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Last Stop for Yearlings: Fasig-Tipton October Sale Starts Monday

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale, which has produced back-to-back record-setting renewals, returns Monday morning with the first of 1,605 catalogued yearlings scheduled to go through the ring at Newtown Paddocks at 10 a.m.

As shoppers made the rounds at the sales grounds on a brisk fall morning the Bluegrass Sunday, consignors were expecting to see some familiar trends during the upcoming four-session auction.

“It's going to be interesting to see where the level of quality is here,” said Legacy Bloodstock's Tommy Eastham. “I think [the market] is going to be really good for the horses that are perceived to be above that level and I think it's going to be more of the same for the horses that they perceive to be below that. I think it's going to be tougher on those horses.”

Despite the expected polarization of the market, consignors were pleased with the activity they were seeing around the sales barns.

“It's very refreshing to come into the parking lot early in the day and have it full up from all the way back here in the tents to the front fields,” said Stuart Morris. “I think the traffic, to me, seems to be on par. I'm not going to say it's extra, but it's definitely not weak. All of the faces that you usually see are here.”

For the second year in a row, the October sale set highwater marks for gross, average and median in 2022 with total of 1,100 yearling selling for $55,426,500, an average of $50,388 and a median of $25,000.

“Over the last couple of years, this has become a really strong sale,” said Hanzly Albina of Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services. “It used to definitely be a lower-end horse and now there are 1600 horses here. I think there are people who are pointing horses here who need a little more time and they are more comfortable waiting to sell their horses here because they know there will be money here for them, versus having to put horses in sales they feel they aren't ready for.”

Albina said his 23-horse consignment at the October sale included yearlings who had RNA'd at previous sales, as well as horses pointed specifically to the last yearling sale of the year.

“We have horses in here that have big pedigrees that we wanted to give more time to and we were comfortable waiting until October,” he explained.

The consignment includes a colt by Curlin (hip 691) out of Kateri (Indian Charlie) and a filly by Tapit out of My Bellamy (Bellamy Road) (hip 948) who were both catalogued for the Keeneland September Yearling sale, while a colt by Into Mischief out of Indy Punch (Pulling Punches) (hip 651) will be making his first sales appearance.

“She was offered at Keeneland in Book, but I think she got overlooked,” Albina said of the Tapit filly. “The Curlin was offered in September and I think he needed more time, too, but the Into Mischief we waited on him to mature a little more.”

Eastham said the October sale is a natural place to sell yearlings.

“It's a nice sale to prep a horse for,” he said. “They naturally mature into it. You don't have to push them as much. They keep them outside longer and put a little less pressure on them.

I think you see some of these upper-end buyers that were really active in earlier sales start holding some cash for this sale. Because a lot of good horses come out of this sale.”

Morris agreed the October's impressive list of graduates has attracted buyers' attention, but he also thinks the auction is helped by its position as the final yearlings sale of the season.

“I think a lot of buyers come here because it's the last stop,” Morris said. “So as sellers, we are a little more cautious–what might be considered realistic–and buyers are a little aggressive because they have to fill orders. I think that helps this sale just because of the calendar time that it's the last stop of the year. There are 1,600 head here and a bunch of stakes horses come out of this sale every year, so if you have a big budget of $500,000 or $600,000, you can find horses here for that money. If you've got $50,000 or $10,000 or $5,000, you can find horses. So I think that creates a big buyer base.”

Eastham observed that buyers have been particularly hard on vet issues at the earlier yearling auctions this fall, but he is hopeful the last auction of the season might have them reevaluating that position.

“At Keeneland [the buyers] were strict on vetting,” he said. “A chip that would normally cost you 20% was costing you 70%. Hopefully they will be a little more forgiving on some small, minor vetting issues because we are getting to the end of the year and we can get those horses sold.”

The October sale will be held Monday through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

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Catalogue for Fasig-Tipton’s July Sale Now Online

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 370 selected yearlings for The July Sale, to set to be held on Tuesday, Jul. 11, at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, KY. The sale gets underway at 10:00 a.m.

“Sellers have shown increased interest in July this year, resulting in a catalogue that is 23% larger than last year's,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said. “We will kick the sale off with the Freshman Sire Showcase–offering a flashy group of individuals by this year's first crop yearling sires–before transitioning into the more proven sire-populated segment of the catalogue. There is a healthy mix of first crop sires and leading general sires, which should draw good interest.”

“We focus on recruiting precocious and athletic yearlings to July. This approach results in very impressive performance statistics.”

The July Sale catalogue may now be viewed online and will also be available via the Equineline sales catalogue app. Print catalogues are now available.

