Young horses command attention at Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age sale

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With strong positioning immediately prior to the marquee summer meets at Saratoga, Del Mar, and other tracks, a catalog of promising young stock, and a list of recent graduates including millionaire Grade 1 winners Atone and Stilleto Boy, the Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age sale is poised for another solid renewal Monday afternoon at the company’s Newtown Paddocks headquarters.

“Buyers have the luxury of purchasing horses that can be immediately campaigned at North America’s lucrative summer race meetings,” Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. said.

There are 117 hips cataloged for the single-session sale, accounting for supplemental entries as of Thursday evening. Because of the dynamic nature of the racehorse market, Fasig-Tipton will continue to review and accept supplemental entries until sale time.

Young, lightly raced stock has been in demand at horses of racing age sales; 2- and 3-year-olds topped or co-topped the 2023 Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age sale, 2023 Keeneland November horses of racing age sale, and 2024 Keeneland April horses of racing age sale. Several 2-year-olds are cataloged in this edition of the July sale, giving buyers who just finished the breeze-up sale season another look at this crop, with additional information. The under-tack preview shows at juvenile sales provide an opportunity for prospective buyers to view a more finished product than buying the same horse as a weanling or yearling. Now, they have a chance to buy stock beginning to build a racing résumé as 2-year-old stakes become a focus.

As of Thursday evening, there were 17 2-year-olds cataloged at the Fasig-Tipton July sale. Four of those are winners, while another is stakes-placed.

The quartet of winners includes Tigerish, from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Tiz the Law. Adding to her residual value, the filly is equally well bred on the bottom side of her page as she is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Avenge and two other stakes winners. The filly was a 2 1/4-length debut winner against a big field going 7 1/2 furlongs on turf June 24 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. She was subsequently supplemented into the catalog by trainer and co-owner Eddie Kenneally, with Hunter Valley Farm acting as agent.

Earlier in the year, Kenneally supplemented the 2-year-old Cheval de Guerre into the Keeneland April sale shortly after a runner-up effort on debut. The colt co-topped the sale at $450,000.

Sweet Mo B, by the breakout freshman sire Complexity, and Vinegar Hill, by Frosted, are both coming off maiden wins at Churchill Downs. Moneyline, by Mo Town, was a second-out maiden winner at Indiana and most recently finished 10th in the Bashford Manor.

Bright Skittle, by Twirling Candy, has yet to win a race, but was third on debut at Keeneland and then third in the Royal Palm Juvenile at Gulfstream. The Royal Palm Juvenile winner, Gabaldon, ran a strong second in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot.

Last year’s Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age sale finished with 144 horses sold for gross receipts of $14,052,000. The average price was $97,583, a jump of 16 percent from 2022, while the median rose 3 percent, to $60,000.

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