As yearling season kicks into high gear, Fasig-Tipton's Browning keeping it short and sweet

Fasig-Tipton sold nearly 2,000 yearlings last year across its various auctions from July to October for gross receipts of more than $223 million. Of the three major auction houses in the United States – Keeneland and the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. being the others – Fasig’s position is unique in that it holds its yearling auctions across multiple states, testing not only multiple levels of the marketplace, but regional and statebred programs as well.

This year, the company will again host six yearling sales in four states, and had the pole position in the marketplace. It got the season off to a flying start, as the July yearling sale at its Newtown Paddocks in Lexington set records for average and median – the average edging out a mark established in 2007, pre-recession, and the median considered a key barometer of market health.

Prior to the July auction, Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. described the sale as “underrated,” which seems an apt description.

The July sale is not the type to make the biggest headlines, but horse for horse, has produced stellar results. A pair of 2025 Breeders’ Cup winners are July sale graduates – Turf Sprint winner and Eclipse Award champion Shisospicy sold for $200,000 in 2023, and Filly and Mare Sprint winner Splendora sold for $125,000 in 2022. Recent graduates of the sale also include Grade 1 winners Argos, Candied, Carson’s Run, Chancer McPatrick, and Geaux Rocket Ride.

“I think one of the challenges for the July sale, honestly, is that it’s at times overshadowed by our own Saratoga sale, which takes place a month later,” Browning said.

Since Browning chose such a spot-on word to describe the July sale, I decided to play a bit of word association with him. What one word would he choose to describe Fasig-Tipton’s other yearling sales – beginning with the aforementioned Saratoga sale, one of the crown jewels of the season?

Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale

Aug. 10-11, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“One word?” Browning said.

“Yeah, let’s try,” I said.

“Trying to think of the right word,” Browning paused. “Extraordinary. Extraordinary in both the quality of results that it’s produced, and frankly, the quality of the catalog that we have in 2026.”

Extraordinary. Sparkling. Exciting. Just plain fun. Browning could have gone with any of these words or a synonym, and I wouldn’t have debated him. Dizzying, as we in the press corps make tracks around the packed pavilion and back ring and upper deck to speak to the elated buyers and consignors of the parade of polished seven-figure horses – last year, 25 in all.

The Saratoga sale is not just an auction, it’s an event. The grounds on East Avenue, just down the street from the main gate of Saratoga Race Course, are swarmed with crowds, still in their race day best. They clutch cocktails with friends – woe to those who over-enthusiastically signal their compatriots and are mistaken as a bidder by the bid spotters attired in black-tie – and gasp as the bid board soars to dizzying heights as some of the biggest names in the game compete for some of the cream of the North American yearling crop, selected by Fasig-Tipton’s inspection teams for purple pedigrees and stellar physicals.

“Saratoga is a special place,” Browning said. “The racing’s great. The community is great. The Thoroughbred industry is embraced in Saratoga. I have said for many, many years, if somebody goes to Saratoga thinking about getting in the business, and they go to Saratoga and they don’t jump in, they’re probably not going to jump in. And that’s not just saying at our sale – but our sale is really cool. It’s two nights, it’s still got some glamour, it’s still got some fun. It’s special.

“One of my favorite things about going to Saratoga, you go to breakfast, and you see three generations of a family sitting there looking at a Racing Form or PPs, and you hear, ‘Hey. Granddad. or hey. Grandma, who do you like in the fifth?’ They’re learning the game. They’re getting introduced to the game in the right fashion. To me, Saratoga is always a time of the year when it kind of restores my enthusiasm, my hope, puts a smile on my face. There’s bounce in your step when you get to Saratoga.”

There’s plenty of bounce through the days of inspections and sales, but there’s also that blend of quiet intensity and preparation giving way to the moment in the spotlight that all horsepeople know. Walk away from the booming sale arena and into the barns scattered around these side streets and you’ll find a moment of relative quiet, as grooms give a final shine to their charges before heading to the ring. The stalls in these barns are adorned with names of sale graduates who have gone on to racetrack greatness, and part of the thrill of looking at these young horses is that one could be the next American Pharoah, the next Flightline, the next Journalism. Will we see one this year?

Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale

Aug. 16-17, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

With plenty of positive themes continuing for the New York-bred program, the Saratoga magic should continue into the following week, and Browning didn’t hesitate picking his word.

“Opportunity,” he said.

“Everything’s coming up so good with the New York program right now, and they have a lot of excitement on the horizon. First, purse parity was already very, very, very good. Tremendous racing. The new Belmont opening in the fall. So, opportunities. That one to me is probably the easy one.”

New York-breds have certainly proven they can compete with the best when given the opportunity. Not only was champion Funny Cide, winner of the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, a graduate of this sale, but in more recent editions, 2020 Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law and Grade 1 winners Americanrevolution, Rhetorical, Usha, and Varda have sold through the ring here.

Continued optimism for the New York-bred program, with the continuing developments Browning cited, is seen in statistics from The Jockey Club.

The shrinking foal crop nationwide is a frequent topic of Kentucky. The Jockey Club projected a foal crop of 18,000 for 2024, down from 37,755 in 2000. However, in the breed organization’s New York fact book, the state’s foal crop was relatively stable, from 1,556 in 2000 to a projected 1,357 for 2024, the most recent year available in that fact book. This is in contrast to a number of other regional programs, which have felt the industry’s contraction more keenly.

