Fasig-Tipton October closes out yearling season on high note

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale closed out its four-day run – and the traditional North American yearling market – with a bang on Thursday evening, finishing with a record gross and average, a historically competitive median, and its lowest buyback rate in more than a decade.

“There was great activity all the way through, from the very first horse in the ring Monday to the very last horse in the ring tonight," Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. “All in all, I’m somewhere between thrilled and ecstatic.”

A pair of colts sold for $500,000 to lead Thursday's fourth and final session, pushing the number of yearlings who sold for a half-million or more this week to four. Led by that quartet, Fasig-Tipton reported a total of 1,122 horses sold this week for gross receipts of $58,575,500. At last year's sale, 1,064 sold for $51,120,000 over two sessions. Both sets of figures include private sales on the grounds. This week's sale eclipsed the record gross of $55,426,500 in 2022.

The average price was $52,206, up 9 percent from $48,045 last year, and shading the previous high-water mark of $50,388, also from 2022. The median did dip 17 percent, to $20,000 from $24,000 last year. That $24,000 figure was the second-highest in sale history, behind the record $25,000 in 2022.

The buyback rate at the traditional final stop on the yearling sales calendar was 17 percent, improved from 21 percent last year. It was the lowest figure at this sale since 2013, which posted a 16 percent buyback rate.

"I think it's probably better than we had thought going into the year," Browning said of the overall yearling marketplace. "The resilience of our market is pretty amazing, but I also think it reflects some increased confidence in certain areas and certain regions. Purses are very, very, very good in a number of major racing jurisdictions, and we see some serious capital commitments being made in a number of racing jurisdictions.

"And we see some benefits, I think, of HISA. I'm not saying it's perfect, and there's work to be done, but I think that we see some increased confidence in most areas of participation because of that. And the economy's good ... it's not like we're doing this in a vacuum. So I think, all in all, it's very satisfactory. Everyone's tired of us droning on about, there is some selectivity in the market, there is some polarization, but it is encouraging this week that there's demand for horses through October 24 that started in July. That gives you some confidence."

The two colts sold for $500,000 on Thursday were by Curlin and Not This Time, continuing solid seasons in the sale ring for each of the sires - and a big week for Curlin, in particular.

After Curlin had a $550,000 colt on Tuesday who wound up leading the sale overall, then a $500,000 filly on Wednesday, his $500,000 co-session topper on Thursday, purchased by Jones/Everett, agent, gave him three of the top four prices of the week.

Two-time Horse of the Year Curlin has been a steady source of Grade 1 winners and classic performers, and his sons now have added cachet as he emerges as a sire of sires. He was the leading sire by average sales at last month's bellwether Keeneland September yearling sale, with his sale-topping $5 million yearling the most expensive colt sold at that sale since 2006.

Curlin's colt on Thursday, consigned by Eaton Sales, as agent, is out of the Grade 1-winning Bernardini mare A Z Warrior, dam of stakes winners Justa Warrior and Key to My Heart and stakes-placed Cole Porter. A Z Warrior is herself a half-sister to graded stakes winners Jojo Warrior and E Z Warrior and stakes winner J Z Warrior.

Less than 10 hips prior through the ring, agent Case Clay had purchased the $500,000 son of rising star sire Not This Time, from the consignment of Hunter Valley Farm, as agent. Not This Time sired the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected sale topper, a $3.4 million colt, and finished second by gross sales at Keeneland September.

This is the second foal out of the winning Medaglia d'Oro mare Aureum, a half-sister to Group 3 winner and multiple Grade/Group 1-placed Nemoralia - the dam of Grade 2 winner and Breeders' Cup candidate May Day Ready. Grade 1 winners Stellar Jayne and Starrer appear on the catalog page.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.

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