The 81st Keeneland Yearling Sale through the eyes of veteran and promising buyers and sellers

For more than eight decades September has offered opportunities for those in the Thoroughbred business. At least a two-fold opportunity. One for breeders from central Kentucky and far away places and another for buyers, looking for one more competitive racehorse. All at the Keeneland Yearling Sale.

The sound of a horse neigh is a familiar sound at historic Keeneland. This time it's found between the sale barns and back walking ring. It was there Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms President John Sikura talked about his three decades of breeding horses. He said he was introduced to the business in Canada at his dad’s small-scale farm. But, in time, he was drawn to Kentucky the big screen of Thoroughbred breeding.

“Kind of like watching movies and going to Hollywood and seeing people in the flesh and the person, so…a dream became sort of a valid reality when you’re around those horses and those people and those farms,” said Sikura.

Sikura sa 40-50 years ago prominent families bred mares and raced their own stable. Now he said it’s partnerships, new-age commerce, with most horses bred to be sold. Still inherently risky, Sikura said out of six bred, one might sell well. And the all-natural breeding schedule has changed from a horse breeding 40 t0 50 mares to maybe 200. Sikura said breeding a sound horse is always a challenge, a big strong animal with to a degree fragility in their limbs.

“The faster they go, the more concussion, the more vulnerable a horse can be, so I think the structure of the actual animal being a big strong horse that can accomplish things that no other animal on the planet can accomplish and asking them to do that repeatedly. You know you have some of those vulnerabilities,” said Sikura

John Sikura noted historical racing gambling has been a big boost to purses, changing the dynamic at a tracks like Kentucky Downs and Ellis Park. He added the economic ripple effect is a real mainstay to the Kentucky economy. In Kentucky, he calls it a golden era of horse racing.

Another central Kentucky breeder Austin Luttrell of Tisbury Stud is on a newer track, just buying a farm earlier this year. Luttrell said he grew up going to Keeneland and the Red Mile, and worked on horse farms during college. His experience includes time away from the bluegrass.

“Did some time internationally which was a tremendous experience. Spent some time in Australia and Argentina. Then, like all Kentuckians, I ended up coming home and managed some farms and started a farm. Got married and had a kid and here we are,” said Luttrell.

Luttrell said, for now, he and his wife own a handful of mares and are mostly boarding for clients. As far as income, he said there’s no ceiling on what you can make. But it’s also about breeding the best to the best and hoping for the best. Luttrell said there is a substantial learning curve.

“So, I’m 36, so for the past 15 years I worked for someone, learning how to do this. So, it’s a massive time investment. And you’re investing in yourself and the knowledge of the horses. And then, once you get to a certain point then it becomes, you know, the money part of it,” said Luttrell.

Buying a farm, says Luttrell, is a big deal, expensive, with a scary number attached. But he says land is a great investment and then there to soil value. One of the biggest challenges, Luttrell said is laying out all the cost associated with buying a farm and competing against those who have inherited a breeding operation.

There are always new people to the breeding industry, but that holds true for the buying end of the business as well. Andy Lo is making his first trip to America to Kentucky to Keeneland. From Hong Kong, he’s been a bloodstock agent for one year. He didn’t grow up on a horse farm, but his father and grandfather were punters, bettors.

“I grew up betting on horses, albeit it was legal to be betting under age, but I always helped my father, helped my grandpa doing the form analysis. Help them gamble, basically. That was my first experience, but actual horses at was after graduation at Uni,” said Lo.

Lo said to see horses in person in England, something clicked in him and he’s just loved them even more ever since. And during COVID, Lo said he had lots of time to study up on the bloodstock profession. The first-time visitor to the Keeneland yearling sale noted horse racing has a century of history in Hong Kong and is very popular. Lo added his eye is focusing on a certain type of Thoroughbred.

