The North American yearling sale season, which has endured changes due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, comes to its last stop this week. The final major-market yearling sale of the season – before the calendar turns to mixed sales in November – is the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale, set for Monday through Thursday. There is major sire power in the ranks, and there are 1,553 horses cataloged. “This is the strongest group of yearlings we have ever offered at Kentucky October,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said in a press release. “This spring, a significant number of sellers decided that they would target October with many of their top yearlings. Buyers will find tremendous quality here, no matter what their budget.” As both the buying and selling sides of the marketplace have grappled with the economic effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, a yearling marketplace dominated by domestic interests has displayed restraint, an expected reaction to the uncertainty in the world at large. Although bidding at this year’s sales has been competitive, with buyers willing to stretch past seven figures on key horses, restraint at the top of the market, or an invisible ceiling, has been apparent, leading to declining gross and average figures at most sales. “Maybe there’s a certain cap everybody’s going to, a certain level everyone feels comfortable at,” bloodstock agent Jacob West said at the Keeneland September yearling sale, where 15 horses sold for seven figures, compared to 22 last year. “I think at the end of the day, the easiest way to summarize this market is fair. The right horses are bringing the right money.” Additionally, a market that already is selective has become even more so, particularly in the upper end of the marketplace, where breeders have the discretion available to them to allow them to retain and race horses whose bidding does not reach a desired figure. In the middle and lower markets, commercial breeders have a stronger need to move horses to remain solvent, and thus may adjust their reserves in order to generate a sale. That dynamic may get an added boost at this week’s final stop on the calendar, as sellers will be particularly eager to move horses. Like several other sales that posted solid figures in a vibrant marketplace in 2018 and 2019, the Fasig-Tipton October sale may have been hard-pressed to match its recent renewals even without the pandemic. Last year’s October sale, led by a $560,000 Candy Ride colt purchased by Carlo Vaccarezza, finished with 1,008 yearlings sold for gross receipts of $38,258,900, compared to 963 sold for $34,260,100 in 2018. The average price was $37,955, a gain of 7 percent. The median was $13,000, which did represent a 13 percent decrease. Last year’s buyback rate was 24 percent, fairly steady compared to 23 percent in 2018. Among the catalog highlights looking to help this October sale keep pace in turbulent waters is a solid group of yearlings from reigning leading sire Into Mischief, whose commercial popularity has skyrocketed in recent months following his first classic victor, Kentucky Derby winner Authentic on Sept. 5. The stallion is currently averaging $419,205 this yearling season, against a conception stud fee of $100,000 in 2018. This October sale – where he has 11 yearlings cataloged through Friday, following early outs – represents the final chance to pick up one of his yearlings at a similar price point. The stallion’s fee has risen in recent years – to $150,000 in 2019, $175,000 this year, and $225,000 for next year – and, as his quality of mares increases and breeders seek a profit on their investments, his reserves and prices are expected to rise accordingly.