Shinzo half-brother brings seven figures as Keeneland opens with record trade
A Justify colt out of Blue Diamond winner Samaready was bought by Japanese trainer Haruki Sugiyama during a session in which 18 yearlings reached seven figures and Gun Runner supplied seven of the 12 highest-priced lots.
A Justify half-brother to Golden Slipper winner Shinzo sold for US$1.1 million (AU$1.5 million) as the Keeneland September Yearling Sale opened with record average and median figures.
Japanese trainer Haruki Sugiyama bought the colt, Hip 12, from the Four Star Sales draft. The May 27 foal is out of dual Australian Group 1 winner Samaready and is expected to travel to Japan.
He was among 18 yearlings to make at least US$1 million during the first Book 1 session, the highest number at a Keeneland September session since 2006. Three yearlings exceeded US$2 million, headed by a Gun Runner colt bought by RTM Racing for US$2.8 million.
The Australian-linked result came early in a session shaped by international demand and strong competition for the leading American sires.
The US$1.1 million colt is Samaready’s fourth living foal and the second from the mare by US Triple Crown winner Justify. Her unraced two-year-old Museum of Art, also bred to Northern Hemisphere time, is from the same mating. The colt was the first seven-figure horse sold during Monday’s session.
Samaready won the Blue Diamond Stakes at two and later defeated older horses in the Moir Stakes. Tom Magnier bought the daughter of More Than Ready for A$1.8 million at the 2020 Inglis Chairman’s Sale while she was carrying Shinzo.
Retained by Coolmore, Shinzo won the 2023 Golden Slipper and was named champion two-year-old colt. The son of Snitzel retired to Coolmore in 2024 and covered 366 mares across his first two seasons. Shinzo’s older sister Exhilarates won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
The session-topper, Hip 84, was a Gun Runner colt out of Grade 3 winner Twenty Carat. Four Star Sales offered him for breeder Three Chimneys Farm, with Mahmud Mouni signing at US$2.8 million for Tagermeen Racing under the RTM Racing name.
“Our dream is for Kentucky,” Mouni said. “We bought the horse for the Kentucky Derby.”
The colt will join Chad Brown, who also trains his two-year-old full-brother Bletchley.
Gun Runner accounted for seven of the 12 highest-priced yearlings on Monday, including the top two. Hip 116, a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Colonel Liam, went to M.V. Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm for US$2.3 million, and they will keep him in the United States.
Their other purchases by the Three Chimneys stallion included a US$1.5 million half-brother to Grade 1 winner Paradise Woods and a US$1.4 million half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist.
A Not This Time colt supplied the other price above US$2 million. J.S. Company, acting for Japanese owner Yosuke Imafuku, paid US$2.1 million for the Gainesway-bred half-brother to Grade 1 winner Tapit Trice. Yoshito Yahagi will train the colt.
Japanese participation also extended to the US$1.7 million purchase of a Flightline colt.
Keeneland sold 97 yearlings for US$71.77 million during the opening session. The US$739,897 average rose 13.3 per cent from the corresponding session in 2025, while the US$625,000 median increased 16.3 per cent.
Both measures were records for a September Sale session.
“We had 18 $ 1-million-plus horses for the first time since 2006,” Keeneland vice-president of sales Tony Lacy said. “So it’s a real encouraging stat to watch those numbers come through.”
Of the 140 yearlings sent through the ring, 43 failed to meet their reserves, producing a clearance rate of 69.3 per cent.
The final Book 1 session begins at 1pm local time on Tuesday. Book 2 will be conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, with the 12-session sale continuing through September 26.
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