LEXINGTON, KY – Optimism was high and activity was brisk on the sales grounds on a steamy Sunday morning in Lexington, a day before the Keeneland September Yearling Sale begins its 12-day run. The September sale, traditionally a bellwether auction for the industry, offers yearlings at every price point, opening with boutique Book 1 sessions Monday and Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m. Book 2 sessions begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Following a dark day Friday, the auction continues through Sept. 26 with sessions beginning each day at 10 a.m.“We're very optimistic coming into the sale,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said in the sales pavilion Sunday. “The prior sales this year, from March all the way through, have been very, very healthy. So the level of enthusiasm has to be encouraging for the industry, not just the sales environment. And I think that is carrying through in every aspect of what we're doing. The traffic in the barns has been really good, with a lot of the right people, and there's an enthusiasm from them that I think is very positive.”Records have fallen seemingly at all the major sales in 2025 and so far in 2026 and consignors look to see more of the same at the September sale.“I don't see any reason that top horses shouldn't continue to sell gangbusters,” said Gainesway's Brian Graves. “The market is at an all-time high. Everything in the world seems to be at an all-time high, and I don't see any reason for it to stop now.”Of the pre-sale activity he is seeing, Graves said, “We've been really busy in the barns. The shows seem to be on par with how much we've been showing select horses all year. You see a lot of people that aren't here in Book 1, but I'm sure they'll be here in Book 2, 3, and 4, with the usual faces for Book 1.”Gainesway, the second leading consignor at the 2025 September sale, sold the auction's highest-priced filly, a $2.2-million daughter of Flightline, a year ago.Demand at the top of the market is certainly nothing new, but Graves said he expects to see a trickle down effect into the auction's second week.“I think it'll just keep building steam as it goes,” he said. “I don't see it falling off.”Hinkle Farms will be looking to keep a streak of strong September sales going this week in Lexington.“We've had strong activity every day,” Henry Hinkle said. “We shipped in Friday and started showing Saturday, and it was very strong. And we've gotten a lot of repeat lookers today.”The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale proved the top of the yearling market was on fire, setting records for gross, average and median. Hinkle expects that trend to continue at the September sale.“Saratoga was certainly awfully strong,” he said. “I think that's often the barometer for this sale. I just think that the demand for horses is going to be strong all the way through.”Hinkle Farms sold two million-dollar yearlings at each of the last two September sales. Asked about expectations for the farm's 2026 consignment, Hinkle said, “I wish I had a crystal ball. The horses that we brought here for Book 1 have been well received. I don't know if we'll have a great breakout horse or not, but I think they'll all do well and get into good hands, which is always important.”Last year's September sale set records for gross, average, and median, with 2,904 yearlings selling for $510,544,900 for an average of $175,807, and a median of $80,000. A record-setting 56 horses sold for $1 million or more.Despite the records, Lacy said the success of the September sale was measured in how its graduates performed on the racetrack. So far this year, alumni of the September sale have won 331 stakes around the world this year–including 35 Grade I events–through Sept. 10.“The results from this sale over the last number of years has just been so powerful,” Lacy said. “Having the first four home in the GI Kentucky Oaks this year, is just an example. Those type of results are ones that, not only are the breeders getting a return on their investments, but the buyers who come here to look for the best are getting well rewarded. And that is a great balance because even though the records are really good for headlines and it's a real feel good factor, what we're looking for is confidence, stability, and a level of excitement that basically can feed the industry going forward, not just in the sale ring, but on the racetrack, as well.”A Catalogue for EveryoneA total of 4,642 yearlings have been catalogued for the 12-day September sale.“We're very, very proud of the catalogue we have,” Lacy said. “We have a lot of really good horses, and we're very grateful for everybody that supported the sale. We look forward to them getting rewarded in the way that they deserve.”Books 1 and 2, during the auction's first four days, include more than 1,100 yearlings and represent the auction's highest concentration of sire power, pedigree and physical quality.Each year, the team at Keeneland faces the challenge of presenting buyers with a Book 1 and 2 catalogue replete with yearlings by top sires, but one that also includes variety.“There is a large proportion of Gun Runners, Not This Times, Justifys in Book 1, but they dictate that because they're out of the big mares, big stud fees,” Lacy said. “The week one buyers want to see these presented in front of them in the way we do. But what we also do is bring up some of the better younger stallions–first and second-crop sires–to bring the best of them forward, so they get showcased in that way, and also some of the better physicals by stallions that may not be as prominent.”Updates AplentyThe September catalogue features a number of half-siblings to recent Grade I winners, including a half-sister to GI Arlington Million winner Burnham Square (Liam's Map) (hip 304); a half-sister to GI Coaching Club American Oaks winner Counting Stars (Honor A. P.) (hip 1114); a half-sister to GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial winner Englishman (Maxfield) (hip 304); a half-brother to GI Forego Stakes winner Hymn (McKinzie) (hip 1156); a half-brother to GI Del Mar Futurity winner Hughes (Into Mischief) (hip 292); a half-brother to GI Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint winner In Our Time (Not This Time) (hip 1459); and a half-sister to GI Hopeful Stakes winner The Good Life (Life is Good) (hip 1807).The half-sister to Burnham Square, a daughter of Life is Good out of Linda (Scat Daddy), is the lone Book 1 offering of Kim and Rodney Nardelli's Nardelli Sales. The Nardellis purchased Linda, in foal to Oscar Performance, for $55,000 at the 2024 Keeneland January sale. That was a year before Burnham Square won his first Grade I race in the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.