Triple Crown winner American Pharoah's first crop is the major storyline this 2-year-old sales season, but his sire, Pioneerof the Nile, and grandsire, Empire Maker, also figure to play a role at the top end of the market.
It's ordinarily considered risky to breed to a stallion in the year his first foals are set to hit the racetrack – but Triple Crown winner American Pharoah is no ordinary horse, and, so far, a selective market has not responded in the ordinary fashion.
There is plenty of change on the 2-year-old sales calendar this season, as Keeneland revives its boutique April sale of 2-year-olds in training into a resurgent market, while Fasig-Tipton takes over for Barretts in a major shift in the California market. But the Florida calendar remains steady in a market that has been steady. The Sunshine State, the epicenter for major-market juvenile sales in North America, kicks off the season this month with high hopes coming off a solid 2018 for its auction houses.
Even setting aside Triple Crown winner American Pharoah for a moment, the freshman sires of 2019 have to be considered among the most anticipated in recent memory.
Fasig-Tipton has released the catalog for its Gulfstream sale of 2-year-olds in training, featuring 185 initial entries.
The opportunity to stand Finale, a Grade 3-winning son of the late Scat Daddy, is the highlight of a court-ordered online auction of 70 Thoroughbreds taking place later this month.
This week's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale marked the close of the mixed auction season in North America, and the final chance to pick up a broodmare before Kentucky breeding sheds open for business early next week.
The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale closed the breeding stock sale season with a drop in gross but improved average and median figures compared to last year's renewal.
With Northern Hemisphere stallion operations set to open their breeding sheds in the coming weeks, the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale Monday and Tuesday marks the end of the line.
A yearling colt by Elusive Quality sold for $70,000 to lead Wednesday's final session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. winter mixed sale as the auction finished with declines in gross and average compared to 2018.
