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Insights

Sale breakdowns, catalog analysis, market commentary and case studies.

  1. How November Buyers Are Sorting the Young Sires

    How buyers at Fasig-Tipton November and Keeneland Books 1 to 3 priced weanlings by Kentucky’s first-, second- and third-crop sires, and what the 2027 stud fees change for breeders.

  2. One Market, Two Rooms

    Fasig-Tipton November and Keeneland Book 1 shared many of the same buyers, but their spending followed different patterns. Japanese buyers concentrated their purchases at Fasig-Tipton, mare prices diverged, and six weanlings reached seven figures.

  3. Fasig-Tipton November: What the Catalog Tells Us About Monday’s Market

    Fewer mares, expensive covers, early weanlings and a first-crop sire market already adjusting to lower fees. Three findings from the catalog and nine years of sale results.

  4. What the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Winners Cost

    The auction prices of all 14 winners of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup, and how the five starters bought for $1 million or more as yearlings or two-year-olds ran.

  5. The Price of Gun Runner

    At $350,000, Gun Runner commands a price few stallions have reached. His runners explain the demand, but the commercial calculation changes considerably between Saratoga, Keeneland Book 1 and the rest of the yearling market.

  6. The Sires Behind the Last Five Breeders’ Cups

    We traced all 775 starts in the 70 Breeders’ Cup races from 2021 through 2025, then compared the leading sires’ records with the horses they have entered at Keeneland this week.

  7. Before They Were Breeders’ Cup Horses: Saturday

    We traced the public auction history of every horse drawn for Saturday’s nine Breeders’ Cup races, and what those histories say about where championship horses come from and where the fillies and mares go next.

  8. Before They Were Breeders’ Cup Horses: The Juveniles

    We traced the public auction history of every horse drawn for Friday’s five Breeders’ Cup juvenile races: what each one sold for, who bought it, and which were bought back, withdrawn or never sold at auction.

  9. The October Option: How Kentucky’s Fall Yearling Sales Fit Together

    What 522 yearlings appearing at both Keeneland September and Fasig-Tipton October reveal about the relationship between the sales, the choices sellers make, and how the market establishes value.

  10. Inside a Near-Record Fasig-Tipton October

    Fasig-Tipton October is the last major stop of Kentucky’s yearling auction season. After a record September, we went through the October results to see where the money moved, which horses found buyers and what the results tell us about the market heading into November.

  11. The Pinhook Math at Fasig-Tipton October

    Our tracker follows 311 yearlings carrying nearly $25 million in original purchase costs. The 212 that sold brought $14.5 million against $15.5 million in purchase prices, and 99 horses left October with their ultimate value still to be determined. Here’s what we learned about acquisition prices, timing and the economics of pinhooking.

  12. If We Were Still Shopping at Fasig-Tipton October

    Twenty yearlings I would make time to see: ten for the races and ten for the 2-year-old market.

  13. Inside Kentucky’s Stallion Portfolios

    Rising fees, international moves and the changing fortunes of young sires offer a look inside the businesses behind Kentucky’s stallion rosters.

  14. Keeneland vs. Tattersalls Book 1: Three Years of Yearling Sales Data Examined

    The highest-priced yearlings sell in Newmarket. Three years of Book 1 results show how far Keeneland has pulled ahead across the rest of the premium market.

  15. Justify’s Best Is Still Ahead

    Justify’s European earnings since 2023, his Tattersalls Book 1 draft and the mare books behind the crops still to come.

  16. A Second Chance at Fasig-Tipton October

    We followed five years of Keeneland September RNAs into October. The horses were liquid. Recovering the September number was harder.

  17. How to Read Fasig-Tipton October

    A buyer’s guide to the Fasig-Tipton October Kentucky Yearlings sale, from Keeneland history and prior purchase prices to sire cycles and dam production.

  18. What Really Changed at the Bottom of Keeneland September?

    BloodHorse found the strongest percentage growth at Keeneland September near the bottom of the market. A fixed-price look at the sale shows why: 296 yearlings sold for $10,000 or less, the fewest in five years, and offerings in that band fell 17.7% against a sale that shrank 1.5%.

  19. The Consignors Behind Keeneland September

    What five years of Keeneland September results say about the businesses bringing horses to market. Participation, prices and placement across 124 consignments, twelve profiles, and 2026 leaderboards by gross, clearance, median and pinhooks sold.