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Fasig-Tipton October Brings Curtain Down on Yearling Sales Season

Fasig-Tipton, which hosted the opening event of the season with its July Selected Yearlings Sale, will bring the curtain down on the yearlings auction season with its four-day Kentucky October Yearlings Sale which begins Monday at the company's Newtown Paddocks. The sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

The 2021 October sale was a barnburner, setting new records for gross, average and median, and consignors are hoping this year's edition continues a string of strong results this season.

“The market has been very strong throughout the year,” said Zach Madden, who will be presenting 28 yearlings in his first October consignment as sole proprietor of Buckland Sales. “[Keeneland] September was insane. And we had one in Saratoga that went over really well. I think, with the foal crop being down a tick and the purse structure up, it seems like people are just really going after it this year. I came into the business when it was really tough, so I do remember those times, but I think it's going to keep clicking along and hopefully it spills over into the breeding stock sales and the foal market. It's been good timing for a first year being out on my own, too. I definitely don't take that for granted. Hopefully it keeps humming along.”

Hunter Simms of Warrendale Sales agreed with Madden's assessment of the 2022 yearling market.

“I think it will be a good sale based off of what we had in September,” Simms said. “That was a strong market. There was a lot of demand for horses throughout, all the way from the beginning of the sale to the end. Fasig-Tipton had their New York sale last Monday and all indications coming out of that were positive with people still wanting horses. So I do think at the end, it should be a good sale overall.”

The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale, which was held in the midst of a multi-day rain storm at the beginning of the month, suffered slight declines following a strong renewal in 2021.

“I think September was incredibly strong at Keeneland with a record-breaking sale,” said Carl McEntee of Ballysax Bloodstock. “I think the wind came out of the sails a little bit–I thought the Timonium sale was an average horse sale, to be quite frank, with the median and average down. People maybe didn't travel out of town because they knew they had 1600 yearlings right here in Lexington. Maybe they liked one or two up there and didn't want to get rained on for four days and then probably get outbid on the one you liked because you valued it at $75,000 and it brought $125,000, it just didn't make sense to people. I think they just said, 'Listen the weather is bad, we will stay in Kentucky.' But the New York sale they just had looked very strong again and the median was up. I know everyone is coming into town [for the October sale] and I think it's going to be a very spirited market.”

During last year's October sale, 1,153 yearlings sold for $52,607,500. The average of $45,672 was up 33.9% from 2020 and bettered the sales previous record figure of $37,955 set in 2019. The median of $25,000 was up 66.7% from 2020 and bettered the previous record of $18,500 set in 2014. With just 205 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was a sparkling 15.1%–the lowest since 2013.

The days of October yearlings coming into the sales ring with a disadvantage are over, Simms agreed.

“I think Fasig has worked very hard to change that stigma,” Simms said. “It used to be this was your last-stop shop. It still is, but it was kind of like re-tread horses that didn't get sold or horses that people deemed weren't commercially valuable, they'd just put them in October. Now you are seeing horses bring high six figures over the years, and that's kind of gotten this sale to take off.”

Recent graduates of the October sale include 2022 Grade I winners Taiba, Goodnight Olive, and Jack Christopher. Results like those are another reason buyers have added the October sale to their calendars, according to Madden.

“I can remember a time where October was kind of the red-headed stepchild to September,” Madden said. “I think they've done a great job in compiling enough horses to make it a must-stop for the majority of buyers. It started with [Fasig president] Boyd [Browning] and the guys over there being flexible and taking later entries. That I think has really sparked the sale being so big.

“And then their results [on the racetrack] have been crazy. We were fortunate enough to sell Taiba over there two years ago. That horse just needed a little time. For a consignor, if you don't have a super precocious horse or if there is an issue that needs time to resolve, it's an awesome sale. And people work this sale hard. They have circled it on the map and the results keep coming out. Year after year, there is just horse after horse where you say, 'Man that horse came out of there, too.'”

Bloodstock agent Jacob West, bidding on behalf of the power-partnership of Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola, made the highest bid at last year's October sale, going to $925,000 to acquire a colt by Street Sense. Donato Lanni was also in action at the top of the market for the stallion-making partnership of SF/Starlight/Madaket. Those high-end buyers are joined by pinhookers and end-users to make up the traditional October buying bench.

“You are getting pinhookers and end-users,” Simms said of the buying bench. “I know [trainer] Kenny McPeek is a big fan of this sale, Jacob West was over there shopping a lot, St. Elias was shopping and Donato was shopping. You get a lot of these guys who are continually at the top of the sheets still shopping for horses. With the purses being good and the foal crop decreasing, the demand is still there, so there aren't that many opportunities coming. Supply and demand is going to make those prices jump. And those guys still need horses to finish out their buying for the year.”

