There is no yearling sale in the world quite like the Keeneland September Sale. It is the largest group of youngsters assembled annually and represents a tremendous opportunity to find world-class prospects. In years past, our acquisition team has found stars like Wicked Strong, Preservationist, and Rocketry at Keeneland. Their hard work and expertise finds colts that meet our standards of bringing together stallion-ready pedigrees and elite physicals. This year’s additions are:
Hip 411: Silver State – Firsthand Report (Blame)
Hip 447: Not This Time – Ib Prospecting (Mineshaft)
Hip 473: Yaupon – Lady Luck (Medaglia d’Oro)
Hip 496: City of Light – Majestic Union (Union Rags)
UNNAMED BAY COLT
SILVER STATE – FIRSTHAND REPORT by BLAME
Purchased for $250,000
From the first crop of a winner of the sire-making Metropolitan Handicap (G1), here is a colt who is out of a young, stakes winning mare who has already produced two stakes winners.
The sire, Silver State, won four consecutive stakes events culminating in an impressive Metropolitan Handicap (G1) victory over a field that included Horse of the Year Knicks Go. One of the nation’s most historic races, the “Met Mile” has long been a sire-making contest. Winners include Native Dancer, Buckpasser, In Reality, Fappiano, Gulch, Ghostzapper, and Quality Road, with the offspring of exciting young prospects Flightline and Cody’s Wish still to come to the sales ring and racetrack. Silver State also hails from a sire-making line. More than fifty sons of Danzig, the grandsire of Silver State, have sired Grade or Group 1 winners in all corners of the globe.
This Silver State colt is half-brother to stakes winners E J Won the Cup and Somebody’s Problem. E J Won the Cup – like this colt, by a grandson of Danzig – is a three-year-old of 2024 who has earned over $620,000. Successful in the Turf Paradise Derby and the Texas Derby in the spring, he dominated August’s St. Louis Derby by 9¼ lengths. That produced his highest career Beyer to date, signifying better things to come – a weighty statement for a colt that is already Grade 1-placed in the Santa Anita Derby. Most recently, he finished second in the G3 Oklahoma Derby.
This colt is also a half-brother to the precocious Somebody’s Problem, a 4¼ lengths winner of the $100,000 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Stakes at two.
E J Won the Cup and Somebody’s Problem are two of the first three foals – all three are winners – out of Firsthand Report, a talented racemare who won four of her last five starts, including the Lyphard Stakes, Power by Far Stakes, and Alphabet Soup Stakes, which she took while beating males and recording an excellent Equibase E-Speed Figure of 106. Her fourth foal of racing age is a two-year-old who is on the work tab at Churchill Downs.
Firsthand Report is a daughter of five-time winner and black-type placed Kinsey. A sister to Electrify, a winner of six black-type events including the Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3), Kinsey is also half-sister to Rothko – by Firsthand Report’s grandsire, Arch – winner of the Aristides Stakes (G3) and second in the Malibu Stakes (G1), and to Cream Only – another Danzig line performer – a stakes winner and dam of multiple graded stakes placed Sole Impact.
Kinsey’s dam, Raspberry Eggcream, is half-sister to the Toboggan Handicap (G3) scorer Kazoo, both out of five-time stakes winner Vennila Cream.
This colt is a product of the Danzig/Blame cross which is rated A by TrueNicks.
DARK BAY/BROWN COLT
NOT THIS TIME – IB PROSPECTING by MINESHAFT
Purchased for $350,000
By a young sire sensation, this colt is from a family of prolific stakes winners.
The sire, Not This Time, won the Iroquois Stakes (G3) by nearly nine lengths and came within inches of being Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, missing by just a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). The premier North American son of Storm Cat’s Champion racehorse and sire, Giant’s Causeway, Not This Time has made a sensational start to his stud career. His first crop hit the ground in 2018 and he is already the sire of 36 stakes winners, including Champion Three-Year-Old Colt Epicenter, Champion Turf Horse Up to the Mark, record-breaking sprint star Cogburn, additional grade one winners Just One Time, Princess Noor, and Sibelius, and the nation’s leading marathoner, Next.
The dam, Ib Prospecting, is a multiple winner by Mineshaft, the only Horse of the Year by A.P. Indy, and the broodmare sire of 57 stakes winners, including Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Vequist, Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine Cathryn Sophia, and grade one winners Express Train and Poseidon.
Ib Prospecting is a 3/4-sister to Frolic’s Revenge, a winner of six black-type events, and the dam of three stakes horses, including Drew’s Gold, successful in the Gold Fever Stakes and Jimmy Winkfield Stakes, and second in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1), and stakes winner American Frolic. Ib Prospecting is also a half-sister to Fashionable Frolic, the dam of stakes winner Zia Zapper.
Second dam Stormy Frolic is graded stakes placed and a four-time stakes winner. She is a half-sister to graded stakes winner and grade one placed millionaire Super Frolic. Their dam, Lindsay Frolic, won the Sabin Handicap (G3) and five other stakes events, and is a half-sister to Tropical Park Derby (G3) victor Fabulous Frolic. Lindsay Frolic is also a full or half-sister to three other black-type performers, including Cherokyfrolicflash, dam of multiple graded stakes winner and millionaire Smok’n Frolic and stakes winners Cherokee Chase and Smoke’N Coal; granddam of Champion Hunter’s Bay, graded stakes winners Frolic’s Dream and Mokat, and of stakes winners Wild Flapper, Renaisance Frolic, and Frolicing, and third dam of stakes winners California Frolic and Bode’s Dream. Lindsay Frolic is herself a daughter of Cherokee Frolic, winner of the Test Stakes (G2), Railbird Stakes (G3), and nine other black-type events.