Fasig-Tipton California fall yearling sale

Sept. 30, Pomona, Calif.

Browning is known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Following stellar sales, he’s frequently moved to tears when discussing the activity, often in praise of his sales team, and the trust that breeders and consignors put in that team by offering their stock. On the other side of the coin, he also didn’t mince words when discussing his team working to serve a particular marketplace.

“Challenging,” he said candidly of the upcoming California yearling sale.

The challenges of California racing have been well documented, with an uncertain future for Northern California horsemen, particularly following the closure of Golden Gate, and a continued struggle with field sizes. Again, The Jockey Club’s statistics tell a tale, with the mares bred in the state dropping from 5,593 in 2000 to 1,302 in 2025, the most recent year for the state fact book.

“Have to be cognizant of the challenges that California is facing, and the breeding program is an indicator of the health of the overall racing community in California, and it would be crazy to put our head in the sand and say everything is wonderful in California,” Browning said. “We’re not going to do that. This year we did introduce the $500,000 bonus for yearlings. So we’re trying to create interest, trying to stimulate activity, trying to get people to see the potential and why they ought to be participating in the marketplace. But it’s challenging.”

As Browning referenced, Fasig-Tipton, in partnership with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, will offer a bonus to the first graduate of this year’s sale who can win a Grade 1 race in the U.S. in 2027 or 2028. The bonus would be divided equally between the owner of the horse at the time of the win, and the owner of the horse at the time they were offered at the sale.

Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale

Oct. 19-22, Lexington, Ky.

If the July sale is underrated, so is the October sale – although Browning noted that statistically, buyers have more of a mathematical chance to unveil a diamond in the rough at a four-day sale than a smaller one-day catalog. Still, in recent years, graduates of this auction through the ring have included 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, two-time Eclipse Award champion Goodnight Olive, and Grade 1 winners including Iron Orchard, Nakatomi, Nobals, Nysos, and So Happy.

“Emerging, rising,” Browning said. “Certainly, the stock, the quality of horses continues to improve each and every year. Consignors’ level of confidence in bringing quality horses here in October continues to increase each and every year. The buyers’ confidence in coming to buy quality racehorses continues to increase. It continues to get better and better every year, and I think it will continue that pattern in 2026.”

Fasig-Tipton Eastern fall yearling sale

Oct. 27, Timonium, Md.

“It’s the opportunity,” Browning said. “We didn’t use opportunity yet, did we?”

We aptly used it for the New York-breds, I reminded him.

“Okay, the Mid-Atlantic would be the sleeping, not the sleeping giant. Sleeper,” Browning decided.

“Just a sleeper, because the horsemanship in that part of the world is tremendous. They raise a fantastic horse in Maryland and Virginia and Pennsylvania. It’s a lot of smaller breeding operations. You get people that have five or 10 horses on their farm, and they raise the horses in a very traditional, conventional way. I think that you see great opportunity, great value in the horses that come out of that sale, and I think it really should be a can’t-miss sale for a lot of buyers.”

The sale could be a can’t-miss shopping spot for a number of regional buyers, as Fasig-Tipton is revamping and rescheduling this year’s auction, now the finale to the yearling season, to focus more on statebred programs in the region. Typically held in late September or early October, this sale will now be conducted on the Tuesday following the Jim McKay Maryland Million card at Laurel Park. That’s a similar setup to the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, which usually gets a reflected glow from the Preakness Stakes the weekend prior.

This fall sale in Maryland typically features horses bred in the state – the past four editions of the sale have been topped by Maryland-breds – and in the surrounding region, and this year’s reimagined sale will lean into and formally structure that identity. The sale will spotlight statebred programs from Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, with yearlings from each state grouped together. As those yearlings move on to fall training, the sale catalog will also feature information on the prominent Delaware-certified and Virginia-certified programs, in which horses who maintain residency in those states for training for specified periods of time can earn incentives.

Many regional developments, including the new Pimlico, expected to open in 2027, and the rebuilt Belmont, mark a new era for the Midlantic and Northeast racing circuits. Other positive developments in the region include a new Maryland Million starter bonus series throughout the year, a record 48 days of racing at Virginia’s Colonial Downs this year, and the purse parity for New York-breds.

“We’re trying to make it simple and easy for the buyers, and create a better opportunity for the sellers,” Brwoning said. “The good thing about selling in that part of the world is you’ve got some enthusiasm with the things that are taking place with Maryland racing, hopefully some very positive momentum coming there.

“We referenced the new Belmont Park coming online earlier. The Virginia-certified program and the Virginia program has gotten much, much stronger. Colonial Downs is certainly trending in the right direction, and you know, there’s probably more racing days per capita in Pennsylvania than anywhere else. So there’s a lot of opportunities, a lot of chances, at a lot of different levels, in the Eastern seaboard kind of area.”

But first, the momentum for the season that will conclude in October in Maryland was established in July in Kentucky. And the opportunities present in August in Saratoga? Well, the bar is set high following a record-shattering edition in 2025, with marks for gross, average, and median all established.

“It’s a sale we take a lot of pride in,” Browning said. “We take a lot of pride in everything we do, but clearly Saratoga is one of our showcase events, and we’re all looking forward to the 2026 edition. The [July sale] gives us great confidence and enthusiasm going forward. Hopefully it gives our buyers and sellers great confidence as we approach that sale.”

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