US$151,400,000 traded across Book 1 at Keeneland September

Cover image courtesy of Keeneland

At A Glance

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Across both Book 1 sections, 208 yearlings sold for US$151,400,000 (AU$211 million), up from 2025’s record breaking Book 1 section where 217 horses grossed US$144,185,000 (AU$202 million).

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The average of US$727,885 (AU$1.02 million) was up 9.55% from last year's Book 1 section average of US$664,447 (AU$931,000).

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The median of US$600,000 (AU$842,000) was up 9.09% on 2025’s median of US$550,000 (AU$772,000).

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There were 84 horses reported not sold during the two sessions for a buy-back rate of 28.77%. It was 21.09% last year.

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A record 41 yearlings in Book 1 made seven figures, up from 35 in 2025.

The Book 1 section of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, led by a US$3.7 million (AU$5.2 million) son of Into Mischief, churned out strong results right through to its conclusion on Tuesday and continued a string of four straight record-setting Book 1 sessions from 2025 through 2026.

“It was a great day,” said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. “Lots of energy carried through, lots of great participation, both internationally and domestically.”

The 2025 September Sale set records, and they kept being broken this year.

“Last year, we did not expect to see those type of returns,” Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “And this year, to see a section surpassing that in most metrics is really, really encouraging. And it's not that there are massive increases. They are more sustainable increases, which I think is more encouraging. We are not on a sugar high.

“The RNA rate ticked up higher than we would like it to, so we would like to see that continue to go down,” Arvin said. “That means we may have some sellers excited to keep their stock and we have some sellers disappointed they didn't find a spot in the market. We are definitely paying close attention to that.”

Through the two sessions, 41 yearlings sold for seven figures, led by a colt by Into Mischief who sold for US$3.7 million (AU$5.2 million) to Coolmore's M.V. Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm from the Glennwood Farm consignment. Magnier and Brant were the book's leading buyers with five purchased for US$10,150,000 (AU$14.2 million).

The 41 seven-figure yearlings was the most ever for a two-day period of the September sale and an increase over last year's figure of 35.

Reiley McDonald's Eaton Sales sold the second-highest priced offering of Tuesday's session when AMO Racing paid US$3.1 million (AU$4.3 million) for a son of Gun Runner.

“I think it's an incredible market,” McDonald said. “It's incredible on the high end. I'm a little bit worried about the bottom half of the horses in Book 1 because these are the best 400 bred horses in the country, these and the ones at Saratoga. But certainly, we have to look at what's happening on the top half and it's been unbelievable.”

Taylor Made Sales Agency was the leading consignor in Book 1, with 40 yearlings sold for US$26,350,000 (AU$37 million).

The Keeneland September sale moves on to Book 2, with sessions Wednesday and Thursday beginning at 11 a.m. Following a dark day, the auction continues through Sept. 26 with sessions beginning at 10 a.m.

'$3.7 million blew my mind': Into Mischief colt tops Day 2

Early in Tuesday's session, a colt by Into Mischief proved to be the showstopper, reeling in a cool US$3.7 million (AU$5.2 million) final bid from M.V. Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm. Offered as Hip 242, the colt was consigned by John Gunther's Glennwood Farm. Gunther, in partnership with Eurowest Bloodstock, bred the February 28 foal.

“My heart's still pounding, and I just have to thank the team at Glennwood for what's happened,” said the visibly emotional Gunther moments after the sale. “I mean, we're so lucky.”

Regarding the price, he added, “I figured between two and three, there was enough interest. I figured over ($2 million) for sure, but $3.7 [million] blew my mind! And my daughter, Tanya, she'll be crying. That's a guarantee.”

He continued, “(Tanya) works 24/7 and she comes to the farm and works with the horses and walks yearlings. The whole team puts a tremendous effort into it. And Lindsay Wilson, who works for us as well. They just all work very hard and I really have to thank them for it. It's unbelievable.”

The colt is out of Grazie Mille (Bernardini), the dam of GI Hollywood Derby winner Mo Town (Uncle Mo) and stakes winner Justique (Justify). The former brought US$200,000 (AU$281,000) at this venue in 2015, while the latter realized US$725,000 (AU$1 million) in 2023. Justique subsequently sold for US$2 million (AU$2.8 million) at Keeneland November last fall.

“He was just a big strong colt, tremendous walk and a great presence about him,” said Gunther of Tuesday's topper. “And I've never had so much vet work done on a yearling ever. I mean, everybody loved this colt.”

Gunther also sold a Gun Runner colt out of Stage Magic (Hip 47) to Winchell Thoroughbreds for US$1.9 million (AU$2.7 million) on Day 1.

“I wanted to stay in, of course, but that's not going to happen (with Tuesday's Into Mischief colt). But I was lucky enough to stay in on the (Gun Runner) Stage Magic with Mr. (Ron) Winchell. So I'm happy about that. But I mean, this colt is in good hands now.

