NEWS
Total sales up for third consecutive day at Keeneland
Posted: Friday, November 13, 2009 8:24 PM
by Pete Denk
Keeneland reported the sale of 244 horses for $20,399,700 during Friday’s fourth session of the November breeding stock sale, an improvement of 23.2% from the corresponding session last year.
After an opening session that declined 45.3% from 2009, Keeneland has posted year-to-year gains in total sales for three consecutive days.
Friday’s average price of $83,605 was a 1.5% increase from last year. The median was down 7.7% at $60,000.
“It is better than I thought,” Keeneland Director of Sales Geoffrey Russell said. “It’s much more consistent, with a lot more American participation in the mares than I thought there’d be. And it’s not like one person is buying a bunch of horses. It’s a lot of people, and that’s a very good and healthy sign.”
Fifty-seven horses were bought back on Friday, producing a buy-back rate of 18.9%, almost half of last year’s mark of 35.2%. The cumulative buy-back rate of 20.4% also is considerably lower than 33.7% at this point a year ago.
“People have come to this sale understanding where we are, and they’ve appraised their horses very well,” Russell said. “Credit the consignors for their appraisals. It’s a difficult market, but they’ve obviously adjusted to it very well.”
Horse France purchased Friday’s session topper, going to $400,000 for Dancing Shoes (Ire), a nine-year-old Danehill mare out of the Affirmed mare Emmaline, in foal to Unbridled’s Song.
Dancing Shoes is the dam of stakes-placed winner Striking Dancer, a three-year-old Smart Strike filly, who is entered in the Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Robert Nataf of Horse France said Dancing Shoes was bought on behalf of a partnership.
“They are trying to buy mares to go to Galileo, so eventually this mare will go to Galileo,” Nataf said.
Four Star Sales, agent for Glencrest Farm, consigned Dancing Shoes. Glencrest bought her for $140,000 at the 2009 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.
“We had seen Striking Dancer win at Churchill Downs last fall and we thought she was a very good two-year-old,” Glencrest’s David Greathouse said. “Dancing Shoes was bought to see how this filly ran and then come back here next year. She was bought on blue sky.”
Friday’s top weanling was a colt by first-year sire Corinthian that sold for $260,000 to Dowdy Draw Farm. Bred in Kentucky by Mt. Joy Stables and consigned by Highclere Sales, agent, the colt is the third foal out of the stakes winning Silver Deputy mare Silver Lace.
Cumulatively, Keeneland has reported the sale of 791 horses from 994 offered for total sales of $118,884,200, which is 9.4% behind last year’s pace. Average is down 17.1% at $150,296, and median is down 5% at $95,000.
The 2008 November sale, which took place right after the global economic recession hit, experienced some of the largest declines in the sale’s history.
“The whole thing has a better feel than last year,” Russell said. “Last November there really was a sense of foreboding. I hate to say there’s a sense of optimism this year, but there’s a sense of realism. I think people know where they are, and they know what to expect, and they’re going on with it.
“Last year everybody was shell shocked. They didn’t know what was going on and what was going to happen.”
Session five of the 13-session sale begins today at 10 a.m. EST.
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times
