By Jessica Martini
LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale opened Monday with a session which tracked right on par with the auction's 2023 renewal and with a pair of colts sharing top billing when selling for matching $350,000 bids.
A total of 265 yearlings sold Monday for a gross of $13,198,000. The average was $49,804 and the median was $20,000. The buy-back rate was 24.5%.
During last year's opening session, 264 yearlings grossed $11,339,800 for an average of $42,954 and a median of $20,000. At the conclusion of the 2023 auction, the cumulative average was $48,045 and the median was $24,000.
“The results basically tracked very similar to last year on an overall basis,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “The buyers said it was very difficult to buy the horses they wanted to buy and I think the consignors were generally satisfied. I don't think there was any euphoria. I don't think anyone is jumping up and down and saying it was insane. I think when we are dealing with a wide variety of horses in a wide variety of price ranges, it was a very satisfactory day.”
Trainer Mac Robertson, bidding on behalf of Novogratz Racing Stables, purchased a colt by Quality Road from the Brookdale consignment for $350,000 early in Monday's session and that bid was matched late in the day when BSW/Crow purchased an Into Mischief colt from Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services.
Mac Robertson | Fasig-Tipton
Five horses sold for $300,000 or more–compared to two at the 2023 opener–and 12 sold for $200,000 or over, up from 10 a year ago.
“It met what our expectations were,” Browning said of the session. “Anybody who has been following the market this year thought we had a pretty similar marketplace throughout the yearling season in 2024 compared to 2023. Those were the trends that we saw today.”
The Fasig-Tipton October sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning each day at 10 a.m.
Into Mischief Colt to BSW/Crow
The second time through the ring was the charm for a son of Into Mischief (hip 241), who sold for $350,000 Monday at the October sale. Jake Memolo, sitting with Sarah and Paul Sharp, signed the ticket on the yearling in the name of BSW/Crow, agent. The bay colt, bred by Newtownanner Stud Farm and consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, RNA'd for $325,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale in August.
“He just grew up a little bit more,” consignor Ron Blake explained. “He was a pretty horse then, but he was a little immature. The mare's foals tend to look a little more athletic as they get older.”
Hip 241 c. INTO MISCHIEF o/o Indy Punch sells for $350,000 at Kentucky October Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:
B: @BSWCrow, agt
C: Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agt
Br: Newtown Anner Stud Farm (KY)#FasigKY @spendthriftfarm pic.twitter.com/IHXMJUNQVt— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2024
Out of the unraced Indy Punch (Pulling Punches), the yearling is a half-brother to multiple graded winner United (Giant's Causeway).
“She is a huge mare,” Blake said. “United was a huge horse, this is a big horse. It just takes time for those big horses to look athletic for a sale.”
Hip 241 was the third sent through the ring by Blake-Albina Monday and was the third to sell, although hip 25, a son of Tapit, was originally led out of the ring unsold before selling for $285,000 to Taproot Bloodstock.
“He was early in the sale and I think that hurt him a little,” Blake said.
Also part of the active post-sale trade Monday was the very first hip through the ring. Originally led out unsold, hip 1 eventually was listed as a sale at $250,000 and purchased by her breeder Thirty Year Farm in partnership with Team Penney.
Quality Road Colt to Novogratz
Trainer Mac Robertson matched the session-topping $350,000 price when bidding on behalf of Joe Novogratz's Novogratz Racing Stables to acquire a colt by Quality Road (hip 39) early in Monday's first session of the October sale. Consigned by Brookdale, the yearling is out of Evocative (Pioneerof the Nile). The mare is a half-sister to Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union), who is the dam of graded winners New Year's Day (Street Cry {Ire}), Mohaymen (Tapit), Enforceable (Tapit), and Kingly (Tapit).
📽️ Hip 39 c. QUALITY ROAD o/o Evocative sells for $350,000 at Kentucky Fall Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:
B: Novogratz Racing Stables
C: @BrookdaleFarmKY, agt#FasigKY @LanesEndFarms pic.twitter.com/iTNYfGnN7r— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2024
“I thought he was a quality Quality Road,” Robertson said. “He's a Quality Road who looks fast and the second dam is as good as it gets. So it was hard not to try to get him.”
Of the colt's price tag, Robertson admitted, “I was running out of money, so I was glad it stopped at $350,000. [Novogratz] told me I could buy three or four for $150,000 or $200,000. Or buy one or two and run out of money. Maybe I will get to buy another one. We will see.”
The yearling was bred by Lynch Bages and Camas Park Stud, which purchased Evocative with the colt in utero, for $550,000 at the 2023 Keeneland January sale. Joseph DiRico signed for the colt for $385,000 at this year's Keeneland January sale and he RNA'd for $435,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale in August.
Robertson acknowledged the yearling market has been competitive all season.
“It was really, really competitive through three books at Keeneland,” he said. “It just seemed like we vetted a lot of horses and we had maybe $250,000 or $300,000 for them and we just couldn't get them. They were $500,000 or $600,000 or $700,000. It seemed like there were a lot of new buyers and people I didn't know at Keeneland. And it seems like I see a lot of people that I know at Fasig-Tipton.”
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