Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale ends with moderate declines

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A $725,000 colt led a strong week for Triple Crown winner Justify and topped the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale overall as that sale concluded Thursday at the company’s Newtown Paddocks headquarters with moderate declines from last year’s record renewal.

Fasig-Tipton reported a total of 1,064 yearlings sold during the four-day auction, which wraps up the North American yearling sale season, for gross receipts of $51,120,000. At last year's four-session sale, which set records across the board in the major economic categories, 1,100 horses changed hands for a gross of $55,426,500. Both figures include post-sale transactions, with horses privately sold on the sale grounds after going through the ring.

This week's cumulative average price was $48,045, dipping 5 percent from $50,388 last year. The median was $24,000 compared to $25,000, a drop of 4 percent.

The buyback rate was 21 percent, compared to 19 percent.

The 2021 edition of the Fasig-Tipton October sale established records for gross, average, and median as the Thoroughbred marketplace came roaring back from the pandemic-hampered 2020 season. The 2022 edition of the sale then bettered those record figures.

Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. called this week’s relatively solid figures “pretty remarkable when you consider everything that’s happening in the world around us.”

Browning expressed this week that this sale continued to demonstrate the trends seen throughout this yearling sale season. There was strong competition at the top of the marketplace, but buyers were still extremely selective.

“You’ve got to vet, you’ve got to have a good physical, and if you do those two things, there’s significant demand for your horse,” he said. “If you don't vet, and/or don’t have a good physical, and/or a pedigree that has some appeal, it’s tough in the marketplace.”

Because this sale lands late in the yearling sale season, which began in July, it is often considered a good target for later foals or later-maturing horses. That was borne out this year, as three of of the five horses that sold for $500,000 or more had April or May foaling dates.

Those included the overall sale topper, a $725,000 Justify colt who came through the ring during Wednesday’s penultimate session and then held on to his lead. The May colt was purchased by new faces on the scene, as agent Jessie Longoria signed the ticket on behalf of Zane Kiehne and Grier Brunson, longtime Quarter Horse owners who sought him out to help them enter the Thoroughbred scene. They made their first purchase one day earlier at this sale, landing a $500,000 colt from the final crop of Bernardini.

Triple Crown winner Justify, who stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, was the only stallion to record two of the $500,000-plus yearlings. He had a $500,000 colt purchased by agent Gavin O'Connor on behalf of another newer player, owner John Stewart. After making his first yearling purchases in 2022, Stewart purchased 13 yearlings for more than $8.4 million at the Keeneland September sale to rank among its leading buyers.

Led by these two colts, Justify’s overall average for the week was $280,417 from 12 horses sold; his overall yearling average in 2023 is $291,536 from 68 sold. That well more than doubles the $125,000 fee these yearlings were conceived on, which will look like a bargain next winter.

Justify is in the midst of an outstanding international season, with Grade 1 Frizette winner Just F Y I bound for the Breeders' Cup, unbeaten Group 1 winner City of Troy considered the most exciting 2-year-old in Europe, and additional Grade/Group 1 winners Arabian Lion, Aspen Grove, and Opera Singer. With that success, his fee is rising to $200,000 for 2024 at Ashford, ranking him among North America's five most expensive sires.

“Justify is enjoying a sensational year both on the track and in the sales ring,” said Charlie O'Connor, Ashford's director of sales. “He’s top of the 2-year-old sire list, and no less than six of his juveniles have scored at Grade 1 or 2 level. . . . Andre Lynch, who along with Pat Durtschi bred yesterday’s session topper, described Justify as ‘the best stallion in America at the moment,’ and it's hard to disagree.”

Justify’s sale topper is the second foal out of the winning Hard Spun mare Palace Princess, daughter of Grade 2-placed Arienza. The latter's dam is 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri. That champion's 10 foals to race are all winners, led by multiple graded stakes winner Wine Princess.

Along with Justify’s two top lots, and the Bernardini colt, the other high-ticket offerings at Fasig-Tipton October were a $500,000 colt by four-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, purchased by Donato Lanni for the partnership of SF Bloodstock, Starlight Racing, and Madaket Stable; and a $500,000 colt by Into Mischief's son Practical Joke, purchased by Mayberry Farm.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.