Keeneland kicked off its 2022 September Yearling Sale today with an opening session that was electric from start to finish, sparking vibrant trade among a full house of the world’s top buyers that generated double-digit increases in gross, average and median prices. Leading the nine yearlings sold for $1 million or more was a colt by Quality Road for $2.5 million, the highest amount paid for a Thoroughbred yearling in North America and the second-highest price recorded anywhere in the world this year.
“It was a great day from beginning to end,” Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said. “Seeing the many people in the packed Sales Pavilion is a testament to the excitement of racing and of our sport in the state of Kentucky in particular. We have a lot of principals here, which is what we want. We want them to enjoy this tremendous sport and be looking to acquire their next champion. The atmosphere was fun, and the energy was high. It has been that way around the grounds for the past three days. To see it culminate with the prices and results we saw today is really exciting.”
Monday marked the first of two sessions of the prestigious Book 1 catalog of the September Sale, and Keeneland sold 114 yearlings for a total of $57,095,000, for an average of $500,833 and a median of $450,000. Total sales were up 48.99 percent from last year’s first session gross of $38,322,000. The average increased 25.46 percent from $399,188 in 2021, and the median rose 38.46 percent from $325,000.