Keeneland November Sale 2026: $5.2M Quietside Tops Book 1

Keeneland November sale 2026: what happened in Book 1

The Keeneland November sale opened Nov. 3, 2026 in Lexington, Kentucky, and its top price was $5.2 million for Quietside, a 4-year-old graded stakes winner in foal to Nyquist. Book 1 sold 152 horses through the ring for $95,929,000, up 31.88% from last year's opening session.

Quietside (by Malibu Moon) was consigned by Stone Farm for John Ed Anthony's Shortleaf Stable. Bloodstock agent Chris Baker signed for Erdenheim Farm Thoroughbreds, which earlier in the session also paid $2.6 million for Grade 1 winner Kilwin.

The official name is the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. It runs nine sessions through Wednesday, Nov. 11, with about 3,400 horses catalogued.

The mares who made the headlines

• Quietside, $5.2 million. She won the Honeybee Stakes (G3) and Fantasy Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn in 2025, was twice Grade 1-placed at 2, and earned $1,051,575. Her dam, Benner Island, was a Grade 2 winner.
• Kilwin, $2.6 million. A Test Stakes (G1) winner by Twirling Candy with $1,362,076 in earnings. She ran fourth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
• Expensive Queen, $2.1 million to Godolphin. A 5-year-old who dead-heated for the win in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G1T) and ran fourth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
• Thought Process, $1.5 million to Pursuit of Success. A Grade 1 winner who was scratched from the Filly and Mare Turf on the advice of regulatory veterinarians.
• Usha, $1.5 million to Shadai Farm. The La Brea Stakes (G1) winner, trained by Bob Baffert, was bought by the Japanese breeding operation.

Book 1 by the numbers

These are Keeneland's through-the-ring figures; horses sold privately after the session are not included. Twenty-three horses brought $1 million or more, up from 17 last year, and eight brought $2 million or more. Some horses did not reach their sellers' reserve and went unsold in the ring.

What is a breeding stock sale?

A breeding stock sale is an auction of horses meant for the breeding shed rather than the racetrack. Most lots are broodmares (often already pregnant), young fillies retiring from racing, and weanlings.

Keeneland's November catalog also includes racing or broodmare prospects, stallions and stallion prospects, and some breeding shares. This year's catalog listed 1,600 weanlings and 1,797 broodmares, broodmare prospects and other horses.

It is the opposite end of the pipeline from a yearling sale like Keeneland September. In September, buyers pick future racehorses. In November, they pick the mothers of future racehorses.

Why a mare 'in foal' sells for millions

A mare listed as "in foal to Nyquist" has been bred to that stallion and is carrying his foal, which is due next spring. The buyer gets two things in one lot: the mare and the unborn foal.

That is why her price blends two separate stories. Think of it as a checklist buyers work through.

• Her own race record. Graded wins, especially Grade 1, prove talent. Quietside's two graded wins and $1 million in earnings matter.
• Her family. Buyers read the "female family" on the catalog page: how her dam, sisters and brothers performed and produced.
• Her age. A 4-year-old like Quietside has many breeding seasons ahead. Erdenheim's agent called Kilwin a 10-to-15-year project.
• The covering sire. The stallion's stud fee and his record as a sire shape the value of the foal she carries. Our guide to how stud fees work explains that side.
• Vet and physical inspection. Buyers look at conformation and check the reports and pregnancy status that sale rules require sellers to disclose.

A mare with no race record and a modest pedigree can be bought in the later books for a small fraction of the Book 1 prices. The same checklist applies at every level.

Weanlings, Books and RNAs: the sale vocabulary

What is a weanling?

A weanling is a foal that has been separated from its mother, sold in the fall of the year it was born. In Thoroughbred racing they are usually well under a year old at the November sale.

Four weanlings sold for $1 million or more on Nov. 3, double last year's number. The top one was a $1.3 million Justify colt (Hip 105) who is a full brother to 2025 Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Ruling Court, bought by M.V. Magnier and White Birch Farm.

Some weanling buyers are breeders who plan to race. Others are pinhookers, who buy weanlings to resell as yearlings. Our pinhooking explainer covers how that works.

Books, hips and RNAs

• Book: a section of the catalog. Book 1 is the most select; later books hold more horses at lower average prices.
• Hip number: the catalog number stuck on each horse's hip, like Hip 105.
• Reserve: the lowest price the seller will accept, kept private.
• RNA: "reserve not attained." The bidding stopped below the reserve, so the horse did not sell in the ring. Private sales afterward are common and can be added to totals.
• Outs: horses withdrawn before they go through the ring.
• Consignor: the farm or agency that prepares and sells the horse for the owner.

How the sale fits the November calendar

The Keeneland November sale sits at the end of a busy fall in Lexington. Timing matters because buyers can watch a mare race at the Breeders' Cup and bid on her days later.

1. Oct. 30-31: Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.
2. Nov. 2: Fasig-Tipton November sale, topped by Grade 1 winner Ways and Means at $5 million.
3. Nov. 3-11: Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
4. Nov. 12: Keeneland's separate November Horses of Racing Age Sale.

Book 1 started at 1 p.m. ET; the remaining sessions start at 10 a.m. ET. Catalog numbers are from Keeneland's pre-sale announcements and shift as horses are added or withdrawn.

What to watch next

• Book 2 (Nov. 4-5). It started this morning. Watch whether the strong averages carry beyond the elite opening session.
• First-crop sires. The catalog includes the first mares in foal to 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, a test of breeder confidence in a young stallion.
• The final totals. Keeneland publishes cumulative gross, average, median and RNA rate after the last session on Nov. 11.
• Where the mares go. Buyers from Japan and overseas, like Shadai with Usha, show how international the broodmare market is.

You don't need to be a buyer to follow along. Keeneland streams its sales online, and the catalog pages are a free crash course in reading a pedigree.

If you are thinking about buying a horse of your own, a riding horse is a very different purchase. Start with our marketplace and get-started guide.

This article reports sale results and is not investment or betting advice. Bloodstock values can fall as well as rise.