“We knew she had a Liam's Map, and we love the Liam's Maps and we always breed to him,” Kim Nardelli said of the 2024 purchase. “But Burnham Square had not started. We bought the mare because we were lucky enough to buy a mare called Listen Now back in the early '80s. And she has been our lifeline in the industry. From one of her daughters, we bred La Coronel, who was our first Grade I stakes winner. And it's all the same family. So we always look for that family because they don't sell much of it. When we saw her coming through, we said, 'Oh, we've got to have her.' We were lucky enough to get her before Burnham started.”The mare's 2-year-old, And the Runner Is (Oscar Performance) was runner-up in a pair of maiden special weights at Saratoga and could make his next start in the GII Pilgrim Stakes, according to Nardelli.Of the yearling, Nardelli said, “She's just all class. Very smart. The whole family's very smart. All of her foals are just average size, and the mother is the same, but they're very racy, very strong, very easy on themselves.”Linda is back in foal to Liam's Map and has a Gun Runner weanling filly.Nardelli Sales will be in action all the way through Book 5 of the September sale and Kim Nardelli expects to see demand right through to the end of the auction.“I feel like, as always, if you've got the right horse, it's a great market for it,” she said. “If people want good horses, they are going to come. It should be a fun sale, a strong sale, as long as you've got solid horses.”Fedamore Stable Makes Its DebutBarry Clohessy has been operating as Fedamore Stable since 2007, first in Ocala and for the last decade or so in Nicholasville. The Irishman's experience in the industry spans from the racetrack to the sales ring, but Fedamore Stable will sell under its own banner for the first time at the Keeneland September sale.“We've always pinhooked, and I think when you buy them, you raise them, you prep them, the logical next step is to consign them yourselves,” Clohessy said. “I don't know why this year was any different than any other, but we decided to take the plunge.”Fedamore Stable will offer four yearlings–all in a pinhooking partnership with Cherry Knoll Farm–in Book 1.“It really picked up yesterday, and it's been solid again this morning,” Clohessy said of activity at his Barn 11.Barry Clohessy | KeenelandClohessy spent 3 1/2 years working for trainer Neil Drysdale and served stints with veterinarian Dr. Jim Prendergast and pinhooking pioneer Maurice Miller before going out on his own in Ocala in 2007. Over his 12 years in Central Florida, he prepared GI Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress; GI Garden City Stakes winner Miss World, and MGSWs Proctor's Ledge, Scuba and Honorable Duty.Most of the buyers who stop by his consignment at Keeneland already know Clohessy, even if they don't know it at first.“It's more putting the name of the consignment to the face,” Clohessy said. “And as soon as they come to the consignment, they know who it is.”While the banner out front says Fedamore Stable, not much else has changed.“It's just the same,” Clohessy said of consigning the horses under his own name, rather than selling with another consignor. “You can't change people's opinions. They like the horses or they don't. You show them in the best light possible, and you hope people like the horses.”Fedamore Stable will offer 14 yearlings throughout the Keeneland September sale and Clohessy said he doesn't expect the consignment to get much bigger.“I think the reason we're doing it ourselves is to keep it kind of small and look after our own horses,” he explained.After three days of showing, Clohessy said he was enjoying the experience.“It's nice to see people, and it's nice to be out here representing the horses,” he said.Of the shoppers stopping by his consignment, Clohessy said, “There's a bit of everything. It looks like a strong Japanese contingent and a strong domestic contingent. I think racing is good. People are enjoying it, and I think it looks like, off the back of Saratoga, people are actually enjoying the sales process as well, which is great. So it should be fun.”Paddock Building Open for BusinessKeeneland recently completed the largest capital construction in its history and with its completion, the Paddock Building, just steps west of the sales pavilion, will be making its sales debut this week. The 1936 Room on the first floor of the Paddock Building will be open for light food and beverage options in a casual lounge setting. Each sale day, coffee will be available from 7 a.m. to the end of the session and food and bar service from 11 a.m. to the end of the session.In addition, a full-service lunch will be available in the Sycamore Room–also on the first floor of the Paddock Building–through next Sunday. Reservations are required.“We are pleased to debut several spaces in the new Paddock Building,” Lacy said. “Every year, we work to expand Keeneland's hospitality options across the grounds and boost the experience for people who are here on business to buy horses.”The post Action Brisk and Optimism High Ahead of Keeneland September Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.