The 2025 2-year-old sale season in North America was solid, with several sales posting record figures and buyback rates below 20 percent – a strong figure that indicates a healthy market.The wave kept rolling, with yearling and weanling sales through the summer, fall, and winter showing strong demand for young horses due to new tax incentives that benefit Thoroughbred owners and optimism due to strong purse structures in some jurisdictions, among other factors. Now, the calendar has turned again to the 2-year-old sale season, with good reason to be optimistic about continued momentum.Below is the calendar of major-company auctions for this season, with the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. set to sell the majority of the crop’s offerings. There are no major changes to the calendar for 2026, although there are some new protocols for the traditional under-tack preview shows that precede the auctions.Sales are listed chronologically, and 2025 results, as listed in the respective companies’ records, do include private sales. Recent sales graduates include Eclipse Award champions and official winners of Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup races in the past five years, as well as 2025 Grade 1 winners. These horses all changed hands through the sale ring, and were not buybacks or private transactions.Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale of 2-year-oldsin trainingMarch 10-12, Ocala, Fla.Under-tack preview show March 4-7, Ocala Training Center (Safetrack)Last year: The March sale is tasked with establishing market momentum, and last year’s renewal did so in a major way. A $3 million Gun Runner colt named Brant, who went on to become a Grade 1 winner, set a record for any OBS auction to kick off the season, with a strong upper market helping the sale post year-over-year gains in the average. OBS records show that during the three-day sale, 432 juveniles sold for gross receipts of $65,660,500, compared to $65,239,100 generated by 454 horses sold in 2024. Last year’s average was $151,992, compared to $143,698 in 2024. The median dropped just slightly to $70,000 from $72,000, while the cumulative buyback rate improved to 18 percent from 24 percent.OBS – which recently named dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse its chairman of the board, succeeding consignor Francis Vanlangendonck – has announced additional “control measures” for all three of its under-tack preview shows, building upon existing standards. Horses will now be required to have a veterinary statement that they are suitable to perform in the under-tack show, while entries without this statement will be scratched from the sale. This is in addition to the existing practice of a staff veterinarian monitoring training leading up to the breeze show and positioned on track during the show. Use of the riding crop will be restricted, with the rider not permitted to strike the horse with their hands off the reins before, during, or after a breeze.Significant recent graduates: White Abarrio ($40,000 in 2021), who won the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2025 Pegasus World Cup, and 2025 Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Bentornato ($170,000 in 2023) were among the Grade 1 winners from this auction in 2025. That list also includes the aforementioned record-priced Brant, Sandman ($1.2 million in 2024), Scottish Lassie ($85,000 in 2024), and Velocity ($75,000 in 2024).Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring sale of 2-year-olds in trainingApril 14-17, Ocala, Fla.Under-tack preview show April 5-11, Ocala Training Center (Safetrack)Last year: With a $1.5 million Tiz the Law colt leading the way, the April auction, considered something of a bellwether as it offers a wide swath of horses, traded a record number of seven-figure horses, finishing with a record average price. OBS has recorded 638 horses selling for $88,496,500, compared to 637 sold for $82,373,500 one year prior. Nine juveniles sold for seven-figure prices, shattering the previous April sale record of five in 2022. The average of $138,709 was not only a gain from the 2024 figure of $129,315, it topped the previous April record of $129,577 at the 2022 edition. The median price did decline slightly to $65,000 from $70,000, but the buyback rate improved and finished under 20 percent.Significant recent graduates: This sale has produced an Eclipse Award winner in 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victor Corniche ($1.5 million in 2021). Two auction graduates won Breeders’ Cup races last fall – Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Cy Fair ($185,000 in 2025) and Dirt Mile victor Nysos ($550,000 in 2023). This sale also produced 2025 Grade 1 winners Cavalieri ($900,000 in 2023), Raging Torrent ($75,000 in 2023), and Usha ($600,000 in 2024).Keeneland April selected horses of racing age saleApril 24, Lexington, Ky.Last year: Keeneland, a key player in the yearling marketplace, put its traditional spring 2-year-old sale on hiatus after the 2014 edition. In 2021, the sale returned with its reimagined current format, with active racehorses of various ages offered. The sale takes place on closing day of the spring race meeting and often features horses with recent catalog updates.Juveniles can still play a major role here. In 2023, the juvenile Commissioner Dan topped the sale at $500,000. In 2024, Cheval de Guerre tied for the top price at $450,000. Last year, 2-year-old Tough Critic fetched $350,000, the second-highest price sold through the ring.Last year’s auction, including private sales, ultimately had 47 horses traded for $4,329,000, an average of $92,106 and median of $65,000. All the dollar figures were gains from 2024, when 56 horses grossed $4,050,000, averaging $72,321 and recording a median of $38,500.Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in trainingMay 18-19, Timonium, Md.Under-tack preview show May 12-14, Maryland State Fairgrounds (dirt)Last year: At the end of a turbulent week, a $1.1 million Girvin filly led the way as the Midlantic sale finished with record average and median figures. Fasig-Tipton reported 327 juveniles sold in what became a marathon single-session sale, resulting in gross receipts of $44,317,500. At the prior year’s sale, 345 horses grossed $32,921,500.The 2025 average price was $135,528, a significant jump from the prior record of $95,425 established in 2024. The median was $60,000, eclipsing the prior mark of $50,000. That mark had been set in 2021 and matched in 2023 and 2024.Last year, wet weather in Baltimore first delayed and then caused a restructuring of the breeze show. A bit less than halfway through the second of three work days on a sloppy, sealed track, a filly suffered catastrophic forelimb injuries galloping out, and another torrential rainfall almost immediately moved in, causing works to be abandoned for the rest of the day. The rest of the under-tack preview was conducted as an officially untimed gallop show three days later – although, at the discretion of individual consignors, some of the horses galloped closer to a breezing pace, and private clocking was not outlawed. Fasig-Tipton announced last summer that this year’s entire Midlantic show will be conducted in similar fashion, officially a gallop-only show.Although this is Fasig-Tipton’s only dedicated brick-and-mortar 2-year-old sale, the company, a leader in the digital space, often offers juveniles via its regular online auctions, as well as “flash” sales. The company also hosts a horses of racing age sale in July in Kentucky, where 2-year-olds can be featured.Significant recent graduates: In 2023, sale graduate Mage ($290,000 in 2022) won the Kentucky Derby. The following year, Straight No Chaser ($110,000 in 2021) captured the Breeders’ Cup Sprint to secure a divisional Eclipse Award title.Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring sale of 2-year-olds and horses of racing ageJune 16-18, Ocala, Fla.Under-tack preview show June 9-13, Ocala Training Center (Safetrack)Last year: There are often concerns about market fatigue at the end of the season, but there was none seen at the 2025 OBS June sale. Led by a $975,000 Curlin filly, who established a sale-record price, the auction set records for average and median. A total of 507 horses sold last year for receipts of $25,473,000, compared to 606 for $22,045,800 in 2024. The 2025 average was $50,243, easily besting the prior record of $43,433 set in 2021. The median was $25,000, eclipsing the prior mark of $23,500 from 2022. The buyback rate again finished under 20 percent, at 17 percent.