  20. What Happened to the 2023 Stallion Class Once the Horses Started Running

    The 2023 stallion class sold its second Keeneland September crop with racetrack evidence in hand. Fourteen of 18 sires lost median value, and black-type breadth separated the four that rose.

  21. What a Record September Says About the Commercial Sire Market

    Keeneland September as a referendum on the sire market. The top 10 took 49 percent of gross, Not This Time closed on Gun Runner, and Yaupon reached the top 10 from a $25,000 fee without a Book 1 sale.

  22. Grading the Freshman Sire Class at Keeneland September

    Commercial grades for all 16 first-crop sires, with each stallion's 2024 stud fee alongside. Up to the Mark and Arabian Lion cleared at 14 percent, Cody's Wish posted a $285,000 median against a 39.3 percent RNA rate, and Mage went from 46 percent clearance to 91 percent.

  23. What a Record Keeneland September Is Made Of

    Eight years of results underneath the record: 47 fewer through-ring sales for $26.2 million more, the median up in all six books, and essentially the same buyer base writing bigger checks.

  24. Why a Record September Felt So Tough for Pinhookers

    Median purchase price rose to $85,000 while the median gross multiple fell to 1.50x. Book 3 carried the sale, six-figure Book 4 buys returned 0.91x, and fillies out-cleared colts.

  25. Book 4 Changed the Shape of Keeneland September

    Prices and clearance rose together for the first time this sale. Fillies supplied 78 percent of the gain and 41 percent of matched pinhooks sold below cost.

  26. The Freshman Sire Market Is Starting to Separate

    Six sessions in, the freshman leaderboard changes once clearance, medians and last November's weanling market join the picture.

  27. What We Learned Through Book 3 at Keeneland September

    Book 3 changed the shape of the sale. The middle strengthened, sire concentration fell and a few early stallion reads started to look very different.

  28. How Gun Runner Became Keeneland's Yearling King

    From 2023 to 2026, Gun Runner went from a distant second to the leading sire in Keeneland September's premium yearling market.

  29. The Justify Disconnect

    His yearlings keep getting harder to sell in America, even as his racing record, mare quality and international profile keep strengthening.

  30. The Sire Market Is Getting Narrower

    Four years of Keeneland September Books 1 and 2 show where buyer confidence is growing, where it is slipping and how much clearance matters.

  31. Stories from the Sale: The Long Road to Book 1

    A $25,000 claim and a mare bought privately after an RNA. The years of work behind two Book 1 results.

  32. Looking Beyond the Headline Stats

    What five years of Book 1 RNAs tell us about Gun Runner, Into Mischief, Justify, Flightline and Not This Time.

  33. Gun Runner Is the New Into Mischief

    Five years of Keeneland September Book 1 data show a changing of the guard at the top of the yearling market.

  34. Our Book 1 Fillies: Another Early Report Card

    Following our self-examination of the colts, here is our audit of the fillies.

  35. Five Colts, $9.65 Million, and an Early Report Card

    Our five highest-rated Book 1 colt pedigrees sold for a combined $9.65 million. A look back at what put each one on the list.

  36. Finding the Catalog Sleeper: Five Book 2 Yearlings Whose Pages Deserve a Closer Look

    A catalog sleeper is a yearling whose underlying racing case appears stronger than the commercial market is likely to recognize. Five from Keeneland September Book 2.

  37. Hip 84: Our Racing Profile for the $2.8 Million Gun Runner Colt

    The Gun Runner colt out of Twenty Carat topped the opening session of Keeneland September at $2.8 million. Here is the racing-aptitude profile we completed as part of our pre-sale preparation.

  38. Which Keeneland September Book Produces the Most Graded Stakes Winners?

    The catalog is organized around commercial expectation. Racing results tell a slightly different story.

  39. Keeneland September Book 1: Our Five Highest-Rated Turf Pedigrees for Racing

    Book 1 reflects an American market built around dirt. Here are five exceptional turf pedigrees hiding inside.

  40. Five Keeneland September Book 1 Fillies We'd Love in Our Racing Stable

    Book 1's priciest pages belong to the colts. Some of the most exciting racing pages in it belong to the fillies.

  41. Keeneland September Book 1: Our Five Highest-Rated Colt Pedigrees for Racing

    Every catalog has a few pages that make you look twice. These are the five Book 1 colt pedigrees that set our hair on fire.