In addition to the high-end buyers, October also attracts a strong middle market, according to McEntee.

“It's been a vibrant sale these last two or three years, big horses in there bringing $700,000 or $800,000, so I think it's a very reputable sale,” McEntee said. “We always used to say Timonium was a trainer's sale because there are so many racetracks around there. The reality is, so is the October sale. Trainers are in town, especially with the Breeders' Cup, everyone is in town. You have trainers that come in from regional markets–Canada or West Coast, East Coast or Ohio, Indiana and Illinois–all of these guys are coming in. So I do think it's a trainer's sale and I do think horses that perhaps weren't quite the Book 4 Keeneland horse, but were still a nice horse, I think there is a real strong market for them at October. Obviously, there are some top-class horses there, too, but those solid Book 4 horses who are true racehorses, with good X-rays, good scopes, good substance and size, that sort of fit pinhookers and racehorse buyers, I think those horses really have a good home in this sale.”

There are 1,594 yearlings catalogued for the four-day October sale. Hips 1-398 will go through the ring during Monday's first session of the auction and will be followed by hips 399-796 Tuesday; hips 797-1194 Wednesday; and hips 1195-1594 Thursday.

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Optimism Prevails as Yearlings Go Back on the Market at Fasig-Tipton July Sale

LEXINGTON, KY – The yearling sales season kicks off Tuesday with the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington. Bidding at the one-session auction begins at 10 a.m.

“We're optimistic,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said of expectations for the sale. “We've seen a very solid 2-year-old marketplace throughout the spring. There is demand for quality horses, certainly plenty of interest. Racing is pretty good right now.”

On a balmy Monday morning in Lexington, buyers were out in force and consignors were busy showing yearlings to a strong mixture of pinhookers and end-users.

“Hopefully it will be the same as usual,” Paramount Sales' Gabriel Duignan said of expectations for the July market. “Racing is very good, purses are great. The traffic seems to be busy here. The pinhookers had a good year and this sale is driven by pinhookers. So I am very hopeful it will be a good sale.”

Brian Graves, overseeing the Gainesway consignment Monday morning, agreed activity has been brisk at the sales barns.

“It's been busy,” Graves said. “There are a lot of people here. It will be interesting to see how many are end-users, but the market is alive and well, that's for certain. Most of the horses in the barn have been vetted well before they sell tomorrow. Usually, in a different climate when it's not so busy, you are waiting right up to the end to see some action. It seems like people are here to participate. I would expect it to be a fair market, whether it's as good as it was last year or not remains to be seen, but it will be healthy.”

Canceled due to the pandemic in 2020, the July auction rebounded with a strong showing in 2021, setting its fourth highest average and second highest median. A filly by Into Mischief brought the auction's top price when selling for $800,000.

Following a spring of competitive results at the 2-year-old sales and with purses at record levels, a strong yearling market would seem a safe bet, but volatility in the stock market–and in the overall economy–looms in the background.

“[Economic conditions] are a little concerning, but our racing is so healthy at the moment and I think there is a shortage of horses,” Duignan said.

Graves said, “The thing about horse people is they can't just take up plumbing. They just can't take up a different profession. They make their living by buying, developing and selling horses. Whether the horse market trails the stock market and it's off 10 or 15%, it could happen. What is important to me is that there is healthy trade. That you can take a horse and turn it into cash. And that clearly looks like it will be the case here. I don't see any big red flags.”

The July sale comes just a week after the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and the new authority is another positive for the industry, according to Machmer Hall Sales' Carrie Brogden.

“I think everyone has to be aware of what is happening in the world-wide economy and in Ukraine and food prices, etc., but I think there are a lot of things to be very excited about,” Brogden said. “Obviously, there are some big changes in our industry with HISA coming online, but I personally am very optimistic that, after the changes shake out, we are going to be better and stronger. For me, I hate that the foal crop keeps shrinking. That means less product, fewer horses to race, but I am hopeful that all the changes, even though in the short term it may be hard for people to get through, ultimately we are going to get through it a lot stronger and reverse the trend on the other side.”

A total of 302 yearlings have been catalogued for the July sale, with 39 withdrawn as of Monday late morning. The auction opens with an offering of 88 youngsters by first-crop sires. The group of new stallions includes: Audible, Catalina Cruiser, Catholic Boy, Copper Bullet, Demarchelier (GB), Enticed, Flameaway, Maximus Mischief, Mitole, Omaha Beach, Preservationist, St Patrick's Day, Vino Rosso, World of Trouble, and Yoshida (Jpn).

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