Kentuckiana consignment boasts a wealth of premium-pedigree offerings
by Chris Lomon
True to form, Kentuckiana Farms’ sale roster showcases stellar pedigrees, impressive variety, and remarkable depth.
A family-owned and operated standardbred horse farm situated on approximately 1,200 acres in Fayette and Scott counties in Kentucky, Kentuckiana Farms, owner of Lexington Selected Yearling Sales Company, also has stallion stations in Indiana and Ontario.
Showcasing a state-of-the-art yearling complex and turn-out facilities, the complex features 90 stalls, four walking rings for yearling inspection, two mechanical exercisers with observation facilities, a round pen for breaking and conditioning, turn-out paddocks, and a video paddock designed to enhance yearling video productions.
Each fall, the farm sells its yearlings at the Lexington Selected Sale. The farm annually ranks among the industry’s leading consignors in yearling average. Kentuckiana, who also features stallions Muscle Mass and Swan For All, has bred, raised, or sold over 45 millionaires since its inception.
This year’s impressive Kentuckiana sales roster boasts a wealth of premium-pedigree offerings, Grand Circuit possibilities and attractive value types.
“Overall, once again, we have an excellent consignment,” said Kentuckiana co-owner Bob Brady. “We have a great group of very well-conformed yearlings, who are athletic and appear to check a lot of boxes. All the yearlings have been very well received. We have a mix of very nice high-end type yearlings and a lot of really nice horses, who I think will fit everybody’s budget.”
Brady opts for a certain word to describe this year’s Kentuckiana lineup.
“I would say depth,” he said. “If I had to say one thing overall, we have a very deep consignment of quality throughout – one after the next.”
Two of the sport’s top trotting stallions — namely, Walner and Captain Corey — will be well represented at the sale, courtesy of Kentuckiana.
“There are 19 Walner yearlings and six from Captain Corey,” said Brady. “They seem like they are going to be hot this year, so we are really excited to get those.
“We also have Muscle Hill and Chapter Seven yearlings in the mix, along with some Captaintreacherous, and a few Indiana-breds who are very nice. I’m also impressed with the Temporal Hanover ones we have, too.”
ONES TO WATCH
Hip #17 Hes Moni caught Brady’s eye. A son of Walner out of the Cantab Hall mare Thats All Money, the colt is a homebred for Brittany Farms LLC, Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld.
“He’s an outstanding individual,” said Brady. “He’s one that I think will attract a lot of attention.”
Brady expects the same reception to Hip #138 High Line, a son of Chapter Seven out of the Muscle Hill mare Selena G.
“He’s a gorgeous colt,” he said.
Dejeuner, Hip #70 – a Day 1 offering – also earned kudos from Brady.
The daughter of Walner out of the Father Patrick mare French Cafe is a homebred for Libfeld and Katz.
“She is a beautiful, gorgeous filly with a ton of pedigree,” he said. “She is a half-sister to French Champagne (last year’s Elegantimage Stakes winner).”
Others to keep an eye on, noted Brady, are a pair of Walner fillies, Hip #10 Putitondad’stab and Hip #56 Giveheavenhill.
VALUE PICKS
“We have some Greenshoe fillies who are absolutely outstanding individuals with a lot of pedigree,” Brady said.
Five of the Greenshoe offspring will be offered on Day 2, a list that includes Hip #162 Shades of Cool, Hip #165 Counting The Green, and Hip #196 American Woman.
“I think those [Greenshoes] are the type of horses people should be looking for.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
Brady said he is optimistic about the prospects for a successful sale.
He points to the recent success on the thoroughbred side at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Over 12 sessions, the sale rewrote records by selling 3,070 horses for a total of $531.5 million: the highest gross ever realized at a thoroughbred auction worldwide.
Held from Sept. 8-20, the auction produced $510,544,900 in through-the-ring sales to finish 23.99 per cent higher than last year’s $411,749,500. Gross sales increased to $531,520,400 when the additional $20,975,500 in post-sales reported to date are added. The combined figure also tops the previous record gross of nearly $428 million from 2024.
“I’m very optimistic,” Brady said. “Living here and watching the Keeneland sale go on for the past couple weeks, they were, I think, $100 million ahead of last year. They had an outstanding sale, and I think some of it will carry over into this sale.
“It was a very good market for them, and I think it will carry over to here.”
