LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Zetta Z, the dam of unbeaten Nysos, sold for a record $2 million as the final horse through the ring, and Grade 1 winner Bell's the One sold for $1.3 million to lead a dispersal for the late Robert Lothenbach, with those two topping the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale, which concluded Tuesday evening with major year-to-year gains. "It wildly exceeded our expectations," Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. "It was damn good." The February sale marked the final opportunity to acquire a broodmare or prospect at public auction before the North American breeding season begins, with many Kentucky breeding sheds set to open on or around Feb. 10. This was also the final opportunity for pinhookers to acquire young prospects before the formal yearling sale season, which runs from July to October. With those benchmarks looming, Fasig-Tipton reported 372 horses sold over the two-session sale for total gross receipts of $21,687,000. In last year's renewal, 402 horses sold for $14,105,200. Both sets of figures do include post-ring private transactions, with nine in the 2023 edition, and one made this year as of 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday afternoon as the sale wrapped up. The gross was a record figure, shattering the $17,245,500 from 431 sold in 2022. The sale's average price was $58,298, soaring upward 66 percent from $35,088 last year. The average established a record by surpassing the $56,252 in 2013, also a year bolstered by a dispersal. The median spiked 13 percent, to $17,000 from $15,000, and also was a record number. The previous figure of $16,000 was set in 2014 and equaled last year. The cumulative buyback rate was an outstanding 14 percent in a selective marketplace, finishing even to last year. Bolstered by its quality catalog, the Fasig February sale bucked some trends seen throughout this breeding stock sale season that began in November, as a polarization toward quality has generally led to declines in average and median and buyback rates over 20 percent. "Obviously, a fantastic horse sale today," Browning said. "It was an unusual set of circumstances with the quality we had this year, with the Lothenbach dispersal -- unfortunate circumstances, we were pleased to have it, obviously, but you hate to lose a staunch supporter of racing like Bob Lothenbach. "We were fortunate enough to have a major update on Saturday and the connections associated with the dam of Nysos saw an opportunity and were rewarded for her today. Even outside of those highlights, it was a really good horse sale. There was trade at all levels, there was bidding at all levels. It restored some confidence, I think, in the marketplace that there's demand for horses. Not that there's a complete lack of confidence, but there's been concerns, I think." As Browning alluded to, the Fasig February catalog was bolstered by a number of supplemental entries over the last several weeks. One of those was Zetta Z, who was supplemented into the sale on Sunday, less than 24 hours after her son Nysos remained unbeaten with a 7 1/2-length romp in the Grade 3 Robert B Lewis Stakes, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 105. The colt has won his three career starts, also including the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes, by a combined 26 3/4 lengths. "James had been in close contact with the owners of the mare leading up to the race," Chance Timm, a partner in consignor Grovendale Sales with James Keogh, said. "If he ran the way he ran, they'd be willing to present her at auction, and go from there -- and he ran to expectations." Zetta Z then capitalized on her presentation by bringing the house down with a $2 million bid from the Coolmore group as the final horse in the ring on Tuesday afternoon. "She's a beautiful mare," said Adrian Wallace, who signed the ticket for Coolmore. "She completely stood out, and obviously, being the dam of such a talented young colt with his whole future ahead of him, she was a must-have. We were very interested in her from the very beginning. She's a wonderful mare, and she's in foal to a very exciting young stallion. Hopefully, she'll be a nice mare to add to Justify's book when the time comes." Zetta Z was one of three mares sold for seven figures on the day, a mark that had never before been achieved at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale. Bell's the One sold for $1.3 million and She Can't Sing brought $1.1 million. All three surpassed the previous high-water mark at this auction. Better Begin sold for $900,000 at the 1984 renewal of this sale; more recently, Pool Land matched that price when sold in 2013 as part of a reduction of the late Eugene Melnyk's stock. "We were hoping we wouldn't," have to bid as high, Wallace said, "but it seemed that every time we bid, there was a bid coming back very quickly." :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Unraced Zetta Z, a daughter of outstanding broodmare sire Bernardini, is the dam of four winners from five starters, including stakes-placed Attabe in addition to Nysos. She sold carrying a foal from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Cyberknife, by Gun Runner. Zetta Z's granddam is Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Unbridled Elaine, who