‘Craftily Placed’ Into Mischief Filly Tops Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale

The summer yearling sales season kicked off Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Ky., with a resurgent edition of Fasig-Tipton's July Sale of selected yearlings. The sale's average and median were well-placed historically, and the highest since the benchmarks set in 2007.

“It was a strong start to the 2021 yearling sales season,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “We were very encouraged when we went to the farms to inspect yearlings by the quality of horses we were seeing, and certainly the two-year-old sales were encouraging, so we had a lot of optimism. I don't think any of us [hoped] to surpass the 2019 numbers… so to be over 2019 is very, very, very encouraging.”

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and LNJ Foxwoods joined forces to take home the top-priced yearling of the sale, an $800,000 daughter of Into Mischief offered as Hip 123 by Burleson Farms, agent.

Current leading sire and two-time champion sire Into Mischief is represented by a pair of Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinters in Gamine, who captured the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in 2020, and LNJ Foxwoods's own Covfefe, who took that race and her division's championship in 2019.

“She was very craftily placed, that's for sure,” said Aron Wellman of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. “From a pedigree perspective and a physical perspective, she certainly stood out. I think all the heavyweights were on her, and I think we were right in that neighborhood of where we thought she was going to be. Maybe a bump or two more than that, but for this kind of filly, they're hard to get your hands on. Alex (Solis, bloodstock adviser for LNJ Foxwoods) and I just thought this was the right one to take a swing for the fences.”

Bred in Kentucky by McKenzie Bloodstock, Hip 123 is out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Cashing Tickets, a full-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Conveyance. Cashing Tickets is the dam of three winners from as many to race, including multiple stakes winning filly Leggs Galore (Bayern), recently second in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at Santa Anita to increase earnings to $342,709.

“When the stud fees go up, there's much more pressure to get to auction, because if they don't like them, they don't care what you gave for the stud fee, they just walk away,” said consignor Lyn Burleson. “This was a special filly, and she's got a big update. I think they got a great horse, and they're going to have a great broodmare prospect down the road.”

The bay filly is from the immediate family of multiple Grade 1 winning millionaire Plum Pretty.

“He's an amazing stallion,” Browning said of Into Mischief, who sired three of the top four yearlings sold. “He is always at the top of the boards. He produces colts, fillies, Derby winners, Classic winners, grass, dirt, short, long. He is the consummate professional as a stallion and there is a high demand for [his offspring], as there should be because of the potential reward on the track.”

The sale's top colt came in the form of Hip 111, a son of Candy Ride (ARG), which sold for $350,000 to James Bernhard from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent (video).

The bay colt  is the second foal out of the Uncle Mo mare Beyond Grace, a full sister to multiple stakes placed winner Mighty Mo. The colt hails from the immediate family of Group 1 winner Moriarty. Hip 111 was bred in Kentucky by OXO Equine.

Also sold for $350,000 was a daughter of Into Mischief purchased by Mike G. Rutherford from the consignment of Four Star Sales, agent for Spendthrift Farm (video).

Offered as Hip 339, the dark bay or brown filly is out of the multiple stakes placed winning Henny Hughes mare Anahauc, a half-sister to stakes winners Gangbuster and Dream Call, as well as to stakes placed winner Glorified, who produced stakes winner Anythingyoucando. The immediate family includes Grade 1 winner Diplomat Lady. Hip 339 was bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm.

Tuesday's sale marked the return of the Freshman Sire Showcase, featuring 103 yearlings by first-crop sires, which were offered at the front of the catalog. Colts by Grade 1 winners Army Mule (Hip 8) and Mor Spirit (Hip 44) were the top sellers, fetching $200,000 each.

Maverick Racing sprung early to snap up Hip 8, a colt by undefeated G1 Carter Handicap winner and Fasig-Tipton graduate Army Mule, for $200,000 from the consignment of Gainesway, agent. The bay colt is out of the winning Congaree mare Congarette, from the immediate family of Grade 1 winner Home at Last. Hip 8 was bred in Florida off Army Mule's 2019 stud fee of $10,000.

Woodford Thoroughbreds purchased Hip 44, a bay colt by multiple Grade 1 winner and Fasig-Tipton graduate Mor Spirit, for $200,000 from the consignment of Eaton Sales, agent for Spendthrift Farm.

Out of the Malibu Moon mare Malibu Cove, a full sister to Grade 2 winner Prospective, Hip 44 is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Kalypso (Brody's Cause), a graduate of this sale in 2019. The colt's dam is also a half-sister to the dam of stakes winner Josie, who fetched $300,000 to lead off yesterday's July Selected Horses of Racing Age sale. Hip 44 was bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm off Mor Spirit's 2019 stud fee of $10,000.

A pair of fillies by Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn sold for $185,000 each during the opening section, bred off his 2019 stud fee of $35,000.

