by John P. Sparkman

There are advantages to being the elephant in the room.

The Keeneland September yearling sale, which begins Monday in Lexington, is so much bigger than any other yearling sale that it is the one auction that every serious yearling buyer must attend.

Regardless of whether a buyer’s pocketbook can accommodate a seven-figure—or even an eight-figure—purchase or is limited to the lower five- or four-figure ranges, every buyer can find a horse in their price range at some point during the 15-day sale.

“Everybody's here,” Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland's director of sales, said on Sunday. “According to the comments we've heard, they like the horses they've seen on the grounds. This sale is based on the individuals we have and the results we've gotten in the past. It's been a terrific year on the track, and the consignors have brought the cream of the crop to the sale.”

Indeed, Keeneland's cover horses for the 2008 catalog range from 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, who was purchased for $57,000 by Ken McPeek, agent, at the 2005 September sale, to Group 2 winner Jalil, a $9.7-million purchase by John Ferguson, agent, earlier in the same sale.

A full brother to Jalil, by Storm Cat out of Grade 1 winner Tranquility Lake, by Rahy, is likely to play a prominent role in this year's sale. Also a full brother to multiple Grade 1 winner After Market, the deep-shouldered colt is one of several deemed likely to be among the highest-priced offerings at the first two sessions.

That list also includes the first foal out of 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri by last year's leading Keeneland September sale sire A.P. Indy, half brothers by Storm Cat to champions Point Given and Ashado, and a full brother to stakes winner and recent Travers Stakes Presented by Shadwell Farm (G1) runner-up Mambo in Seattle, by Kingmambo.

“Everybody who is usually here is present and accounted for,” Russell continued, “but unfortunately, the sales company doesn't know how much anyone wants to spend.”

That is, indeed, the prevailing question after an early yearling sale season in which sale averages generally slid about 10% and total proceeds dipped around 20% because of fewer horses offered and a lower clearance rate through the ring. The eight-book Keeneland September sale catalog, by contrast, includes a record 5,555 horses cataloged.

In recent years, Keeneland has depended on the global marketplace to support the second week of the sale, but with some world economies stronger than the UNited States's and others weaker, it is unknown how that will play out in 2008.

“I think it's going to be a good, strong sale through Wednesday, but I don't know after that,” said William S. Farish, owner of Lane's End.

The sale begins at 10 a.m. EDT Monday at the Keeneland sale pavilion and continues each day at that time through September 23, except for a dark day on September 12.

John P. Sparkman is bloodstock editor for Thoroughbred Times