"Sheikh Mohammed’s breeding operation breeds 'a lot of horses in Kentucky that run in Europe without medication, and they run very, very successfully,' including Discourse, a top filly in Europe by the sheikh’s stallion Street Cry. 'They’re all top 2-year-olds in Europe, and they all run medication free, so I don’t know why they need it in America when you don’t need it in Europe.'"

"According to Keeneland, 1,631 yearlings have been sold for a total of $198,638,200, surpassing total gross receipts in 2010 of $198,254,900 for 3,059 yearlings sold during a 14-day sale. Cumulative through Sept. 19, the average price was $121,789 compared to $99,973 in 2010 and the median price of $75,000 outpaced the $60,000 figure of last year."

"This year there has been a little pent-up enthusiasm; the buyers are anxious to buy.... People have been sitting on money for a while, plus we have unusual tax incentives that expire at the end of this year. That pushes a guy into that mood as well ... and there’s a lot of thanks for that. It’s encouraging for the breeders. It’s been three years since they’ve had any smiles on their faces."

"Since every sales company's catalogs, including Keeneland's, have been available in portable document format (PDF) online for several years, it has long been possible to download entire catalogs to computers, but Apple Inc.'s new iPad as well as other tablet computers offer new possibilities to anyone who might feel overburdened by the burgeoning tools of the Thoroughbred trade."

Sortable results for session one. The average price of the 69 yearlings sold was $347,319, up 49% over 2009, the median $250,000, up 25%. The buy-back rate was 26%, down considerably from 2009. A full sister to Octave RNA'd for $390K, a full sister to Proud Spell sold for $250K. The Ghostzapper filly Azeri was carrying was she was bought back at the 2009 Keeneland January sale for $4.4M sold for $450K. Bernardini topped young sires, interest in Hard Spun seemed low.