LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A strapping chestnut colt by Distorted Humor topped the second day of Keeneland's September yearling sale.

The colt, out of Angel's Nest, went for $2.05 million to agent Mike Ryan. Consigned by Lane's End, it was the only horse to go for seven figures during the second day of the world's largest yearling auction.

``The market is telling us if you have a really, really good horse it is going to sell well, if you don't you're in trouble,'' said Lane's End's Bill Farish. ``It's pretty spotty. But it's encouraging that there's some strength in the top.''

Particularly for horses by Distorted Humor and A.P. Indy. The stallion market's top performers continued to have their progeny fetch the highest prices.

A colt by A.P. Indy went for $4.25 million during the opening night of the sales on Sunday, the highest price for a yearling at a North American public auction in four years.

Things were solid but subdued as the market settled down. A total of 58 horses sold on Monday for a gross of $20.340 million, an average of $350,690.

Bidding for a filly by A.P. Indy reached $1.25 million but failed to meet the reserve price. Several other horses were sold just shy of the $1 million mark.

Keeneland director of sales Geoffrey Russell called the first two days of the sale a success even if the market has fallen sharply over the last five years. Keeneland officials trimmed the number of horses available in Book 1, a position typically reserved for the top horses, in half.

``I think the bidding was very, very competitive but also very selective,'' Russell said. ``I think people knew where they were going.''

Particularly for elite racing prospects. Ryan survived the most heated bidding of the night, securing the Distorted Humor colt for an undisclosed overseas owner.

``The pedigree speaks for itself,'' Ryan said. ``He's the complete package. If he's as good on the race track as we think he can be, he's got great stallion potential. The sky's the limit for this horse.''

Farish thought the price was fair, saying he felt the colt could go for at least $900,000.

``This is that colt we've been waiting for out of that mare,'' Farish said. ``He still got a lot of maturing to do.''

Another Distorted Humor colt out of Hookedonthefeelin went for $900,000. Billionaire B. Wayne Hughes, founder and chairman of Public Storage, said he knew a good deal when he saw one.

``I thought we did good,'' said Hughes, who won the 2003 Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Action This Day. ``We were expecting to go a little higher. Good horses are still difficult to buy and easy to sell.''

Still, it wasn't so long ago the September sale would have some of the sport's top owners throwing millions around in search of the next great thoroughbred. Over three dozen horses went for over $1 million during the first two days of the sale in 2005. Through the first two days of this year's sale, only three have topped that number.

``A million dollar horse is going to be a very rare thing,'' Russell said. ``This is a new reality.''

Sometimes, though, even $1 million isn't enough.

Greg Goodman, who consigned the A.P. Indy filly for Mt. Brilliant Farm, watched bidding for his star reach $1.25 million. Good, but not good enough to reach her reserve price.

``We knew a price we would sell her at and that wasn't it,'' Goodman said.

Still, Goodman praised Keeneland's new sales format. Organizers moved the first two days of the sale to Sunday and Monday night in hopes of creating some buzz.

The sales pavilion was packed with some of the sport's top trainers, including Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lucas, and there was a sense that the market is starting to rebound after bottoming out.

Keeneland has catalogued 4,857 yearlings for this year's sale, which runs through Sept. 26.