$250,000 Stay Thirsty colt tops Fasig-Tipton California fall yearling sale

Average prices fell more than 5 percent at Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton California fall yearling sale in Pomona, an auction in which eight horses were listed as sold for $100,000 or more.

According to sale company statistics, 163 horses sold for $4,781,400, an average of $29,334. The average price declined 5.6 percent from 2023 when 185 horses were listed as sold for $5,741,450, or an average of $31,089.

Tuesday’s average price was within range of recent years. The 2022 sale had an average of $30,522 on 205 horses sold, according to sale company records.

In 2023, there were 12 horses sold for $100,000, Fasig-Tipton reported.

On Tuesday, there were 87 horses listed as not sold. The median price was $15,000 at both sales.

This year, the auction consisted entirely of yearlings, while last year’s sale included some horses of racing age.

On Tuesday, the most expensive hip was a colt by Stay Thirsty listed as sold by Lovacres Ranch, agent, for $250,000 to John Moroney. The colt is out of My Fiona and is a full brother to the stakes winner Finneus and a half-brother to the stakes winner Fi Fi Pharoah.

Moroney has frequently been a partner with Lovacres Ranch owner Terry Lovingier on numerous horses, including 2024 starters Empress of Grace, Thirsty Mama, and Whiskeyinateacup. Thirsty Mama was second in the CTBA Stakes for California-bred 2-year-old fillies at Del Mar in August for a partnership that includes Lovingier and Moroney.

The most expensive filly at Tuesday’s auction was purchased for $200,000 by Pete Parrella’s Legacy Ranch from Barton Thoroughbreds, agent. By the Uncle Mo stallion Yaupon, the filly is out of Bahama Mischief, by Into Mischief. Bahama Mischief, winless in 11 starts, is out of the five-time winner Bahama Bound, who was third in the Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct in 2012. Yaupon’s oldest foals are yearlings.

Tuesday’s sale was the second of two yearling sales in the state. The Northern California yearling sale at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton saw a decline in average price from $9,125 in 2023 to $5,750 this year.

The yearling sales were held at a time when tracks in the state are struggling to maintain purses. Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita have cut prize money levels in the last year because of a decline in handle.

In Northern California, Thoroughbred racing is in a state of uncertainty, following the closure of Golden Gate Fields in June. A nine-week meeting will be run at Pleasanton beginning Oct. 19 to replace dates previously conducted at Golden Gate Fields.

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