Keeneland’s 82nd November Breeding Stock Sale ended Tuesday with $237.45 million in through-the-ring sales, plus another nearly $8.45 million in post sales reported to date for a total of $245.9 million to be the highest-grossing November Sale since 2007 and continue a historic auction year for the Thoroughbred industry.
The 2007 November Breeding Stock Sale grossed $340,877,220 over 15 sessions and included horses in training. (In 2022, Keeneland created the November Horses of Racing Age Sale as a stand-alone auction for this segment of the market.)
For this year’s eight-day November Breeding Stock Sale from Nov. 4-11, Keeneland sold 1,891 horses through the ring for $237,456,400, an increase of 26.60% over last year’s nine-day auction, when 2,050 horses sold through the ring brought $187,557,400. (With the addition of $8,935,500 in post sales for 109 horses, last year’s gross reached $196,492,900.)
Meanwhile, records were set in average and median prices, both besting marks from last year. The average of $125,572 was 37.25% higher than $91,491 in 2024, while the median price of $60,000 was 50% above $40,000 last year.
Eighteen horses sold for $1 million or more this year, the most since 2017, and included one seven-figure horse on Day 2 for the first time since 2022.
“This year marked a watershed moment for Keeneland Sales,” said Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin. “From a record-shattering September Yearling Sale that topped $500 million in gross sales to the continued momentum into an outstanding November Breeding Stock Sale, the confidence in this marketplace has never been stronger.
A number of Canadians were busy buying horses during the final two sessions of the sale, including western Canadian horsepeople Colleen O’Hagan, Highfield Investments, Cal Britton, Starling Thoroughbreds, Craig Smith and others.
Some of the buyers and their purchases from the final two sessions:
COLLEEN O’HAGAN (SK) – weanling filly by Maximus Mischief $3,500, weanling colt by Midnight Lute
JESSE KORONA, agent for Amplify Stables – Lady de Peron (GB) in foal to Up to the Mark, $20,000, Lady Cuilinn (Ire), $3,000, in foal to Karakontie (Jpn)
CAL BRITTON – colt by Mo Donegal, $3,000
HIGHFIELD INVESTMENT GROUP – Scarlet Flutter, mare $30,000 in foal to Collected; Cypress (from Horses of Racing Age sale, $20,000, son of Into Mischief, plus stakes winner Abeliefinthisliving, $30,000, Runaway Lights, $10,000). Racing/Broodmare prospect filly $15,000 by Munnings
NORTHERN DAWN – weanling filly Speakers Corner – Sweater Weather, $5,000; $10,000 mare, Spider Dance in foal to Nashville
DOUG OBERG – colt by Vino Rosso, $3,000
ANDERSON FARMS – $25,000, Yarborough, by Medaglia D’oro, in foal to Army Mule; Dancing, $25,000 by Bernardini
WORKWIZE ENTERPRISES – $2,500 Catch a Thrill in foal to Sir Winston
STARLINE THOROUGHBREDS – 6 weanlings. Jim and Amber Meyaard purchased Hip 1715 in Session 5, a Flameaway colt acquired for $3,000 out of the Mizzen Mast mare Mercurial, producer of two winners. They followed with Hip 2176 for $5,000, a Vino Rosso filly out of the Speightstown mare Pilot Episode, a full sister to Canadian champion two-year-old filly and multiple graded stakes-placed Bold Script. In Session 7 they added Hip 2456 for $3,500, a colt by War of Will out of the Pioneer of the Nile mare Getting Lucky. Their Session 8 additions included Hip 2711 for $1,500, a colt by Thousand Words out of Wicked Tap, a Pleasant Tap mare and producer of five winners including Undecoded ($159,967); Hip 2735 for $1,500, a Dialed In colt and first foal out of the Astern mare Astern Affairs; and Hip 2801 for $1,200, a filly by Global Campaign out of the Ghostzapper mare Espiritu. (files from Lindsay Ward)
STONE RANCHES added a blue-blooded mare to their program with the purchase of Hip 2726, the Dynaformer daughter Alpha Centauri, for $2,000. Alpha Centauri sold for $600,000 as a weanling, and her dam, Prima Centauri, is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Etoile Montante. She has produced four winners from six to race and is believed to be in foal to Vino Rosso.
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