produced three graded/group stakes winners. This is also the family of Grade 1 winners Glitter Woman and Political Force. The other two seven-figure lots on Tuesday came from the Lothenbach Stables dispersal. It was announced last month that the broodmares and young stock owned by Lothenbach, who died last November, had been added into this sale as part of a multi-pronged dispersal of his Thoroughbred holdings. Lothenbach raced horses for more than 30 years, and was known for runners such as Grade 1 winners Bell's the One, Mayo On the Side, and Vacare, and multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Mister Marti Gras. His stable, which earned more than $30.6 million cumulatively, ranked 10th nationally by earnings in 2020; 10th by wins in 2021; ninth by earnings and sixth by wins in 2022; and seventh by wins last year. The respect for the program was seen last week, when a digital dispersal of Lothenbach's racing-age horses hosted by Fasig-Tipton grossed $4.84 million from 66 lots sold. The stable's juveniles are cataloged at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s March sale of 2-year-olds in training. "It's a reflection of a man who had a program that raised and raced horses the right way," Browning said. "He had a long-term perspective, and was in it for all the right reasons." Bell's the One was purchased for $1.3 million by agent Catherine Hudson, on behalf of an undisclosed client. "We loved her," Hudson said of Bell's the One, who was consigned by Vinery Sales, as agent for the estate. "I bought her for a private client who's an admirer of collector's items. We felt like she is one of them. She's a beautiful mare. We appreciate her, we appreciate racing, we appreciate everything [Lothenbach] did for horse racing. We're sad that the dispersal is happening, but we're just very, very fortunate to be able to step up and buy her to stay in America.' Bell's the One was purchased by Lothenbach as a yearling, and was trained throughout her career by Neil Pessin. She earned more than $2 million in a five-year career in which she won 11 stakes, highlighted by the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff in 2020. She placed in another eight stakes, including a third in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. “I knew she was good before I ever ran her,” Pessin told Fair Grounds publicity this week. “A lot of times you know if they’re good or not, but just not how good. Are they Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3? I told Bob, she’s definitely a stakes filly, I just don't know what kind of stakes filly yet. She won her first four. She won short, long, turf, dirt, Poly. I don't know what more you could ask from a horse.” Upon her retirement, Bell's the One went through the ring at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, but Lothenbach ultimately bought her back at a bid of $2.6 million. She was subsequently bred to Flightline, but aborted that foal around the seven-month mark last September, and thus sold open for the upcoming breeding season. Hudson said she and her client have not yet finalized plans for the mare. "We've [looked at] a lot of reports, nicking, and research," Hudson said. "We haven't decided yet. We're working on it now." Bell's the One, a daughter of Majesticperfection, is out of the winning Street Cry mare Street Mate, also the dam of Grade 3 winner King Cause. It is the family of Grade 1 winner Dream Empress. Nine hips after Bell's the One broke through the seven-figure ceiling, Grade 3 winner She Can't Sing became the second horse from the Lothenbach dispersal to meet that threshold, selling for $1.1 million to Hill 'n' Dale, also from the Vinery consignment. Jes Sikura, son of farm principal John Sikura, signed the ticket, and said the Bernardini mare will visit Hill 'n' Dale's perennial leading sire Curlin for her first mating, replicating a cross responsible for the likes of Grade 1 winner Clairiere. "Beautiful, and a really talented racemare," Jes Sikura said. "Curlin loves Bernardini -- we thought this would be a great nick, and hopefully get a beautiful foal out of her." She Can't Sing scored her biggest win in the Grade 3 Chilukki Stakes in 2022. She won three other stakes at Canterbury and the Fair Grounds, and earned five other stakes placings in a career that concluded last November. The mare is from the family of multiple Grade/Group 1 winners Music Note and Musical Chimes; Music Note is the dam of Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide. That prolific family was responsible for the sale's highest-priced yearling, with She Can't Sing's half-brother, by five-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, sold for $650,000 to lead his class. Renee Logan, sales director for Darby Dan Farm, signed the ticket in the name of North Ocean Equine on the February colt, who was consigned by Taylor Made Sales, as agent for the dispersal. She said she bid on behalf of one of her own clients, whose name she did not disclose. "I liked the fact that he just was very well balanced," Logan said of the colt. "He had a beautiful walk. He's a half to a great filly who just brought a million dollars, which further vindicated our decision, and that's why we went the extra mile." For hip-by-hip results, click here. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.