Fasig-Tipton up 26 percent

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Led by a $625,000 Dehere colt, Fasig-Tipton's July selected yearling sale rang up a dramatic 26 percent increase in average price.

The average price in 2001 was $97,671, up from last year's $77,817 average price. Overall, the two-day auction at the company's Newtown Paddocks facility in Lexington sold 237 yearlings for gross receipts of $23,148,000, down 12 percent from last year. A slimmer catalog affected gross receipts, as expected. Last year, the auction sold 336 lots for $26,146,500. Buybacks rose this year from 35 percent to 38 percent.

Irish bloodstock agent Paul Collins purchased the sale-topping Dehere colt. The colt is out of the Afleet mare Afleet's Gold.