Home » Medaglia d’Oro colt brings $1 million to top opening session of Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Medaglia d’Oro colt brings $1 million to top opening session of Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Kee Sept 16 Hip 48
Hip 48, a Medaglia d’Oro colt, sold for $1 million.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 12, 2016) – A colt by leading sire Medaglia d’Oro sold for $1 million to Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier to lead the first day of Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale, which saw strong participation from a diverse contingent of domestic and foreign buyers.

On Monday, Keeneland sold 108 yearlings for a gross of $34,531,000, down 22.65 percent from the opening session in 2015 when 150 horses sold for $44,642,000. The session average increased 7.43 percent from $297,613 to $319,731, while the median price of $267,500 was up slightly over last year’s $265,000.

The number of yearlings sold for $500,000 or more rose from 19 in 2015 to 25 this year.

“We knew the gross would be down because we were offering significantly fewer horses in this session (202 cataloged this year versus 241 in 2015),” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “The word ‘stable’ feels appropriate here because the average was up and the median was just a tick up over last year. So with fewer offerings, an increase in the number of horses purchased in the $500,000 to $999,000 range and a comparable median to last year, we are pretty pleased.”

The top 25 yearlings were purchased by 16 different entities, representing major domestic and international buyers.