Keeneland September Sale Selections

Highlighting some standouts in Book 2 of the Keeneland September Sale

The Keeneland September Sale begins next week, and as always it brings with it the thrill of potential stars in the making. There are over 4,000 yearlings cataloged for the 12-day sale, and today I want to talk about a few of the intriguing pedigrees of horses in Book Two of the catalog. As always, these are strictly evaluations of pedigree and are not recommendations to buy a horse. Considerations such as conformation, vet work, and mental aptitude should all be taken into account before buying a racehorse prospect.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here are a few pedigree highlights from Book Two of Keeneland September!

Hip 410 - f. McKinzie x Zia Zia Zia (Dehere)

It’s not a secret that I love horses that are linebred to their tail-female line, and this filly fits the bill beautifully as a daughter of a stallion I’m particularly excited for. McKinzie was a game and talented racehorse who raced through his five-year-old season, and I’m really looking forward to him as a sire. He’s the first of three exciting new stallion prospects by his sire, Street Sense, and I think McKinzie, Maxfield, and Speaker’s Corner all have a good chance to be a source of his blood going forward.

McKinzie is of particular interest due to his combination of precocity, longevity, and tenacity, as a stakes winner every year from ages two through five who was known for gutting out some exceptional wins. His first foals have been very popular so far this year, with 29 yearlings selling for an average of $191,393 and median of $135,000. His first three dams were all stakes winners, and I love the presence of his damsire Petionville with Street Sense, as Petionville is a member of La Troienne’s family 1x via her daughter Big Hurry.

Street Sense has historically done very well with mares carrying La Troienne. He has G1 winners Maxfield and Callback, as well as stakes winner Castaway and Streetwithnoname from the immediate female family. The cross of Street Sense over mares carrying any source of La Troienne in the first 7 generations has produced 15.96% stakes winners in 94 starters (horses not included in this count include Maxfield, Callback, and McKinzie, due to La Troienne appearing further back in their pedigrees).

And it’s this female family cross that you get with this filly out of Zia Zia Zia, a three-time winner in maiden special weight and allowance company in Southern California. The cross of Street Sense over any source of this filly’s 6th dam, Intriguing, has produced 8.33% stakes winners in 96 starters, including Callback from the direct tail-female line. The most common source of Intriguing in stakes winners by Street Sense is her grandson Private Account, who was out of a full sister to this filly’s 5th dam.

Street Sense has also done very well with limited starters carrying this filly’s second damsire, Coronado’s Quest, with two stakes winners - including G1 winner Wedding Toast - in just 7 starters bred on the cross.