Keeneland January shows gains in gross and average
By Glenye Cain Oakford
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland January all-ages sale ended Friday with mixed results but showed the kind of market stability auction executives and sellers had hoped to see. Topped by Grade 1 winner Ave’s $1.4 million sale to Japan’s Shadai Farm, the five-day auction sold 1,021 horses for receipts totaling $25,250,350. That marked an increase of 6 percent from last year’s gross for 982 horses. The 2011 average price, $24,731, was up 2 percent. Median, which had remained level with last year’s figures for most of the sale, had dropped by 6 percent at the close of business Friday, from last year’s $8,000 to $7,500 in 2011. The buyback percentage remained at 27 percent, the same as it was in 2010.
Keeneland’s director of sales, Geoffrey Russell, called the market “resilient” and added, “People are still very discerning, but they want to buy horses. That fact is supported by the prices paid for quality individuals, particularly young, stakes-winning mares and yearlings with good physicals.”