The Keeneland September sale is upon us. Buyers from all over the world will be coming to Lexington to shop at the largest and most prestigious yearling sale in the world. Without a doubt astute horseman will be able to find great deals at this sale.

I would like to make a list of what I consider the best sires by value at this sale.

Sires standing at $100,000 or more:

Awesome Again (Deputy Minister): Hard to believe that his yearling median was only $46,000 with 20 sold last year. The sire of Ghostzapper is probably the best value of the bunch if these numbers hold. An AEI of 2.53 make him a legitimate heavy hitter.

El Prado (Saddlers Wells): Consistent sire gets no respect at the sales with a yearling median of only $65,000. With a 2.17 Average Earning Index, El Prado is a consistent source of class and graded stakes potential.

$50,000 to $99,000

Rahy (Blushing Groom): Last year’s $90,000 yearling median may taper a bit this year. For a proven horse with an AEI of 2.43 that is cheap. His horses do well on Turf and are strong in the politrack. In addition his fillies are becoming hot commodities in the breeding shed.

Smart Strike (Mr. Prospector): An incredible horse with an AEI of 2.70. His offspring get no respect and he has been called the ultimate non commercial sire. With the success of Curlin his average of $73,000 may increase this year. But even at the higher price he will still be a steal. Smart Strike also leads many of the sires of his level in % of runners from foals and in number of starts per foal. Very solid.

$25,000 to $50,000

Arch (Kris S.): A $17,000 median is a joke for this horse with an AEI of 2.06. Buyers who used to overlook his stock because of turf preference may take a second look this year as his foals will be good prospects for politrack.

Cozzene (Caro): Another of the great old turf sires does not deserve the $55,000 median. His progeny have class and he has shown the ability to sire great horses in all surfaces. His 2.41 AEI makes his prospects a must buy.

Successful Appeal (Valid Appeal): Speed and precocity come cheap with this solid up and coming sire. His median of $37,500 for his AEI of 2.27 make him an interesting buy.

Theatrical (Nureyev) still going and another of the old great turf sires on the list. With Rahy and Cozzene he makes up one of the best value groups especially considering the types of mares he is bred to. $63,000 median and a 2.42 AEI.

More than Ready (Southern Halo) Difficult to see why his foals only command a median of just over $57,000 as he produces an AEI of nearly 2. But with 66 foals to be offered at this sale there will be plenty of them that will fall through the cracks.

Under $25,000

Stravinsky (Nureyev) Value seekers have to love the offspring of exported sires. The farm stopped marketing the stallion a long time ago and there is usually a drop in the number of buyers who actually look for the offspring of these horses. Expect the median from last year ($49,000) to drop dramatically this year. Making him a great hidden value.

Mutakddim (Seeking the Gold) Always good value, Mutakddim has always offered early maturing speed. With a median of only $14,000, there is really no down side on purchasing horses by him.

Pleasant Tap (Pleasant Colony) More people are beginning to figure out that there is great value with him. Some of his offspring have brought in some pretty high numbers recently. However, his $16,000 median is still far away from where it should be for this stallion that has shown that he can produce a home run horse.

Cape Canaveral (Mr. Prospector) has shown that his offspring can run. A very low median sale figure of only 5 digits ($9,000) make him a stallion one has to consider if you are looking at the lower end of the market and want something that can run and run early. With a 1.51 AEI the 23 of his offspring being offered at the sale will offer some of the best value.

Sultry Song (Cox’s Ridge) has only two in the sale but this breeder’s cup winner producing sire only had a median of $3,600 last year. His AEI is over 1.47 is not bad at all considering that his offspring can run on anything.