Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale features debut of Pharoah's yearling class

Fasig-Tipton kicks off the major-market yearling sale season in North America on Tuesday with a larger catalog featuring some major sire power for its Kentucky July yearling sale.

Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 349 yearlings for the auction at its Newtown Paddocks facility in Lexington, Ky. Last year, 300 yearlings were cataloged for the July sale.

“July was a very healthy market last year, and as a result consignors have responded with increased quality and quantity,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said. “This year’s catalog is our largest for July in nearly a decade, and boasts a significant uptick in sire power, as well.”

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The Fasig-Tipton July sale is led by yearlings by established sires, including Candy Ride, Tapit, and Malibu Moon, all of whom finished in the top 10 by earnings among general sires in 2017.

This yearling season also boasts an exciting class of first-crop yearling sires, led by 2015 Triple Crown hero American Pharoah. The Pioneerof the Nile horse, a champion at ages 2 and 3, garnered an outstanding book of mares in his first season at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, and already is represented by a pair of seven-figure youngsters from his first crop – a filly sold for a $1 million as a weanling at last fall’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, and a colt sold for $1 million at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.

“They’re selling great,” said M.V. Magnier of the Coolmore partnership. “They’re all great movers. They seem to move very much like him.”

Through early outs as of Thursday, American Pharoah was represented by one yearling in the Fasig July catalog – a filly from the immediate family of Canadian classic winner and champion Kimchi and multiple Grade 1/Group 1 winner Mind Your Biscuits.

Other first-crop yearling sires from a strong class represented in the Fasig July catalog include champion Honor Code; Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice; two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Secret Circle, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam’s Map; classic-placed Commissioner; Grade 1/Group 1 winners Competitive Edge, Constitution, Daredevil, Golden Ticket, Jack Milton, Hampton Court, Lea, Mr Speaker, Palace, and Wicked Strong; Danza; and Medal Count,.

Last year’s Fasig-Tipton July sale posted across-the-board gains, sparked by a $1 million Medaglia d’Oro filly sold to Larry Best’s OXO Equine. The filly, now named Brill, matched the top price ever for a filly at the sale, joining Al Bayan, a Northern Dancer filly who sold to H.T. Jones for $1 million in 1982. The Medaglia d’Oro filly was the most expensive yearling sold at the July sale since 2006, when the Forestry colt Participate sold to Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum for $1.2 million.

Overall, last year’s sale finished with 172 yearlings sold for revenues of $16,107,000, marking a 2 percent improvement from 2016. The average sale price rose 9 percent to $93,645, while the median price grew 8 percent to $70,000. The buyback rate closed at 30 percent compared with 38 percent in 2016.