire Not This Time.
Gunderson adds $800,000 Gun Runner colt
A short yearling colt (hip 114) by leading sire Gun Runner kicked off the action early in the opening session, hammering down to US$800,000 (AU$1.19 million) to Marc Gunderson, signing as MWG LLC. Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment, the colt is out of Canadian Graded stakes winner Deceptive Vision, a mare who also placed in the GI E. P. Taylor Stakes in her own racing career before producing graded placed Ancient Peace.
The result continued a run of success for the family at Keeneland January as Deceptive Vision initially went Hill 'n' Dale's way for US$900,000 (AU$1.3 million) at the 2021 edition. Ancient Peace then returned to the Keeneland January ring in 2023, topping the sale when selling to Boardshorts Stables (Flying Dutchman) for US$650,000 (AU$969,000).
Hip 114 - Gun Runner x Deceptive Vision colt | Image courtesy of Keeneland
“He's an athlete,” Gunderson said of his newest acquisition. “You can't go wrong buying a Gun Runner with a good family. I've been pretty active in the last few sales and (the price) was taken up right about where I thought it would be.
"You can't go wrong buying a Gun Runner with a good family." - Marc Gunderson
“It's a different market. I was maybe 12% higher than I thought I should have been. The market's carried (its momentum) forward from the last year, especially the second half of last year. I don't feel like the market's falling off one bit. What's started to happen is people are really focused now on what it's going to cost. So they're all focused on the same horses.
"If you're going to spend that kind of money, you have to work on your ROI rather than a risk-analysis aspect. You can still find plenty of good horses in three-to-five (hundred thousand) range.”
