The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale concluded Sunday with records
set for horses offered and gross sales during the January sale. A total of 1,624
hips went for $72,174,900, eclipsing last year’s numbers by a hefty 35.1 percent
when 1,361 horses sold for $53,418,000. The aggregate average was $44,443 and the median was $16,000, up 13.2
percent and 23.1 percent, respectively, on 2005 when the average was $39,249 and
the median was $13,000.
The previous record mark was set in the 1988
January sale when the sale grossed $66,694,900.
“The January Sale has come of age,” said Geoffrey Russell,
Keeneland director of sales.
“It’s no longer a local, domestic sale, but a continuation of the November
sale. There was a very international contingent of buyers here
from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, South America and Mexico. We are building
relationships with horsemen in these markets, and they are coming to Central
Kentucky because it is the Horse Capital of the World.”
The sale topper came on Tuesday, when Jerry Paxton’s Northwest Farms went
to $1 million on the 2005 El Encino S. (G2) heroine, GIRL WARRIOR (Elusive Quality).
The five-year-old broodmare prospect STEPH’S TEE (Lil E. Tee) fetched a bid
of $65,000 to top the final day of the sale
on Sunday. Selling as Hip No. 2215, the Indiana bred mare was consigned by
Old Frankfort Stud, agent, and purchased by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm owner John Sikura.
Steph’s Tee is a full-sister to stakes winner Tee To Green and a half-sister
to the winning Irene’s Talkin (At the Threshold), the dam of the Grade 1-winning
sophomore filly Adieu (El
Corredor).
During the final session, a total of 185 horses were sold for a gross amount
of $1,402,000, equating into an average price of $7,578 and a median price of
$4,700. No comparable session was held in 2005.