EIGHT million-dollar plus yearlings sold in Book 1 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale on Monday, a single day this year compared to a two-day session last year. In a red-hot session three offspring of the three-time leading sire Tapit sold for $2,500,000 or more and helped to catapult the sire to the top of the stallion table, his 16 yearlings to date selling for an average of $990,625.

“The first day, Book 1 session far exceeded our expectations,” Keeneland vice president of racing and sales Bob Elliston said. “We had a couple of goals for this new format. First and foremost, we wanted to create momentum from the very beginning that we hoped to take through the entire sale. Second, we wanted to have as many good horses as we could for this international buying group.