Arabian Lion colt sells for $525K, setting record at Fasig-Tipton California yearling sale
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Led by a colt by Arabian Lion who sold for a record $525,000, average prices rose at Wednesday’s Fasig-Tipton California Fall yearling sale held in Pomona, Calif.
According to results published by the sale company, 139 horses sold for $4,896,200, or an average of $35,224. There were 106 horses listed as not sold. The median of $15,000 was unchanged from the 2025 auction, in which 143 horses were sold for $4,617,900. The 2025 sale had an average price of $32,293.
At Wednesday’s sale, the strength was at the top of the market, with 12 horses selling for $100,000 or more. In 2025, 11 horses sold for $100,000 or more, led by a colt by Corniche who sold for $250,000.
The Arabian Lion colt who led Wednesday’s sale was consigned by Barton Thoroughbreds, agent, and was purchased by Marc Gunderson’s MGW Enterprises, with California-based trainer Michael McCarthy as agent.
The colt, foaled in California, is part of the first crop of yearlings by Arabian Lion, and is out of Imperial Pippin, an 18-year-old mare who was stakes-placed in Britain and Canada. The Arabian Lion colt is a half-brother to Pushiness, by Kantharos, who won 5 of 11 starts and earned $386,426 racing for Mike Repole and McCarthy.
Pushiness was a three-time stakes winner, including the Daisycutter Handicap for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf at Del Mar in July 2025 in her most recent start.
Two California-bred fillies sold for $300,000 on Wednesday, equaling the second-highest price of the auction.
Mike Repole, with McCarthy as agent, paid $300,000 for a California-bred filly by Uncle Mo who is out of the multiple stakes winner Tomlin, by Distorted Humor.
A Hard Spun filly was sold for $300,000 to IJJ Racing of Jeff and Jim Jones, whose aunt, Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, has had a prominent role in California racing for decades. Ingordo-Shirreffs is the widow of Hall of Fame trainer John Shirreffs, who died earlier this year. She was the longtime racing manager for prominent owners Jerry and Ann Moss.
The Hard Spun filly is out of Miss Segura, by Palace Malice. Miss Segura is a full-sister to Structor, winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.
Yearlings that went through the sales ring on Wednesday, including those listed as not sold, are eligible for a newly created $500,000 bonus which will be paid to winner of a Grade 1 stakes in 2027 or 2028.
The bonus, co-sponsored by Fasig-Tipton and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, will be divided between the owner of the horse at the time of the Grade 1 win and the owner of the horse as of the sale. The bonus will be paid only to the first winner of such a race.
The Arabian Lion colt is the most expensive yearling purchased at a Fasig-Tipton California yearling sale. In 2021, an American Pharoah filly was bought for $350,000. Named E Z Pharis, the filly won once in five starts, finished third in the Fasig-Tipton Debutante at Santa Anita in June 2022, and earned $72,710.
E Z Pharis is the dam of an unraced 2-year-old by Tiz the Law, who was listed as not sold for $49,000 at the 2025 California Fall yearling sale. On Wednesday, a Stay Thirsty filly out of E Z Pharis was listed as not sold for $2,500.
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