It's been a few weeks since I brought my Keeneland September colt (pedigree, catalog page) over to a sales prep facility. I stopped by Friday to check on his progress -- it's only a couple of miles from my office, so quite convenient to get there during a lunch break -- and I was impressed by the progress made thus far.
The colt has built up some muscle in his chest and has gained weight. He's always been on the small side and still is, but I'm pleased that he's filling out nicely. He's a little short in the croup and has an overall delicate, feminine look. Based on his dam's other colts, he'll hit a growth spurt as he comes into 2 years old. He continues to handle well and has adjusted to his new routine without balking. He's still learning to stand at conformation pose but seems to be catching on.
He's got 6.5 weeks of prep remaining, during which time he should continue to build muscle and get used to constant grooming. While they're sucklings, weanlings, or short yearlings, I tend to groom for two reasons: accustom the foals to being handled, and inspect them regularly for injury or abnormal growth. I'm not especially concerned with getting them polished and pretty -- but that's exactly what yearling sales prep is all about!
Now that the Keeneland September catalogs are out (online, at least), we know that he'll be going on Sunday, Aug. 21, as hip #4701. A day or two later than I'd hoped, but at least it's still the weekend.
One thing that amuses me as I look at the Keeneland catalog page is that under the colt's second dam is the colt Cash Wager, who is listed as "champion imported sprinter twice" but doesn't show up in bold. Ah, if only his four grade I wins in Trinidad and Tobago counted as black type....
For those of you who enjoy browsing the hips, the 2008 Keeneland September Yearling Sale catalogs are online here. You can search by sire, first dam, or consignor -- or, download each of the eight books. As always, you can also search by individual hip number (see catalog search here).
If you find a hip with especially interesting catalog page / pedigree, please comment! Over the next couple of weeks, I'll pull a few pedigrees (both early and late in the sale) and indicate what I like about them. Hope to hear other opinions as well.
