LAST year Keeneland reduced Book 1 of the September Yearling Sale from a four-day auction to a more compact three days, while maintaining the number of yearlings offered. This year they continued with the three-day format but significantly reduced the number of yearlings catalogued, down from 724 to 607 this time.

Unsurprisingly this impacted on the turnover, which fell by 11%, but it had a positive outcome for the average and median, both of which rose by 15% and 20% respectively. The sale topper was a $3 million son of the deceased Scat Daddy and he was one of number of significant purchases by MV Magnier over the three days.