'A Destination Spot': Fasig-Tipton October Sale Starts Monday

The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale, with a catalogue of 1,614 head, brings the curtain down on what has been a record-setting yearling sales season with its four-day run beginning Monday in Lexington. Bidding for each session begins at 10 a.m.

Consignors are optimistic that the competitive market that has been prevalent from the season's beginning at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, to the company's Saratoga sales, and to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale last month, will continue through its conclusion this week.

“Coming off the way the prices were and the stats from July, Saratoga, and September, and even the Tattersalls sales, I think the market is very strong,” said Warrendale Sales' Hunter Simms. “I wouldn't see any particular reason for it to stop. In September, with 4,000 horses through the ring, we were busy the entire time. I don't think it will subside all from that.”

For Simms, the competitive market is a pure case of supply and demand.

“I know the foal crop keeps declining, but with purses and everything the way they are, less supply is going to equal more demand,” he said. “I don't think the foal crop can continue its downward trend, that's obviously not good for the business, but right now, people are hungry for horses at all levels. We are running $100,000 maiden special weights with auction-restricted races for $50,000 and under. It gives those people an opportunity to buy horses at all levels and get their investment back. You win a nice race, and you get it back off of one run.”

Consignor Colin Brennan said the strength of the previous sales this season will likely set up a seller's market at the October auction.

“From a pinhooker's point of view, I've talked to plenty of people at Keeneland and earlier sales, they just weren't getting that stock bought,” Brennan said. “They have to have stock, so they are going to come and shop here and I'd imagine they will swing a little bit harder here just to fill their barns. It's good for a seller's market anyway.”

A year ago, 1,064 yearlings sold at the October sale for a gross of $51,120,000. The average was $48,045 and the median was $24,000. Five horses sold for $500,000 or over, led by a sale-topping son of Justify who brought a final bid of $725,000.

Brennan is looking for the auction's 2024 results to continue on from its strong 2023 renewal.

“Last year, there were 50-some horses who sold for over $200,000 up here,” he said. “If they can keep that up, then we should be in good shape. And from what I can tell, the buyers that were here spending big money last year, I've seen most of them already on Saturday alone. There is pretty good attendance and we are seeing all the right people. So I am expecting things to continue that way.”

An expanding resume of impressive graduates, led this year by GI Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), has made the October auction a fixture on the sales calendar, according to Simms.

“They have great success coming out of Fasig October, especially with Thorpedo Anna doing as well as she is this year, a potential Horse of the Year coming out of the sale,” Simms said. “I think overall, it's not just a sale for horses who were RNAs earlier on in the year. We target certain horses for this sale that might need the extra 30 days from September to develop. So it's become a destination spot to send nice horses to and, judging by the catalogue, with the sire power that they have and the female side of families that they have, you can see that consignors are thinking the exact same way.”

Chris Shelli of Fort Christopher's Thoroughbreds agreed there was plenty to recommend the October sale.

“We just enjoy being in Kentucky in the fall and the experience that Fasig-Tipton puts on through the sale,” Shelli said. “We think it's a really good, positive atmosphere. And for the sellers, obviously, if you have a horse that is a little immature or has a later foaling date–we have a few May foals we felt were better suited for a later sale. And we've had a luck there. We have a lot of confidence in this sale.”

The October sale has grown beyond its old reputation as a fall-back plan for sellers, Brennan agreed.

“Just looking through the catalogue, you do see horses who were RNAs or pinhooks from earlier sales, but there is a fine mix of horses who this is the first sale they have been to and this was their target,” Brennan said. “I think it's a little bit of both, but I think it's less of a fall-back sale than it used to be.”

Fort Christopher's will bring a consignment of eight New York-breds to the October sale and the strength of the state's breeding program has made those horses popular to a wider range of buyers, according to Shelli.

“With the new increase in purses and breeders awards, and the new surfaces that will be coming on line soon at Belmont, we feel like we've got a really diverse, solid group to bring to the marketplace,” he said. “We have been selling fewer horses at the New York sale and more recently in the Kentucky October sale, purely because we had a lot of good luck and a good experience there. With our operations in New York and Kentucky, we are actually prepping 100% of the yearlings in Kentucky, so it made sense to just ship a few minutes down the road versus ship all the way back up to Saratoga.”

Of the appeal of New York-breds to buyers in the bluegrass, Shelli said, “Specifically by having Kentucky-sired New York-breds, the mare quality in New York has improved tremendously. So in the past, where we found we had a much smaller buyer base for those horses, we don't feel that anymore. It's been a diverse group of buyers between pinhookers, end-users, trainers, etc. We don't feel that there is a difference anymore. We have had a lot of good luck selling our Kentucky-sired horses to everyone, so we felt that whether we sold in Saratoga or sold in Kentucky October, it didn't make a difference. We feel there is a good buyer base at both sales.”