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Turfling
America
Sunday 27 September 2026
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The lead
Keeneland September ends as the richest Thoroughbred auction ever held
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale closed on Saturday as the most valuable Thoroughbred auction ever held. Twelve sessions grossed 536,737,900 dollars for 2,856 yearlings sold through the ring, 5.14 percent above the 510,517,900 dollars taken by the same sale last year, which held the previous world record. The average rose 6.87 percent to 187,933 dollars and the median 6.25 percent to 85,000 (Keeneland, Thoroughbred Daily News).
Seventy yearlings made seven figures against a record 56 last year, and an Into Mischief colt led the auction at 3.7 million dollars for M. V. Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm. Gun Runner was leading sire for the second time, 57 yearlings for 43,672,000 dollars. Taylor Made Sales Agency led consignors in its fiftieth year. Saturday’s closing session sold 261 head for 4,751,900 dollars (Paulick Report).
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Things to know today
| 1 |
Forged Steel took the Grade 1 Goodwood at Santa Anita on Saturday, a mile and an eighth in 1:48.48, a length and a quarter from Caldera with Nevada Beach third, Edwin Gonzalez riding for Saffie Joseph Jr. It was a first Grade 1 in North America for the rider and a first for the sire Vekoma, and it carries a fees paid place in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on 31 October. Cabo Spirit won the City of Hope Mile and its Breeders’ Cup Mile berth, and Atitlan took the John Henry Turf Championship for Richard Mandella (America’s Best Racing, Daily Racing Form) |
| 2 |
Tyler Gaffalione rode six winners at Churchill Downs on Saturday, two of them graded stakes for Brad Cox. Bishops Bay held off Coal Battle in a photograph to win the Grade 3 Ack Ack over a mile in 1:34.51, a seventh stakes win for the six-year-old. Dragoon Guard then drew off by three and a quarter lengths in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic, a mile and an eighth in 1:48.35, carrying the Juddmonte homebred past a million dollars in earnings (Paulick Report, Horse Racing Nation) |
| 3 |
Remington Park runs the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby today, a mile and an eighth on the main track worth 400,000 dollars, with ten drawn. Silent Tactic, second in the Arkansas Derby and third in the Jim Dandy before being eased in the Travers, drops in class for Mark Casse. Zihnal won the West Virginia Derby by six and a quarter lengths for Jonathan Thomas, and the locally trained Crupper returns from splint bone inflammation for Donnie K. Von Hemel (Thoroughbred Daily News, Remington Park) |
| 4 |
Peter V’Landys will leave Racing NSW on 30 November after 22 years, moving to become the first executive chairman of the National Rugby League. Graeme Hinton is acting chief executive and no permanent succession process has been announced. He leaves with a review of the Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996 pending and the Australian Turf Club still under administration after the failed sale of Rosehill Gardens (Thoroughbred Daily News, TTR AusNZ) |
| 5 |
Winx has a filly foal by Too Darn Hot, born last week, with the first pictures released on Friday. It is her third living foal since retirement. Her Pierro filly Quinceanera made 10 million Australian dollars at Inglis Easter and was retired unraced, and she has an unnamed two-year-old colt by Snitzel. No decision has been announced on whether she is covered again this spring (Breednet) |
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Longchamp is unusually dry ahead of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on 4 October, with quick ground expected and the clerk of the course saying he has never known such a prolonged dry spell before the race. Juddmonte will rely on the King George winner Kalpana alone, having decided the Juddmonte International winner Item is finished for the year. George Scott puts Bay City Roller at a 75 percent chance of running and will go to Ascot instead if the ground is watered (Racing Post) |
| 7 |
Waitak won the Hawke’s Bay Mile at Hastings for the second year running, a short head from Tuxedo with She’s A Dealer a half neck away third, the mile in 1:34.51 on good to soft ground. Craig Grylls rode the seven-year-old for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott. It was a fourth Group 1 from forty starts, and he goes next to the Livamol Classic at Hastings on 10 October (Racing News NZ) |
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International
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Europe
Sun Goddess breaks the Rowley Mile record in the Cheveley Park
Sun Goddess won the Group 1 Cheveley Park at Newmarket on Saturday in a course record 1m 9.08s, six furlongs on good to firm, a length from Libertango with Alwaysanangel a length and a half away third. Ryan Moore rode the Sioux Nation filly for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore partners, a fifth win in a row and a third Group 1. O’Brien said she should get a mile easily and looks a freak to be doing what she is doing, and is open to running her at the Breeders’ Cup. Half an hour later Orthodox won the Group 1 Middle Park by a neck from Force Noir, Rossa Ryan riding for Clive Cox, a third win in the race for the trainer after Reckless Abandon and Supremacy (Racing Post)
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Australasia
Warwoven gives Sword Of State his first Group 1 winner
Warwoven won the Group 1 Golden Rose at Rosehill on Saturday over 1400 metres in 1:20.93 on a good track, from St Gotthard and Under Focus. Rachel King rode the colt for Bjorn Baker, a ninth Group 1 for the rider, and Kia Ora Stud bred him. He is the first Group 1 winner for Sword Of State, who stands at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. Baker named the Caulfield Guineas next and did not rule out the Cox Plate, saying the colt’s mother was very good at 2000 metres and that it was one step at a time. Key runners only. We do not reproduce Australian field content (Breednet, Racing News NZ)
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Markets overnight
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Dow 51,828.62, up 0.93% (TheStreet) |
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S&P 500 7,743.41, up 0.51% (TheStreet) |
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Nasdaq Composite 27,068.72, up 0.48% (TheStreet) |
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10-year Treasury yield 5.18%, up 2 basis points (Investrade market review) |
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US Dollar Index 100.971, down 0.314 or 0.31% (Trading Economics) |
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Gold, December futures, 4,321.20 dollars, up 23.20 dollars or 0.54% (Investrade market review) |
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WTI crude, November futures, 92.41 dollars, down 2.20 dollars or 2.33% (Investrade market review) |
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Bitcoin 84,034.92 dollars (Yahoo Finance) |
As of the Friday 25 September close, which remains the most recent, equity and futures markets having been shut for the weekend. Every figure is linked to the page it was read from. The dollar index is the last level recorded for Friday. Bitcoin is the Friday 25 September daily close on the venue linked; crypto venues close their days at different hours and their figures differ by a few dollars. Nothing here is estimated, rounded from memory or carried forward.
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The week ahead
| Sun 27 Sep |
The Santa Anita Sprint Championship and the Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita |
| Sun 27 Sep |
The Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine, the last leg of the Canadian Triple Crown |
| Wed 30 Sep |
Belmont Park adds a card to carry the overnight races lost to the nor’easter |
| Thu 1 Oct |
Belmont runs the six graded stakes washed out last weekend |
| Sat 3 Oct |
The Epsom Handicap and The Metropolitan at Randwick, and the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington |
| Sat 3 Oct |
The Delaware Handicap card, postponed from last Saturday |
| Mon 5 Oct |
The 60th conference of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, in Paris |
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This week
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Turfling
Reported from official race-day materials, racecourse and regulator publications, and sales results, verified against trade press. Where a fact originates elsewhere, we say so. Market data as of the most recent US close, sourced separately from racing content and linked at each figure. Drafted with AI assistance. Picks are percentages, never odds. Not affiliated with any track, tote board, regulator or wagering product.
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