Fasig-Tipton July: Romeo tops horses of racing age sale at $1.7 million

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Romeo, record-setting winner of the Bashford Manor Stakes on closing day at Churchill Downs a little more than a week ago, closed the Fasig-Tipton July selected horses of racing age sale in style. The colt brought a sale-record $1.7 million as this sale finished with dramatically improved figures across the board.

Fasig-Tipton reported that 51 horses changed hands for gross receipts of $8,037,000 on Tuesday evening, with the action immediately following its yearling season kickoff sale at its Newtown Paddocks facility in Lexington. At last year’s sale, 65 horses sold through the ring, prior to any private sales being factored in, for $6,803,500.

Tuesday’s average and median figures both skyrocketed 53 percent from their comparable figures in 2024. The average price was $157,588, against $103,208 for those sold through the ring last year. The median was $95,000, up from $62,000.

“I’m not going to say we knew it was going to be this strong, but we knew it was going to be strong,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said, citing an active push the company made to recruit quality horses over the last two months.

Perhaps most impressively, 51 of the 54 horses led through the ring sold, resulting in a buyback rate of 5.55 percent. At last year’s sale, the buyback rate was 21 percent. Browning pointed to the challenges of producing an upper-level racehorse and then noted the demand for those horses, considering the strength of the racing product and purse structures in many jurisdictions.

“There’s a scarcity of supply, and the demand is off the charts,” he said.

Romeo was supplemented to this sale on Sunday, a week after his win in the Bashford Manor. Libya-based bloodstock agent Mahmud Mouni, who has been extremely active at the upper end of the 2-year-old marketplace this season, purchased the colt, who was consigned by Paramount Sales as agent for owner Joseph Lloyd.

Mouni slugged it out as bidding quickly soared past the seven-figure mark and then slowed, climbing in $50,000 and then $25,000 increments through the final stages. When Romeo left the ring and Mouni was handed the winning ticket to sign, the colt’s price had surpassed the $1.55 million sale record established by Informed Patriot last year.

“The horse is very nice, he looks amazing,” said Mouni, whose main clients include the recently formed Tagermeen Racing, Libya-based owners who intend to race in both the United States and the Middle East. “Honestly, we were not expecting to reach to this amount. I’m shocked, to be honest with you. I’m still laughing! I’m so excited.”

Mouni said Romeo will remain in the United States for the time being and will go to trainer Steve Asmussen. Long-range goals could include the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and then a winter in the Middle East to target races such as the Saudi Derby and U.A.E. Derby.

Maryland-bred Romeo, by Honor A. P., made his first three starts for trainer John Robb. After winning his debut by 10 1/4 lengths in May at Laurel Park, he finished third in the Tremont Stakes at Saratoga. Romeo returned with a powerful performance in the Bashford Manor, driving clear for a 3 3/4-length victory. He finished six furlongs in 1:08.61, breaking Kodiak Kowboy’s 2007 stakes record of 1:09.15.

The colt is out of the Not For Love mare Fancy Love, dam of three winners from six starters. This is the extended family of champion juvenile Midshipman and multiple Grade 1 winner Frosted, both consistent stallions.

For hip-by-hip results from the horses of racing age sale, click here.

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