Hip 15, by Mendelssohn out of Doritza, was purchased by Rebecca Galbraith from the consignment of Machmer Hall Sales, agent for Stoneriggs Farm. Hip 15 was bred in Kentucky by Robert Slack.

Hip 42, by Mendelssohn out of Laquesta, was purchased by Ben Gowans, agent from the consignment of Paramount Sales, agent. The dark bay or brown filly was bred in Kentucky by Rose Hill Farm & John Trumbulovic.

“It's kind of going back to our roots,” Browning said of the return of the Freshman Sire Showcase. “For years, our reputation in July was great physicals. We may be forgiving a little bit on pedigree and sire power, but if you have a good-looking colt or filly that looks precocious, that is what we are about in July. It helps build momentum for the farms as well.”

The most expensive yearling by a first-crop sire sold later in the sale, Selective LLC/Cary Bloodstock, agent purchased a filly by multiple Grade 1 winner for $230,000. Offered as Hip 174 by Bluewater Sales, agent, the filly is out of Grand Sofia, an unraced Giant's Causeway half-sister to track-record setting Grade 1 winner Rail Trip. Hip 174 was bred in Kentucky by Cobra Farm & MRJ Thoroughbreds.

Practical Joke, currently ranked ninth on the freshman sire list by earnings, is responsible for the top-priced second-crop yearling. Scott & Evan Dilworth purchased Hip 159, a filly out of staes winner and stakes-winner producer Fortune Play, for $240,000 from the consignment of Four Star Sales, agent for D.C. Goff. Hip 159 was bred in Kentucky by D.C. Goff.

In total, 208 yearlings changed hands for $21,608,500, up 16 percent from when 202 sold for $18,621,000 in 2019. The average rose to $103,887 from $92,183, a 12.7 percent increase. The median rose 6.7 percent to $80,000 from $75,000 in 2019. The average was the fourth highest all-time for The July Sale, while the median ranked second. The average and median were the highest at The July Sale since 2007, when the records were set in both categories. The RNA rate was 24.9 percent.

“I am proud of the group of horses our inspection team put together for this sale,” Browning added. “Everybody in the marketplace ought to sleep pretty good tonight. It should be a very good yearling market in 2021.”

Full results are available online.

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Selling Around The Dispersal: Sellers Navigated Uncharted Waters In Fasig-Tipton July Breeding Stock Sale

Fasig-Tipton's auctions are well-known for their flexibility when it comes to adding late entries to an established sale, but Monday's inaugural July Breeding Stock Sale introduced an entirely new marketplace segment with the clock winding down.

The Breeding Stock Sale was introduced by Fasig-Tipton on June 15, less than a month before the auction was to take place on July 12. The initial announcement centered around the Far From Over/Fountain of Youth Dispersal, but it invited other sellers to enter the catalog with their mares and foals to take advantage of the tentpole liquidation.

Summer broodmare sales are uncommon on the U.S. landscape, save for an urgent dispersal here and there, meaning the July Breeding Stock Sale would be an untested marketplace in a business that clings harder to the sure things each passing year. Entering the sale would be a leap of faith, with the hopes that buyers would be there to catch the horses on the other side.

How successful that leap was depended on who one asked around the sales grounds on Monday afternoon, but the general ethos in the new offering didn't change from what one might see in any other sale.

“It seems like if you have something of quality, in foal to a quality horse, they're going to buy them, and I don't think it matters if it's now or November,” said Gainesway's Brian Graves.

Gainesway handled the breeding stock session's highest-priced offering, Jeweled Princess, a Cairo Prince mare who sold in foal to Horse of the Year Gun Runner to Stoneriggs Farm for $225,000.

Graves said the mare's owner contacted him about her potential chances in the new sale when it was announced, and they agreed she could do well in the venue, which was a common refrain among several consignors when it came to recruiting prospects for the auction, even on relatively short notice.

“When Fasig announced that they were going to have that dispersal, and they were opening up, the phone really started ringing for us,” said Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency. “It wasn't a lot of arm-twisting, it was really more people calling and saying, 'I really hadn't thought about it, but I've got this mare I'd like to turn into some cash; I'm going into the yearling market, or whatever, and I just would rather get the money now, as opposed to pay bills and wait until November.'”

Consignors said the opportunity for mid-season liquidity on the open market was one of the sale's biggest selling points their clients discussed when considering a mare for the sale.

“Generally speaking, we did reach out, but didn't get a great reception,” said Derek MacKenzie of Vinery Sales. “Most of the ones we got, the people called us – partnership dispersal type stuff. Most people thought it was better to wait until fall.”

MacKenzie said the market showed up for his mare in foal to Omaha Beach, who is likely to be an early leader among commercial sires when his first foals hit the sales ring later this year. However, there was not as much depth as he'd hoped for horses below that level, and having a foal on the ground next to the mare was not necessarily the selling point one might assume it would be.