“Every single racing jurisdiction you need different types of horses. For some in Hong Kong, we don’t start racing until they’re three and a half. So, we have to find horses who….we are looking down the line. We want horses when they mature…they be big enough strong enough and suitable for Hong Kong,” said Lo.

Lo said there’s not a lot of open space in the Chinese region for the horse to live in. So, the buyer said the search is for mentally tough horses.

Also attending the yearling sale is Marette Farrell. Far from her first experience as a bloodstock agent. She describes herself growing up as an “avid horse girl” at her dad’s horse farm in Ireland. After involvement in show jumping and racing, Farrell said there was no turning back. She came to Kentucky about age 20 and feel in love with the beautiful countryside and intense horse interest. Farrell said the international emphasis of Thoroughbred racing can be seen in bloodline movements. She said there was an emphasis years ago to use American bloodlines to reignite the European pedigrees.

“And now we have Americans going over there to try and steal some of those bloodlines back. And now you have Australians. This sale particular, there are a couple of Australian groups up here trying to take that American blood back down there. So, it’s really internationalized the sport. And I think it’s wonderful for our world business in general,” said Farrell.

What do you look for in a horse in deciding whether or not to bid on it? Farrell said you can often recognize athleticism in people walking down the street and the same can be true for horses. She said you examine the balance of the pedigree with the physical traits. Farrell remembers an encounter with a fellow countryman about training in Kentucky compared to her homeland.

“It was my first job here and he happened to be an Irish guy and I just said, ‘oh I got it all figured out!’.. We just need to train them more, we’re not training them hard enough. And his answer to me and it’s stuck in my head all these years…that Marette they train on the dirt here and the dirt is harder on them, so this is as much as they can do,” said Farrell.

Farrell said he added ‘a sound horse is a horse that will get you to the races.’ She said he’s been right over all the years.

In addition to the sounding off of horses around Keeneland, there’s another sound synonymous with the two-week sale.

Ryan Mahan is director of auction with 47 years at Keeneland. He said his family was involved with horses, but the auctioneering didn’t entice him initially. Mahan said it looked very confusing. He said it takes a lot of practice, counting backwards and forwards to get the chant and the rhythm. And what’s the secret?

“You know we call them filler words between the numbers like eight anybody give nine. ‘anybody give nine, anybody give nine, anybody give nine.’ So, you just get that rhythm and it just rolls off the tongue a little better and hopefully our audience thinks it’s fun, thinks it’s high energy, and hopefully they bid more,” said Mahan.

Mahan said auctioneers have their own filler words. He said an international presence in the pavilion does call for intentionally slowing down and articulating well. Mahan said the adjustment to online or phoned in bids was not too difficult.

The annual September Yearling Sale carries a significant economic impact on central Kentucky. Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said the historic track’s economic pump tally runs over one and a half billion dollars. And it’s an ag-based business.

“Racing horses doesn’t seem like a significant activity, but it brings a lot of employment. It’s a huge economic generator because that money is constantly re-invested in the area. It’s an agricultural activity as well as a sporting activity,” said Lacy.

Lacy saids the Keeneland sale is where the market is set for the industry. He noted confidence in the Thoroughbred industry is key, whether it’s up five percent or even down ten percent as long as there’s not a crash. And Lacy added looking at people’s faces amounts to a good metric.

“If they’re happy, they feel comfortable, they feel confident, that they’ve had a good day, that they got a fair value for the horse, that they’re able to afford their stud fees, they’re able to afford potentially a new truck, replace the fence, buy another mare. So, these types of reinvestments, the confidence and reinvestment is really the metric that I think is most important,” said Lacy.

There’s, not surprisingly, a strong Bluegrass flavor to the yearling sale. Lacy says 70 to 80% of the Thoroughbreds sold were born in Kentucky and around 70% end up on the racetrack somewhere.

Here's the extended interview with breeder John Sikura:

Here's the extended interview with breeder Austin Luttrell:

Here's the extended interview with buyer Andy Lo:

Here's the extended interview with buyer Marette Farrell:

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