The Keeneland September Yearling Sale kicked off Sept. 9 with the average and median up from last year's opening session. Mandy Pope of Whisper Hill Farm signed the ticket for Hip 169 to top the session at $2.2 million. The gray or roan colt by Gun Runner was bred at Three Chimneys Farm near Versailles, Ky., and is out of Princesa Carolina, a multiple graded stakes-placed mare from the family of Pure Clan.
"He's an amazing horse, he's got everything, the looks, the shoulder, the hip, everything," said Todd Quast on behalf of Pope's Whisper Hill Farm.
"We bought the Pure Clan filly at Saratoga, loved her. We know where she was raised. We do a lot of stuff with Three Chimneys. We're just super happy to have him. Hopefully, he can run, but he sure looks the part, he really does," said Quast.
Gun Runner is third on the Leading Sires list for 2024, with 94 winners, nine of them graded stakes winners. He topped the sale with 15 yearlings sold for a gross of $12,525,000, an average of $835,000. He was the only sire in session 1 to have multiple horses sell for over $1 million, of which he had five.
WATCH: Whisper Hill Farm Secures $2.2M Gun Runner Colt
"He was such a nice horse, you knew he was a seven-figure horse," said consignor Kerry Cauthen of Four Star Sales. "To get to where he did, I think you've got to be grateful and delighted.
"Every day he kept going, he just did better and better. He was just such a cool horse. He was shown and I'll give a shout out to his groom, Isaac, who came over from Three Chimneys and showed him himself, and showed him the whole time and did an excellent job."
The colt got a little feisty in the back ring, and Cauthen thought that it worked out to his advantage.
"I think people saw the spice in him, and actually I think Todd just said, you know, it kind of sold Mandy; like wow, he really does look like he's ready to go. He's a damn nice horse," he said.
"I think it's very competitive for the good ones. I was focused on my group today, but it looks like it's everything you'd want it to be," Cauthen said about the market.
The top-priced filly of the session was Hip 24, a filly by Gun Runner, purchased by Douglas Scharbauer, whose father, Clarence, raced 1987 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Alysheba. He went to $1.5 million for the Gun Runner filly, who became the first horse to break the seven-figure barrier Monday.
The chestnut filly consigned as Hip 24 is the fourth foal out of 2017 Del Mar Oaks (G1) winner Dream Dancing, by Tapit . Gainesway consigned Hip 24 on behalf of breeder John C. Oxley, who also bred and raced the mare.
Fourteen horses sold for $1 million or more on opening day of the sale, to 14 different buyers, showing the diversity of this sale. There were domestic and international buyers active Monday afternoon, with two horses heading to Japan. Hip 175, a filly by Quality Road out of Rachel's Valentina, sold to North Hills, and Hip 167, a colt by Into Mischief out of Point of Honor, sold to Mitsu Nakauchida, agent.
"The average was $560,000, which is about 11% over last year, and the median was $450,000, so that's 12%, which is exactly the metric we're looking at," said Tony Lacy, vice president of sales at Keeneland.
WATCH: 14 Yearlings Bring $1M Plus at Keeneland September
"We're very pleased the way it came out of the gate, the first hips sold well. The first three hips sold really well, well above the reserve."
Taylor Made was the leading consignor with a gross of $7,310,000 from 17 horses sold, an average of $430,000. Resolute Bloodstock's John Stewart was the leading buyer, with six yearlings for a gross of $3,775,000.
During last year's opening session, 120 horses sold for a gross of $57,845,000, compared to this year's gross of $55,765,000 from 103 horses sold. Thirty-nine horses did not meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 27.5%, up from last year's 18.9%.
"I think at the end of the day looking at the numbers they were incredibly, incredibly healthy. Fourteen horses brought a million or more. We're just going through the numbers in the first top 20 priced horses, they were bought by 20 different buyers," said Lacy.
"We really appreciate the consignors and breeders who supported us, because this is something we put a lot of effort into, pushing book 1 as the dominant marketplace in the country."
Book 1 continues Sept. 10, beginning at 1 p.m. ET with hips 191-372 to go through the ring. As of Monday evening, 26 horses have been withdrawn from the second session.