“They mentioned that he's going to stay in the U.S. and race here. So that makes me feel really good as well.”

$3.1-Million Gun Runner full-bro to Locked to AMO

Gun Runner's 10th seven-figure yearling at the September sale was his most expensive when bloodstock agent Ben McElroy bid US$3.1 million (AU$4.3 million) to acquire a colt by the Three Chimneys stallion (hip 313) on behalf of Kia Joorabchian's AMO Racing. Bred by Rosa Colasanti and consigned by Eaton Sales, the chestnut is a full-brother to two-time Grade I winner Locked, who stood his first season at stud this year at Gainesway.

“We showed Kia the horse and he just loved him right from the get-go,” McElroy said. “Obviously, he's by a sensational sire in Gun Runner. The full-brother is at stud. With what we paid today, we better hope for the same result.”

Asked if he was expecting the colt's US$3.1 million (AU$4.3 million) price tag, McElroy said, “No. But Kia was very strong. He drove the bus on that one. The horse obviously made a ton of sense and he's a beautiful physical. When you get up to those numbers, nobody can predict.”

Hip 313 is out of Luna Rosa (Malibu Moon), a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Gabby's Golden Gal (Medaglia d'Oro) and multiple graded winner Always a Princess (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}).

“He will go down to Ocala and get broke,” McElroy said. “Obviously, we will take our time with him. Kia will pick out a trainer for him, probably April or May next year. I can tell Wesley [Ward] was very high on him, but there will be plenty of people putting their hats in the ring next year.”

Colasanti, a Roman restauratice, raced Luna Rosa's dam Gabriellina Giof (GB) (Ashkalani {Ire}) before selling her Arnold Zetcher to race in the U.S. She bought the mare back for US$75,000 (AU$105,000) at the 2008 Keeneland January sale.

Reiley McDonald's Eaton Sales sold Locked for US$425,000 (AU$596,000) at the 2022 Keeneland September sale.

Of the stallion's yearling full-brother, McDonald said, “He's an absolute specimen of a horse. I haven't seen a prettier Gun Runner ever. He showed 204 times and every time he moved, he had a fluid, strong, easy movement. He had a great mind, handled the sale really well. With that pedigree, I'm not surprised he brought that much, but you never go in thinking that much.”

Flying Dutchmen continue yearling buying spree

The Boersma family's Flying Dutchmen, which produced a tour de force buying spree at last month's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, continued to acquire high-priced yearlings into the Keeneland September sale. Through two sessions of the auction, the family has acquired nine yearlings for US$8,725,000 (AU$12.2 million), and made its highest purchase of the week when going to US$2.6 million (AU$3.6 million) to acquire a colt by Flightline (hip 351) from the Lane's End Farm consignment Tuesday.

“The plan is to buy a stallion and to buy a few mares to support him,” said Payton Boersma. “With that group of horses that we've put together from Saratoga and Keeneland, I am very confident we have some really nice racehorses. The key is just to keep them healthy and give them a chance to show what they've got.”

In addition to its nine purchases so far at the Keeneland sale, the Boersma family also purchased 11 yearlings for US$21,625,000 (AU$30.3 million)–including the US$4.2 million (AU$5.9 million) sale topper and US$4 million (AU$5.6 million) second highest-priced offering–at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

“My family has built our way up and taken a bunch of big jumps forward once we got more comfortable,” Boersma said. “This was the year we decided to make a really strong push, we are going to do everything we can. We are going to buy the nicest horses, the cream of the cream in both sales. And we used our whole team and we feel confident in what we are doing. We are loving it. We are having a heckuva time, too.”

Despite what it looks like from the outside, Boersma said the team had gotten shut out on some horses.

“There have been a few horses we pulled back on,” he confirmed. “We haven't bought every horse that we've loved. We tried to stay as disciplined as possible, but at the same time there are a few horses we decided we just weren't going to stop on.”

Hip 351, bred by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm, is out of stakes winner and graded-placed Park Avenue (Quality Road).

“What a beautiful horse that guy was,” Boersma said. “That was, collectively, every single person on our team's favorite physical of the whole sale. We are a big believer in Flightline. We ended up buying shares in Flightline. We love him and we really love how these young horses are looking.”

Travis Boersma, the co-founder of Dutch Bros Coffee, made headlines when he purchased a 2.5% fractional share in Flightline at Keeneland in 2022 for US$4.6 million (AU$6.5 million). Flying Dutchmen's September purchases also included a US$1.4 million (AU$1.96 million) son of Gun Runner (hip 226); and a US$1.05 million (AU$1.47 million) son of Into Mischief (hip 278).

