Yearling marketplace opens with Fasig-Tipton July sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The yearling sale season in North America jumps out of the gate with Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky selected summer yearling sale – and early blooming youngsters with solid physical development get a jump on their class here.

There are 286 yearlings cataloged for the single-session sale at Fasig-Tipton’s Newtown Paddocks headquarters. The yearlings were selected by Fasig-Tipton’s inspection team based on conformation and pedigree.

While many sellers with blue-blooded yearlings wait for the August and September sales in New York and Kentucky, the July sale traditionally showcases early bloomers with impressive physical makeup and conformation. That approach has worked well for those scouting these horses. While many of last year’s top-priced July yearlings are still developing as racehorses, the 2022 edition of the sale produced a pair of Grade 1-winning juveniles in 2023 – Summer Stakes winner Carson’s Run and Alcibiades winner Candied.

“We look forward to kicking off yearling sales season with another strong group of well-conformed, mature yearlings in July,” Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. said. “The sale continues to produce remarkable performance numbers that cannot be overlooked by any serious buyer.”

A solid physical is particularly key for yearlings by first-crop sires, with no other statistics to evaluate. This sale opens with 88 yearlings by first-crop sires, with Fasig-Tipton designing the early part of the catalog as a showcase. The catalog then transitions into the majority dominated by proven sires, although a smattering of yearlings by first-crop sires are sprinkled in.

Horse of the Year Knicks Go (eight yearlings; two-time Eclipse champion Essential Quality (two); and multiple Grade 1 winner Maxfield (two) are among this year’s noteworthy first-crop sires with yearlings in the sale. Also represented are Grade 1 winners Basin (four), Charlatan (one), Known Agenda (one), Lexitonian (eight), Raging Bull (five), Rock Your World (12), Silver State (four), and Yaupon (13), along with Beau Liam (12), By My Standards (three), Core Beliefs (three), Independence Hall (three), Leinster (two), Modernist (two), Rushie (one), Tacitus (10), and Uncle Chuck (two).

Proven sires represented in the catalog include five-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, his son and classic sire Goldencents, and the likes of American Pharoah, Constitution, Flatter, Good Magic, Justify, More Than Ready, Munnings, Not This Time, Quality Road, and Uncle Mo.

“While much of the focus in July tends to be on the first yearlings of freshman sires, the proven sire representation this year is very strong,” Browning said.

The 2022 edition of the July sale was a particularly strong one, with an 11 percent jump in the average price and 13 percent rise in the median compared to 2021. With demand for the sale from both buyers and consignors strong, the 2023 catalog was 23 percent larger than 2022’s, with 370 hips. The sale ultimately finished with 210 horses sold – the buyback rate was 31 percent – for gross receipts of $20,732,000. The average price was $98,724, while the median was $77,000. While these were both drops of 14 percent from 2022, they were in line with previous editions of the sale.

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