Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale features first-crop sires, bigger catalog

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The North American yearling sale season kicks off with Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale, and thus also begins the task of evaluating new stallions as the sale looks to follow up on a strong edition.

A sizeable group of 370 selected yearlings were cataloged for the single-session sale, beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton’s Newtown Paddocks headquarters in Lexington, Ky.

“Sellers have shown increased interest in July this year, resulting in a catalog that is 23 percent larger than last year’s,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. “There is a healthy mix of first-crop sires and leading general sires, which should draw good interest.”

Early developing yearlings with strong physicals are best suited to stand out at this season-opening auction.

“We focus on recruiting precocious and athletic yearlings to July,” Browning said. “This approach results in very impressive performance statistics.”

A solid physical is particularly key for yearlings by first-crop sires, with no other statistics to evaluate. This sale opens with roughly 110 yearlings by first-crop sires, with Fasig-Tipton designing the early part of the catalog as a showcase. The catalog then transitions into the majority dominated by proven sires, although a smattering of yearlings by first-crop sires are sprinkled in.

Interestingly, the only yearling in the catalog by Horse of the Year Authentic, the class leader at this point, is included in the latter group. The filly, from the extended family of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, is consigned by Taylor Made Sales for Spendthrift Farm, which stands Authentic alongside his father, leading sire and emerging sire of sires Into Mischief.

Authentic won the 2020 Kentucky Derby followed by the Breeders’ Cup Classic among four Grade 1 wins that season. His first foals were conceived on an advertised stud fee of $75,000, and he led his class by weanling average last year, with 13 sold on the season for $242,692. Those were led by a $575,000 colt at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, a strong result for an unproven sire.

The Keeneland November breeding stock sale is key to evaluating first-crop sires, with a bigger selection of weanlings across all marketplaces. Following Authentic with the highest first-crop averages at that particular sale were multiple Grade 1 winner McKinzie (standing at Gainesway), champion Game Winner (Lane’s End), 2019 Preakness Stakes winner War of Will (Claiborne), and Grade 1 winner Vekoma (Spendthrift). All are represented at Fasig July.

Vekoma appeared particularly popular with the middle marketplace and pinhookers, siring the session-toppers of the sixth, seventh, and ninth days of the Keeneland sale. Overall, his weanling average for 2022 was $92,222, more than four times his introductory stud fee of $20,000.

Other first-crop sires represented at Fasig-Tipton July include promoted 2019 Kentucky Derby winner Country House; Maximum Security, who went on to be the champion of that season; 2020 classic winner Tiz the Law; champion Improbable; Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Spun to Run; Grade 1 winners Bodexpress, Complexity, Echo Town, Gift Box, Global Campaign, Higher Power, Honor A. P., Instilled Regard, Tom’s d’Etat, Volatile, and Win Win Win; graded stakes winners Bravazo, Gunnevera, Instagrand, Isotherm, Mr. Money, Shancelot, Thousand Words, and Yorkton; graded-placed Aurelius Maximus, Caracaro, and Rowayton; and stakes winner Curlin’s Honor.

Last year’s Fasig-Tipton July sale, led by a $600,000 Curlin colt, traded 189 yearlings for $21,763,500. The average price was $115,151, up 11 percent from 2021. The median rose 13 percent to $90,000 and also tied the sale record set in 2006.

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