Despite headwinds, expectations high for Fasig-Tipton July sales

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After mixed and juvenile sale seasons that displayed enormous market enthusiasm for young racing stock, the one-stop shopping provided by Fasig-Tipton’s July sales in Kentucky figure to benefit from that momentum, even as the economic climate remains uncertain in the country at large.

The week’s activity begins with Fasig-Tipton’s July selected horses of all ages sale on Monday at the company’s Newtown Paddocks headquarters in Lexington. Originally conceived in 2013 as a supplement to the yearling sales, this auction has grown into a stand-alone event and offers an opportunity to pick up racing stock prior to the major summer meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar.

The center of activity this week is the July yearling sale, with a catalog of 302 youngsters set to go through the ring on Tuesday to kick off a North American season the marketplace is awaiting with some optimism.

“On the one hand, we have come off a strong 2-year-old sale season where many pinhookers were able to make money for reinvestment,” said Mark Taylor of the family-operated Taylor Made Sales, a perennial leading yearling consignor. “Along with that, we also have very strong purses being offered in most of the major racing jurisdictions across the country. On the other hand, we have the highest inflation we have experienced in several decades, coupled with interest rate hikes and a stock market that has had a major correction.

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“My guess is that the yearling market will remain strong. Last year was the most consistently strong market from start to finish I have ever seen. I think we will take a step back from 2021, but it will still be a strong market overall.”

The Fasig-Tipton July sale doesn’t typically generate the massive fireworks of high-end boutique auctions, such as the company’s Saratoga selected yearling sale next month. This sale has had just one seven-figure horse in its last 10 editions, a $1 million Medaglia d’Oro filly in 2017. Last year, the top price was $800,000 for an Into Mischief filly. However, the sale has had a successful run with its graduates, with Grade 1 winners such as Bell’s the One (2017), Dream Tree (2016), Kalypso (2019), and Kimari (2018) emerging from recent editions.

“July is the sale to find athletes, and the stats bear that out,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. “Moreover, one only needs to look at this year’s catalog cover to see the strength of graduates generated from Fasig-Tipton’s yearling selection process.”

Athleticism is a key trait for a successful July yearling. This particular auction focuses on yearlings who have physically developed early to stand out in their class at this stage, as opposed to the horses who will target sales in August, September, and October.

“The July sale is a great place to showcase a yearling with an early foaling date and stand-out physical conformation,” Taylor said. “Pedigree is not the key ingredient for this sale – it is all about the athleticism of the horse.”

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While flashy pedigrees are not the main focus of this sale, sire power does play a role. The sale offers an early look at a wide swath of this season’s first-crop yearling sires. Last year, Fasig reintroduced a freshman sire showcase to the July catalog, devoting the first section of the book exclusively to first-crop stallions. Members of this year’s class represented in the catalog are Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner and Eclipse Award champion Mitole (Spendthrift Farm); Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Eclipse champion Vino Rosso (Spendthrift); Grade 1 winners Audible (WinStar Farm), Catholic Boy (Claiborne Farm), Omaha Beach (Spendthrift), Preservationist (Airdrie Stud), World of Trouble (Hill ‘n’ Dale), and Yoshida (WinStar); graded stakes winners Catalina Cruiser (Lane’s End). Copper Bullet (Darby Dan), Demarchelier (Claiborne), Enticed (Darley), Flameaway (Darby Dan), and Maximus Mischief (Spendthrift); and Group 3-placed St Patrick’s Day (Journeyman Stud).

The July selected horses of all ages sale on Monday also boasts an impressive list of recent graduates who have generated a strong return on investment. Last year’s sale posted across the board gains, led by Front Run the Fed for $440,000 and Stilleto Boy for $420,000. Stilleto Boy is a Grade 2 winner this year, and has placed in four rich Grade 1 events for his buyers. Also among the top prices last year was $205,000 for Fearless, who has been first or second in all seven starts since, with three graded stakes wins.

As of July 7, a fluid catalog for this year’s edition – with supplemental entries continuing to be reviewed, and horses being withdrawn as connections’ plans change – included 16 juveniles. This opportunity will surely appeal to buyers who found tough going in the competitive juvenile sale season, which concluded in June. There is also a solid selection of lightly raced or unraced 3-year-olds. Young racing stock topped the horses of racing age portions of the Keeneland November and January mixed sales.

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Of the 2-year-olds with racing experience, Song Parody, by the Into Mischief stallion Practical Joke, was an impressive 5 1/2-length debut winner June 25 at Belmont Park. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 73, tops among this bunch.

Shoplifter won at second asking at Churchill Downs with a 68 Beyer, and Grand Oak and Late September were both Churchill maiden winners before traveling to compete at the Royal Ascot meeting. The experienced juveniles in the catalog also include Bourbon Therapy and Buttons, maiden winners at Horseshoe Indiana; and Lotta Moscato, a maiden winner at Belterra Park.

Last year’s Fasig-Tipton July sale also tested the viability of a summer marketplace for breeding stock. A total of 44 mares, some with foals alongside, were sold for an average of $45,727. Browning noted that because of the timing of the sale, the prices of the mares would come alongside “carrying costs,” or overhead in money and time to raise and sell the mare’s current foal, to safely deliver the mare’s current pregnancy and raise that foal, and then to breed and deliver a 2023 foal by a stallion of the buyer’s choosing.

Still, the July sale again offers a handful of broodmares, some with 2022 offspring alongside. The group includes a small selection from Godolphin, which has made strategic bloodstock reductions at some auctions in recent years.