LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The first major yearling sale of the year can be a trying experience for buyers and consignors. Both are feeling out the market and how strong, soft, selective, or indifferent it is, so the prices buyers are willing to pay can fluctuate dramatically. The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale, being the first major sale of the year, had its challenges early. Through the first 1 1/2 hours there were almost as many horses reported sold as reported not sold. But by the time the sale ended eight hours after it began, the nervous market settled in quite well and prices were strong, and especially strong the last half of the sale. This in part can be attributed to buyers figuring out the market and consignors willing to let go of horses and not set unrealistic reserves. The Fasig-Tipton sale finished with 196 yearlings sold for an average price of $100,829 and a median of $75,000. The average was up 7.7 percent over last year’s average of $93,645, and the $75,000 median was up 7.1 percent over the $70,000 median in 2017. With more horses sold this year than last, the total receipts rose 22.7 percent, to $19,762,500 from $16,107,000. “Overall, we’re very, very pleased with the results,” said Boyd Browning, CEO of Fasig-Tipton. “We saw a continuation of the market we’ve seen in recent years. [There’s] tremendous competition for quality offerings. “You have to be thrilled when the gross is up, the average is up, and the median is up. “I’d characterize this is a very successful start to the 2018 yearling sale season.” “I don’t think it’s a case of setting high reserves,” said Craig Bandoroff, whose Denali Stud consigned the second-highest-priced yearling of the sale, on the hit-and-miss nature of selling horses. “I think we’re in a very polarized market. The 2-year-old market is polarized, and that makes this more polarized. “I don’t think it’s necessarily the market now, but what’s to come. There’s 4,500 more [yearlings] coming in September, so [buyers] can afford to be selective, and they are.” The strong selectivity has been in the yearling market for years, and this year’s sale did nothing to suggest times have changed. Expansion of the catalog played a part in the high buyback rate, with 30.5 percent of the horses through the ring this year reported as not sold, about the same as the 29.5 percent buyback rate last year. “The RNA rate is always going to be a little bit higher in July than you like because [buyers] have opportunities,” Browning said. “They have other options [in the fall]. “I thought the market adapted quickly. The [start of the sale] was a little rough, but there was quick adaptation by both buyers and sellers alike.” As the first major sale of the yearling season, the FTK July sale is favored by many commercial breeders as a place to bring the first progeny to market by first-crop sires. This year’s catalog featured 113 yearlings by first-crop sires, or roughly one-third of the catalog. First-year sires represented included American Pharoah, Bayern, Carpe Diem, Constitution, Palace Malice, and Wicked Strong. But as appealing it is for buyers to see the untapped potential in the progeny of young sires and spend lavishly, the FTK sale proved yet again that experience – that is, proven sires – are still the choice of discerning buyers. Of the top 12 yearlings that sold for $250,000 or more, 10 were by sires who already had foals to race, with Palace Malice represented by two such yearlings. The sale topper came in the penultimate hip, a colt by Flatter out of No Curfew, by Curlin, who brought a bid of $520,000 from Al Rashid Stable. Consigned by Lane’s End, agent, the colt was bred and sold by Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm in Georgetown, Ky. The second dam, Misty Hour, by Miswaki, has produced three stakes winners, including Grade 3 winner India and stakes winner Pilfer, dam of Grade 1 winners To Honor and Serve and Angela Renee. Summer Wind Farm manager Bobby Spalding said the farm had pointed the colt for this sale for a long time, based in part on the recommendation of the late Bill Graves, who inspected yearlings for Fasig-Tipton for years and who died at the end of May. “I want to give Bill Graves credit,” said Spalding, who choked up about the memory of Graves, one of the best inspectors of horse flesh ever in the business. “The first time he saw this horse, he said we had to sell this horse in July. That’s why he is here. This is the first time we’ve sold at this sale, and he was the only one in it. “This is a good sale for a mature horse, and he was a very clean vetting horse, which is important.” The second-highest price was paid for a colt by Strong Mandate, whose first foals are juveniles, with Alex and Jo Ann Lieblong of Arkansas going to $435,000 to acquire him from the Denali consignment. The colt is out of the Giant’s Causeway mare Fly the Flag, an unplaced daughter of Grade 1 winner My Flag, dam of champion Storm Flag Flying. The third dam is Hall of Famer Personal Ensign. Lieblong said he was attracted to the colt due the strong female family. “I pay more attention to the bottom of the page than the top of the page,” Lieblong said, “but I do like Strong Mandate. I bought one in March [at a 2-year-olds in training sale].” Lieblong will send the Strong Mandate colt to either trainer Ron Moquett or Steve Asmussen next year. The third-highest price was a colt by Violence, whose first foals are 3-year-olds. Agent Justin Casse went to $370,000 to buy the colt out of the stakes winner Classic Elegance, by Carson City. He is a half-brother to two stakes-placed winners. He was purchased in February for $100,000 by James Layden, agent, as a short yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale. Among first-crop sires at the FTK sale, here are some highlights: * Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who stands at Ashford Stud, had two in the catalog, but one was withdrawn. The one left, a filly out of Yong Musician, by Yonaguska, was bought back on a final bid of $245,000, but soon after, JJ Crupi bought the filly post-sale for a price of $200,000. “I think she’s a filly that’s coming on,” Crupi said. “She may not look her best at this very minute, but I think she’ll develop into a racehorse. I think this filly will develop into a brilliant filly.” * Competitive Edge, who stands at Ashford Stud, had a productive sale. He was represented by a colt who sold for $150,000, 12 times the $12,500 stud fee in 2016. Competitive Edge had seven yearlings sell for an average of $75,000. * Constitution, who stands at WinStar Farm, had five yearlings sell for an average of $100,000. He stands for $25,000. * Palace Malice had four yearlings sell for an average price of $150,000. He stands at Three Chimneys for a fee of $20,000. * Wicked Strong, who stands for $10,000 at Spendthrift Farm, had seven yearlings average $157,571. Complete results of the Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale can be found here.