Yulong on the buying bench

Often seen as the vendors at major sales around the world particularly in Australia, it was the Yulong-bred Hip 144 - A filly by Champion sire Into The Mischief and out of Bunskie (Speightstown) that sold for US$1 million (AU1.4 million) to the bid of MWG via the Brookdale draft.

The filly is closely related to the Triple Crown hero and successful sire Justify and her dam is currently in foal to Raging Torrent.

Summer Wind scores with Justify, Flightline colts late

At the premier sales in the country, Summer Wind Equine can be counted upon to be consistently among the leading breeders of high-quality stock. During Tuesday's Book 1 finale at Keeneland, the operation once again showed its puissance, selling not one but two yearlings in the vicinity of US$2 million (AU$2.8 million).

The first, a colt by Justify (Hip 341), realized US$1.95 million (AU$2.7 million) from Mayberry Farm. Out of New Narration (Tapit), the May 3 foal is a half-brother to GI Pennsylvania Derby winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming).

Just moments later, a colt by Horse of the Year Flightline (Hip 351) brought US$2.6 million (AU$3.6 million) from Flying Dutchmen. The March 28 foal is out of stakes winner Park Avenue (Quality Road). Both colts were consigned by Lane's End Farm, who also co-bred the Flightline colt.

“I didn't expect those to go quite that high,” admitted Summer Wind's Jane Lyon, visibly moved after the rapid fire scores. “Of course, being my horses, I thought they were worth anything and everything. But we are very, very happy with the results.”

Unraced New Narration, in foal to Nashville, was purchased by Lyon for US$850,000 (AU$1.2 million) at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale.

“We knew we had a lot of people interested in the Flightline colt, but the Justify colt, we just did that just to see what would happen with that mare,” explained Lyon. “We've had her for a number of years now, and to see that cross, it really was exciting. Bobby (Spalding), my farm manager, knew that this was a very nice colt. But I was a little surprised if they put him in the first book, honestly.”

The Flightline colt, the third highest-priced yearling of Tuesday's session, is a full-brother to Powerline, a US$1.8 million (AU$2.5 million) Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase in 2025. Summer Wind purchased Park Avenue for US$1.45 million (AU$2 million) at Keeneland November in 2022.

“I expected the Flightline to be in the first book,” she said. “We have a few more Flightlines coming and we're hopeful that they will be well received, but I just didn't expect quite this well at this point. I hope everybody will hang in there with Flightline and give him time to show what they can do because he's not meant to be a short distance (sire), so I can't wait until they start stretching out a little bit. It'll be very exciting.”

Earlier this summer, Summer Wind sold a Curlin colt out of Private Mission (Into Mischief) for US$800,000 (AU$1.1 million) at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

“I'm pretty connected to all my mares,” Lyon added. “And a lot of the stallions that we bred to, I have a history with, and not having necessarily bred and raised them. But Flightline is very special and he's been a gift. And he has certainly been that and it's fulfilling to me.”

According to Lyon, Summer Wind bred 40 mares this season.

“A lot of them are mares I've had and a lot of them are young mares that I bred and brought back into the fold. It's my life. I love every bit of it. Days like today will just keep it going.”

Curlin filly brings $1.95 million at Keeneland on Day 2

It didn't take long for fireworks to get going at Keeneland on Tuesday. The second seven-figure yearling of the session, Hip 220, a filly by Curlin, drew a US$1.95 million (AU$2.7 million) final bid from Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm.

“We didn't want to pay that much, but that happens,” said Whisper Hill's Todd Quast of the final price.

Consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, the Red Oak Stable-bred filly is out of Feel That Fire (Lightnin N Thunder), sister to stakes winner Ima Jersey Girl. She is already responsible for multiple Grade I winner Mind Control (Stay Thirsty), who was also bred and co-campaigned by Red Oak Stable.

“Mandy loved the pedigree, with Mind Control in the family,” said Whisper Hill's Todd Quast. “There's a lot of residual value as a broodmare there, but I thought especially as a physical, she was a very, very good physical.

“She was light on her feet, had a good walk, everything was there. We're looking for the (breeding prospect), but also I think she could be a racehorse. So we were very excited about her. And the good fillies are hard to find, especially those with any kind of pedigree that look good, that pass the vet, that have everything. We're excited to have her.”

In regard to the filly's 22-year-old Classic-winning sire who was taken out of breeding duty earlier this season, he added, “There are not going to be very many Curlins left, so as a broodmare sire and with that female side, we just think it's an exciting family.”

Given her sire's propensity for producing later-developing route horses, Quast believes the filly looks likely come to hand earlier than some of the others.

“Her body says 'yes', but we'll find out,” he said. “I don't think she'll be super early, but she could be early.”

Quast indicated a trainer will be named at a later date.

“She will go home to Whisper Hill and we'll start breaking her in about a month,” he said. “I don't know who is going to get her, we use everybody, but we try to suit the horse to the trainer.”