Trendsetter Heads to Keeneland Sale After Lexington Stakes Upset

Trendsetter’s Lexington Stakes upset changed his market in a hurry. The 3-year-old gelding by Modernist swept past the leaders at Keeneland on April 11, drew clear by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:44.51 for 1 1/16 miles on dirt, and turned a longshot score into a live commercial opportunity almost overnight.

Keeneland supplemented Trendsetter to the April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, which will be held the evening of Friday, April 24 after racing on closing day of the Spring Meet. The auction starts at 6:30 p.m. ET and will be livestreamed on Keeneland.com, with approved supplemental entries accepted right up to sale day. Trendsetter will go through as Hip 32, consigned by Colebrook Racing, agent for Midway Racing.

The speed of the move says as much about the market as it does about the horse. Trendsetter did not come out of nowhere. He started his career with two dirt wins at 2, then handled a turf assignment in Keeneland’s 5 1/2-furlong Indian Summer Stakes before returning on March 21 to run third in the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park on synthetic. That versatility helped frame the Lexington as more than a fluke. His 85 Beyer speed figure and 96 Equibase number matched the eye test, and his 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points gave the performance added weight.

Ben Colebrook and owner Davant Latham have already spoken about Trendsetter in forward-looking terms, viewing him as a horse with more development ahead rather than a one-race wonder. Colebrook has pointed to the Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Oklahoma Derby routes as realistic targets, and he also noted that Keeneland’s closing-day sale format is exactly the kind of live setting where a horse with current form can draw strong interest. The timing matters: buyers are not paying simply for a win, but for the chance that the Lexington was the start of a better horse.

That is why Trendsetter has become one of the spring’s sharpest value stories. He was bought for $22,000 at Keeneland January 2024, then $25,000 at Fasig-Tipton October 2024, then $130,000 at OBS April 2025 before landing with Midway Racing LLC. His lifetime earnings stood at $421,962 in April 2026. For a gelding who had lost five straight before the Lexington, the sale ring now has to decide whether this is recency bias in overdrive or a rational bet on a colt whose best race may still be ahead.