LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Curlin colt with a classic pedigree sold for $600,000 as the final horse through the ring as the Fasig-Tipton July sale posted gains to kick off the North American yearling sale season. The sale-topping colt was purchased by Leonard Green’s D. J. Stable from the consignment of Gainesway, as agent. The colt’s sire, two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, and broodmare sire, Lookin At Lucky, are both classic-winning champions by Smart Strike, and both have become classic sires in their own right. The colt’s dam, unraced Four Sugars, produced Gronkowski, a stakes winner in England who was second to Triple Crown winner Justify in the Belmont Stakes, and second to Thunder Snow in the Dubai World Cup. Grade 1 winners Flashy Bull, Perfect Soul, and Zipessa also appear on the catalog page. “When you come to a sale like this, you want to try to take a shot at a stallion prospect,” said Leonard Green’s son Jonathan Green, general manager of the family stable. “Obviously, he is, being half to Gronkowski and by Curlin – just that kind of family that we look for. We wanted to take a really full swing at a horse like this, because they don’t come along that often.” :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said that the sale-topper emerging as the final horse through the ring was a positive indicator of market energy. “You love to see increases in the key statistical categories, but you also love to see the activity, the energy, that was on the sale grounds literally from Saturday morning and continuing all the way through the last horse in the sale,” Browning said. “That’s always kind of nice to have a major horse at the end of the sale. And it just goes to show you that we deal with a group of professionals in the sales environment, and they certainly gave that horse high marks, and he sold extremely well and topped the sale. It was good from start to finish.” Overall, Fasig-Tipton reported 189 yearlings sold during the single-session sale for gross receipts of $21,763,500. That was just ahead of last year’s $21,608,500, despite that sale trading 208 horses. The average price was $115,151, a gain of 11 percent from $103,887 last year. The median jumped 13 percent, to $90,000 from $80,000. The buyback rate was 24 percent, compared to 25 percent last year. The double-digit gains in the average and median bore out the cautious optimism consignors had expressed prior to the sale, noting the dueling factors of enthusiasm to race for strong purses, even as the economy remains uncertain. “I think there’s less concern about anything horse related than there is about the world, the economy,” breeder and consignor Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall said. “People need to pay rent, and they need to have food and shelter and health care, but they don’t need racehorses. But the purse structures, I mean, what’s happening in Kentucky is beyond thrilling to me, having a Kentucky farm. With the breeders’ awards, and then, when you have $120,000 maidens, I mean, that’s a big chunk of change to get back on your initial purchase, right as you break your maiden.” Omaha Beach has big sale A filly by Omaha Beach sold for $410,000 to lead her category as Fasig-Tipton showcased first-crop sires with a coming-out party at the July yearling sale. The Omaha Beach filly led the freshman sire showcase that Fasig-Tipton reintroduced to the July catalog in 2021, with the first section of the book devoted exclusively to first-crop stallions. But not only did this filly, who was purchased by bloodstock agents Alex Solis II and Jason Litt, lead the showcase section, she ranked as the third-highest price of the sale overall, and its most expensive filly. Omaha Beach, by War Front and from the female family of blue hen Take Charge Lady, was a multiple Grade 1 winner sprinting and routing, taking the Arkansas Derby around two turns and, later that year, the Santa Anita Sprint Championship and Malibu Stakes. Now standing at Spendthrift Farm, the young stallion averaged $142,692 for 13 first-crop weanlings sold at public auction last year, against his introductory stud fee of $40,000. At Fasig-Tipton on Tuesday, five of his six yearlings offered sold, averaging $236,000. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales Omaha Beach was the only first-crop sire to place a yearling in the top 10 prices at the July sale. The second-highest price from the class was a $250,000 colt by Vino Rosso, sold to trainer Kenny McPeek. Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Eclipse Award champion Vino Rosso averaged $135,455 at Tuesday’s sale, with 11 of his 13 lots sold. The Curlin horse stood his first season for $30,000 at Spendthrift. “You’ve got a horse like Vino who was a tremendous racehorse – we saw him put his head down in the Classic and just refuse to lose,” Browning said. “Omaha was a horse who had tremendous, tremendous talent and an amazing pedigree. I think there was great anticipation for horses like that.” Grade 1 winner Audible, by Into Mischief, also had a solid performance at Fasig-Tipton, with nine of 10 offerings sold for an average of $136,667. That figure stacked up against his introductory fee of $25,000 at WinStar Farm.