This colt is bred on the Not This Time/A.P. Indy cross that has produced five stakes winners – one out of a Mineshaft mare, as here – and includes grade one winner Sibelius and multiple graded winner Arzak. The pedigree also offers the combination of the three-quarters relatives Storm Cat and Summer Squall. This is found in 28 stakes winners, including Champion Vequist (out of a Mineshaft mare, as here), grade one winner Defunded, and graded winners Gran Baby, Distinta, Red Flag, Thatlookonyerface, Bangkok, and Sir Charismatic.
UNNAMED BAY COLT
YAUPON – LADY LUCK by MEDAGLIA D’ORO
Purchased for $350,000
This outstanding prospect is by the extremely exciting first year sire Yaupon, out of a Medaglia d’Oro half-sister to an active millionaire and classic performer.
Of all the stallions that will have their first crop two-year-olds at the races in 2025, few are more promising than Yaupon. An exceptionally swift son of the outstanding sire of sires Uncle Mo, Yaupon captured the Forego Stakes (G1), defeating five other grade one winners including Champion Sprinter Whitmore.
Centennial’s son of Yaupon is out of Lady Luck, a young Medaglia d’Oro daughter who is a half-sister to millionaire Catching Freedom, winner of the Louisiana Derby (G2) and placed in the classic Preakness Stakes (G1) this year. Lady Luck is also a half-sister to Bishops Bay – by Yaupon’s sire, Uncle Mo – who in four starts has won twice and finished second in the Ohio Derby (G3) and Peter Pan Stakes (G3), and to stakes placed Strava. All three horses are active and will look to improve their family’s already extensive record.
Lady Luck is out of Catch My Drift, winner of the Summer Colony Stakes at Saratoga and placed in both the Turnback the Alarm Handicap (G3) and Beldame Stakes (G1). Her dam, Drift to the Lead, a four-time winner, is a half-sister to the three-time stakes winner and graded stakes placed Mindy Sue.
Drift to the Lead is out of Drifa, a multiple winner out of Sigrun. An 11 time winner, Sigrun captured four black-type races, and, in addition to Drifa, is the dam of Iowa Oaks (G3) scorer Whimsy, herself dam of current stakes winner On the Whim; of stakes placed Storm Breaking, the dam of stakes winner Hung the Moon, and granddam of Brill, by this colt’s broodmare sire, Medaglia d’Oro, a stakes winner who is also grade one placed; and of Sira, dam of stakes winner Alexandra Rylee, granddam of Lukas Classic (G2) winner and grade one placed Clapton, and third dam of current stakes winner Golden Bandit.
Medaglia d’Oro is one of the premier broodmare sires in the country, with $5.3 million earner National Treasure leading the way. This colt is bred on the proven cross of Uncle Mo and sons over Medaglia d’Oro mares which is rated A+ by TrueNicks.
UNNAMED BAY COLT
CITY OF LIGHT – MAJESTIC UNION by UNION RAGS
Purchased for $425,000
Here is a colt by Quality Road’s brilliant son, City of Light, now a champion-siring stallion.
The best son of the spectacular Quality Road, City of Light was a versatile runner of rare talent, taking the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Triple Bend Stakes (G1), Malibu Stakes (G1), and Oaklawn Handicap (G2).
With just three crops on the track, City of Light is the sire of nine stakes winners headed by Champion Two-Year-Old Fierceness, winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at two, and, at three, the Travers Stakes (G1), Florida Derby (G1), and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2). City of Light is also the sire of graded winners Formidable Man, winner of the Del Mar Derby (G2), Chop Chop, and Mimi Kakushi.
This colt is the first foal of the classically-bred Majestic Union, who is by Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Union Rags, out of Wait Til Dawn, a stakes winning daughter of Champion racehorse and sire Giant’s Causeway.
Wait Til Dawn is a sister to graded winner Excited, herself the dam of the stakes winning and graded placed Thrilled, and of graded stakes placed Beside Herself, and she is a 3/4-sister to the stakes winning and grade one placed Dreamtheimpossible.
Wait Til Dawn’s dam, Path of Thunder, is a multiple stakes winner who is a full sister to Spain, heroine of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff Stakes (G1) and dam of the graded stakes winner Plan and stakes winner Dreamtheimpossible, both grade one placed, and granddam of stakes winner Lady Galore. Path of Thunder is also a half-sister to Puerto Banus, winner of the San Luis Obispo Handicap (G2) and Sunset Handicap (G2); Fantastic Spain, successful in the Golden Gate Breeders’ Cup Stakes (G3); stakes placed Saint Pierre; and Crafty Queen, dam of graded stakes placed Great Point, and granddam of stakes winners Storm Fighter and Franz. The next dam, Drina, is a black-type winner of 11 races.
This colt is a product of the exceptionally successful Quality Road/Dixie Union cross that has produced six stakes winners and is rated A by TrueNicks. Success stories include Champion Caledonia Road, grade one winners Salty and Klimt, and grade three winner City Fever, a son of City of Light, as here.
A compilation video of all four colts in the ring at the sale can be viewed here. At this time, our minimum subscription amount is 2.5% ($58,750) with a total capitalization of $2,350,000. That accounts for all of their expenses through 2025 and includes contributions to our Equine Retirement Fund. All four colts have already arrived in Middleburg, where they will be made eligible for the lucrative Virginia Residency Program. Please contact the office for more information or if you would like a hard copy brochure.
