Keeneland Sales


Keeneland Sales is an American Thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, Kentucky founded in 1935 as a nonprofit racing/auction entity on 147 acres of farmland west of Lexington, which had been owned by Jack O. Keene. A division of Keeneland Association, Inc., it holds three annual horse auctions that attract buyers from around the globe:
The July Selected Yearling Sale was discontinued in 2003 and the April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale was discontinued in 2015. From 1943 to 2002, Keeneland conducted the July Selected Yearling sale. Numerous champions, including 11 Kentucky Derby winners, were sold here. The yearlings sold were selected by pedigree, and had to pass a physical conformation test before being allowed into the sales ring. When announcing changes to the format of the September Sale in March 2010, Keeneland president and CEO Nick Nicholson said consignor preference made a return of the July sale unlikely.