The buyer ranks made it clear that young mares were a priority on Monday. Of the six horses to sell for six-figure prices, only one had more than two foals on her produce record.

“I probably would have missed the market a little bit,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “I was really surprised with how well some of the in-foal mares and broodmare prospects sold that weren't part of the dispersal. I was a little surprised that some of the mares with foals at their side didn't bring a little more money, but it's making a significant commitment to buy a mare that might have five or six foals on the ground. We've seen that be an area of weakness in the marketplace, whether it's in November, January, or February, and it's still there.”

However, that's not to say having a mare with a foal at her side made her an instant disqualifier in the July marketplace. Taylor said that the sale's placement on the calendar, before the foals are weaned from their mothers, has the potential to open up a more diverse group of buyers in time.

“We're pretty new into this, but I definitely thinks it was a plus,” he said. “It gets weanling pinhookers basically bidding on mares. Then, it gets mare buyers bidding also, so it just opens it up. A mare we sold for $40,000, the baby by her side was a Big Brown, but it was a New York-bred, and a really good foal. She's in foal to Maclean's Music, and I think a lot of people said, 'Man, if she can have a Maclean's Music that looks like that Big Brown, I'm rolling.'”

So much of selling a Thoroughbred comes down to getting the horse to look their best when they arrive at the sales grounds, and for those who might be looking to sell a young horse as a weanling in the fall, Taylor said moving ahead in the calendar to July might help a few horses be at their most marketable.

“When you're selling foals in the fall that have been weaned, it eliminates at least half of the foals from being good candidates, because the weaning process makes them go into a crash,” he said. “They get a weaning crash, where they lose weight, they lose their topline, they don't look as good as they did before, so this allows you to sell a foal that looks in good shape – still got that milk fat, looks good – but when you pull them off the mare, a lot of them just go really downhill, and you can't get them back to where they should be by November. This is just a whole new way to do commerce surrounding foals.

“A lot of times, you go look at all these babies before they're weaned, and I'll be giving a lot of high grades,” Taylor continued, “but then you go back and look at them in October when they've all just been weaned for a few months, all my grades go down, because they're pot-bellied, they've got no top line, they look like little guppies.”

From the group of six horses that sold for $100,000 or more on Monday from the breeding stock session, five of them came from outside the tentpole dispersal, proving there was buyer interest beyond the headline act.

There likely won't be a dispersal to serve as the foundation of future July Breeding Stock Sale catalogs, should it become an annual part of Fasig-Tipton's calendar, but solid returns among the sellers who took the chance in the new market could help fill catalogs in the future.

“The people that brought them thought there was an opportunity, and I agree with them,” said Pat Costello of consignor Paramount Sales. “I think it was a success.”

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Lady Glamour Sells For $115,000 To Lead Keeneland June Digital Sale

Grade 2 stakes-placed Lady Glamour, in foal to Not This Time, sold for $115,000 to Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Anzac Farm, to top Keeneland's June Digital Sale, held today as part of Keeneland's Digital Sales Ring platform.

Lady Glamour is a 4-year-old mare by Discreet Cat out of Repeta, by Broken Vow. She is a half-sister to the 3-year-old colt Mucho Del Oro, a winner of three consecutive races at Santa Anita since April.

Dan Kjorsvik paid $35,000 for King Jack, a winner in three of his four career starts, including the Grade 2 Gallant Bob. By Jimmy Creed out of the Tapit mare Light Shine, King Jack is from the family of graded stakes winners Tar Heel Mom and Scrappy T. He was offered as a stallion prospect.

Both horses were consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

The one-day mixed June Digital Sale grossed $181,500 for nine horses. Summary results are available by clicking here.

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Connagh’s Quay Brings $65,000 To Top Keeneland May Digital Sale

Connagh's Quay, a 3-year-old colt from the first crop of champion Flintshire, brought a final bid of $65,000 from Kirkwood Stables, agent, to be the highest price of Keeneland's May Digital Sale, held today as part of Keeneland's Digital Sales Ring platform.

Consigned by owner and breeder Juddmonte, Connagh's Quay is out of the Empire Maker mare Routine. He is a half-brother to 2021 Grade 3 W. L. McKnight winner Tide of the Sea and from the family of multiple Grade 1 winners Tates Creek and Sightseek. The colt was offered as a racing or stallion prospect.

TEC Racing paid $35,000 for graded stakes-placed Salvator Mundi, a 5-year-old gelding by Artie Schiller. Out of the Horse Greeley mare Conquest Lil Miss, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner My Conquestadory, Salvator Mundi was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

The one-day mixed May Digital Sale grossed $144,000 for six horses. Summary results are available by clicking here.

Keeneland will host its next Digital Sale on June 29. Additional digital sales are scheduled for July, August, October and December.

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