In the Bluegrass State thoughts may turn to love in the spring, but the object of affection is often horse racing. Fans come from all over the country during April to inhale the intoxicating atmosphere at Keeneland Association in Lexington, KY, and to catch some of the world's finest horse racing prior to the Kentucky Derby.

But spring at Keeneland brings more than the opportunity to place a bet – it provides the chance to buy a young, top-class thoroughbred almost ready for its first race. Every April, when Kentucky is in full bloom, Keeneland hosts a “select” two-year-olds-in-training sale at its state-of-the-art sales pavilion on the racetrack grounds.

“It's a select sale, not an open sale where all horses entered are accepted,” says Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland's director of sales. “These thoroughbreds have been reviewed by a panel that looks closely at their pedigree and conformation. It's a good sale to get started in the business. Most of these horses will be ready to race by mid-summer, so the gratification is pretty immediate. And because of their quality, they have the potential to become successful more quickly.”

Last year nearly 90 handpicked colts and fillies went through the ring, selling for an average of $211,000. So far, two have scored big on the track. Day Pass – sold for $725,000 – won the Nashua Stakes in November. The colt now is training in Dubai, and his owner, Sheik Mohammed al-Maktoum, is aiming him toward the Kentucky Derby. Point Ashley – sold for $725,000 at the April sale to Zayat Stables – won the Del Mar Debutante Stakes in September. The filly was resold in January for $1.8 million to John Sikura, Jr., who has retired her from racing to breed her to the world's leading commercial sire, Storm Cat.

The two-year-olds sale is among four that Keeneland holds each year (in addition to a second race meet in October). In January it's a weeklong horses-of-all-ages sale, offering a vast array of thoroughbreds from weanlings to racehorses to breeding stock. In early September it's a marathon two-week sale of yearlings, a Kentucky mainstay because of the state's active breeding industry. November brings another two-week sale, this time of breeding stock for buyers interested in broodmares, sires
or weanlings.

These auctions make Keeneland the largest thoroughbred sales company in the world. Buyers come from nearly every continent to attend the sales. Sheik Mohammed al-Maktoum's twin private 747s, parked on an outlying corner of Bluegrass Airport's tarmac, in view of the track, let everyone know when he's in town. The leading ruler of Dubai is one of the top spenders at many of the sales, buying thoroughbreds to race and later breed through his Godolphin racing operation and Darley Stables. He often goes up against buyers from Great Britain, Ireland and Japan, and such North American titans as lumber magnate Aaron Jones and Canadian businessman Eugene Melnyk.

Keeneland has become an international destination primarily because of the quality of its horses both on the racetrack and in the auction ring, but the atmosphere and location also add a lot of charm. Passengers flying into Bluegrass Airport – which is nestled among horse farms – are greeted by rolling hills, neat pastures and white barns on their descent.

The track sits across the road from the airport. Through its stone entrance gates, a drive winds past old tobacco barns and through sprawling fields where tall maples and magnolias heavy with large white blossoms oversee the smaller, delicate dogwoods. The drive seems as though it should lead to another horse farm rather than to an expansive track with quaint stone buildings and a recently renovated sales pavilion designed by California-based architect Morio Kow. Rows of pin oaks shade the parking lot, where traffic is ushered in efficiently with a minimal wait during race meets and is no problem during sales.

The atmosphere can be seductive. But for anyone planning to buy a racehorse, proper guidance from an adviser (whether a trainer or a professional who buys and sells horses for clients) is a must, as is the ability to weather racing's ups and downs. Thoroughbreds are beautiful but fragile creatures whose lives can be ruined by one bad step, as Barbaro's valiant struggle showed after he broke down in the Preakness.

“Racing is the most risky part of this business, but it's also the most rewarding,” says Reynolds Bell, Jr., who owns Reynolds Bell Thoroughbred Services in Lexington, a business that helps clients acquire racehorses and provides individual consulting. “And it's hard to find a good racehorse, so the more information you can get about horses at a sale, the better decisions you can make.”

This means more than finding someone who can help a prospective buyer read a sales catalog and accompany him or her to inspect potential candidates to bid upon. Bell says the best scenario is finding an adviser who has followed the two-year-olds crop from their yearling days and is familiar with how the horses have progressed and how they have been training.

Bell says one of his employees who specializes in acquiring two-year-olds for clients goes to the major yearling sales and takes notes. Then when these horses reappear in training, she follows their progress so that when they show up at two-year-olds sales, she has a much better feel for their potential and worth.

At the very least an adviser should accompany a new buyer to Keeneland's two-year-olds-in-training preview days the two Mondays before the sale, which will be held April 17 this year. On these days the horses run short distances with riders aboard, which provides an opportunity to see how the horses move.

The two-year-olds that show good speed and fluid movement in their previews are often the sale toppers. Good conformation is also important because how a horse is put together can indicate how well it will stand up to training, Bell says.

The auction ring heats up quickly as horses that meet these criteria are led onstage and the bidding commences, the numbers on the bid board rising as fast as the blood pressure in the room. Though little can be heard over the staccato chatter of the auctioneer, the excitement from the bidders in the large crescent seating area that surrounds the stage is palpable. Successful bidders get quite a charge when they obtain the horse they want at the price they predicted it's worth.

Once the gavel falls and the horse is theirs, new owners will have plenty of details to attend to – insurance, transportation, boarding, further training – but an adviser also will serve as a guide through this maze. It's all part of the thrill of owning a young racehorse.

And who knows, the next trip back to Kentucky might be with a Derby contender in tow.



April Two-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale
APRIL 17
Keeneland Association
Lexington, KY
859.254.3412; www.keeneland.com