A sense of urgency was apparent on the final day of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale, which closes out the yearling sale season in North America. The sale's top two prices, a $500,000 Street Sense colt and a $430,000 Tapit colt, came in the final session as the sale finished with a decline in gross, thanks to slightly fewer horses sold, but a relatively steady average and gain in the median to wrap up what has been a solid season. A total of 963 yearlings changed hands over the four days of trade for gross receipts of $34,260,100. That marked a slight decrease of 4 percent from 981 sold for $35,812,900 over four days last year. The comparable session-to-session average price was up on three of the four days of the sale, leading to a cumulative average that finished at $35,576. That marked a decrease of less than $1,000, or about 2.5 percent, from $36,507 last year. The sale finished with a median of $15,000, rising 25 percent from $12,000. The overall buyback rate finished at 23 percent, steady from the 2017 figures. "The numbers are remarkably similar to last year," Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said. "It's always encouraging to see the median improve. . . . I thought it was a very fair and consistent marketplace from beginning to end. I think it's pretty remarkable that as good a year as the yearling sale season has had this year, you still sell a thousand horses and generate 35 million dollars of money back into the system in October, that's very positive." The Fasig-Tipton October sale has become a target destination for breeders and consignors with later-developing horses. That was evident this year, as the top three priced horses were colts who were entered at last month's Keeneland September yearling sale but were scratched to await this spot, about five weeks later. That included the $500,000 Street Sense colt, purchased by bloodstock agent Donato Lanni from the consignment of Eaton Sales, as agent. "There's a time and a place for every horse," Browning said. "They're not all born at the same time, they don't all mature at the same time, and that's why we have [multiple] opportunities to sell them over a 90-day period of time at the yearling marketplace. . . . The worst thing we can do, from a sales perspective, is to miss your sales placement. You don't want to be in the wrong spot, or the wrong section of a sale, or too early or too late. Horses mature at different stages, and I think it's really valuable for a breeder or a pinhooker to say, 'I've bred this horse or bought this horse, it's not gonna be ready for July, may not be ready for Saratoga, September may come a little too early, but I've got a legitmate marketplace to take that horse in October.' From a seller's perspective, you've got viable options throughout the calendar, which ultimately should provide stability and improved return and performance for sellers on an overall basis." The sale-topper is out of the winning Pulpit mare Shimmer, dam of three winners from five starters, led by Grade 3-placed Sister Moon. Shimmer, out of Grade 2 winner Private Light, is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Cielo Gold, Grade 2-placed Sailor's Warning, and Luminate, dam of stakes winner In Te Domine. This is the family of two-time champion and Broodmare of the Year Misty Morn and leading sire What a Pleasure. Earlier on Thursday, trainer Ken McPeek bid up to $430,000 on a Tapit colt for the four-way partnership of Three Chimneys Farm, Fern Circle Stables, Peter Callahan, and Scott Leeds's Walking L Thoroughbreds. Three Chimneys and Fern Circle campaign Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies candidate Restless Rider with McPeek, while Leeds also has prominent youngsters, including Grade 3 winner Cairo Cat, in the trainer's barn. The colt is “a great mover, plenty of body, the mare is proven," McPeek said. "You win a Grade 1 with this colt, and he's gonna be standing stud – hopefully one day at Three Chimneys." The colt was consigned by Gainesway, which stands Tapit. He is out of the winning End Sweep mare Receivership, who was formerly raced by Callahan. The mare is the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Palace, who earned more than $1.5 million, as well as stakes-placed Retriever. It is the family of Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Genre, as well as Grade 2 winner French Park. An Into Mischief colt sold for $400,000 to Paul Brodsky during Monday's opening session to set the tone for this sale. The colt was consigned by Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck's Summerfield Sales operation on behalf of breeder Stonestreet Farm. "He just needed a little more time," Francis Vanlangendonck said of scratching the colt from the September sale to await October. "That's a pretty sharp crew over there [at Stonestreet]. They said 'He's coming the right way, so let's sit back and give him more time.' " This colt is the second foal out of the Grade 3-placed stakes winner Cor Cor, by Smoke Glacken. Cor Cor's second dam is Meafara, a multiple graded stakes winner who twice finished second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. For hip-by-hip results, click here.