By Jessica Martini
LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton October Yearlings Sale smashed its previous records for gross and average and produced its lowest buy-back rate in 11 years when it concluded its four-day run in Lexington Thursday.
” All in all, I am somewhere between thrilled and ecstatic with the results of these four days,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. said at the close of business Thursday evening. “The consignors continue to bring us higher quality horses each and every year and it is reflected in these results and these statistics.”
Through four sessions, 1,122 yearlings grossed $58,575,500, surpassing the auction's previous record gross of $55,426,400 set in 2022. The average of $52,206 was another highwater mark for the auction, breaking the previous record of $50,388, also set in 2022. The median price of $20,000 was fourth highest in sale history.
With just 230 horses failing to meet their reserves, the buy-back rate was 17%, the lowest at the October sale since 2013 when it was 16.2%.
A year ago, 1,064 yearlings grossed $51,120,000 for an average of $48,045 and a median of $24,000. The 2023 buy-back rate was 21.5%.
“On Monday morning, we saw really great activity on the sales grounds and it literally continued through the last horse through the ring tonight,” Browning said. “There was very broad participation, as you can see by reading the sheets. There was strong American participation and strong participation on an international basis with buyers from all over the world. It's encouraging from a sales company perspective and also an industry perspective that, as a country, we continue to produce quality horses that are desirable around the world.”
A pair of colts topped Thursday's final session of the October sale when bringing matching $500,000 final bids. Megan Jones, bidding alongside trainer Danny Gargan, made that bid to acquire a colt by Curlin from the Eaton Sales consignment, just eight hips after Case Clay, bidding on behalf of Wathnan Racing, paid that amount for a Not This Time colt consigned by Hunter Valley Farm.
Throughout the four-day auction, four horses sold for $500,000 or over and three were by Hill 'n' Dale stallion Curlin. Bloodstock agent Alistair Roden made the week's highest bid when purchasing a colt by that sire for $550,000 on behalf of Mark Breen.
In all, 69 yearlings sold for $200,000 or over, up from 53 at the 2023 auction.
Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan remained active throughout the week, signing for nine horses for a total of $1,630,000. He made his highest purchase of the auction when going to $400,000 for a daughter of Practical Joke Thursday.
“It's still solid for the quality horses,” Ryan said of the October market. “I feel like we have bought some nice horses through the week at reasonable prices and by proven sires. It's always nice when you can lower the average a little bit when you've spent so much at the previous sales. But quality sells. That's what it's about.”
Hip 1276 | Fasig-Tipton Photo
'Couldn't Be Happier:' Profitable Few Minutes for Pugh
As the yearling sales season was winding down in Lexington, pinhooker Peter Pugh of Cherry Knoll Farm sent a pair of yearlings through the sales ring within hips of each other at Fasig-Tipton Thursday. The first, a filly by Practical Joke (hip 1276) who had been purchased for $190,000 at Keeneland last November, sold for $400,000 to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan and the second, a colt by Not This Time (hip 1280), acquired for $200,000 at this year's Keeneland January sale, sold for $500,000 to agent Case Clay. Both were consigned by Hunter Valley Farm.
“I couldn't be happier,” Pugh said of the results.
Asked if he had any concerns about selling this late in the season, Pugh said, “You are always a little concerned about that. But I think at the end of the day, if the horses are nice enough, they will find a way to get them.”
Hip 1280 is out of Aureum (Medaglia d'Oro), a half-sister to group winner and multiple Grade I placed Nemoralia (More Than Ready), whose 2-year-old daughter May Day Ready (Tapit) won the GII Jessamine Stakes earlier in the month and is expected to go postward in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar next week.
“He was in this sale because he took a little longer to come around,” Pugh said of the colt. “But he always had an athletic way about him.”
Clay purchased the yearling on behalf of Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani's Wathnan Racing.
“We really liked the colt,” Clay said. “He's from an active family with a great sire and a great broodmare sire. We are very excited to get him.”
Hip 1276 is out of Atlantic Dream (Stormy Atlantic), a full-sister to multiple graded winner Icy Atlantic.
“She actually was in September in Book 2 and she had a little setback and we had to scratch her,” Pugh said. “Thank God she came around well enough and she ended up here.”
Ryan, who purchased the filly on behalf of Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, said the yearling reminded him of another daughter of Practical Joke in Grade I winner Ways and Means.
“She is a serious filly,” Ryan said. “She will get two turns. She's a big stretchy filly with great depth and great strength, with a lot of quality and class about her. She was one we really wanted to get.”
Pugh, rating his sales season, said, “So far, so good. We had a couple glitches along the way, but we are good.”
Looking ahead to the start of his buying season a couple weeks away with the November breeding stock sales, Pugh admitted he enjoyed the selling side more than the buying.
“Buying is tough,” he said. “Let's face it. There are a lot of good people doing it. It is so competitive. But having said all that, we will be back again.”
Jones Goes to $500k for Curlin Colt
Bloodstock agent Megan Jones, alongside trainer Danny Gargan, has been shopping the yearling sales on behalf of some of the partners in this year's Classic-winning Dornoch (Good Magic) and made her biggest purchase of the Fasig-Tipton October sale when going to $500,000 for a son of Curlin (hip 1288) Thursday.
“I thought he was a faster-looking Curlin,” Jones said. “We loved the Curlin over the Carson City. It's a very reliable family and page, but we just thought he was a very athletic, quicker-looking Curlin. He did everything right. We had loved him since Keeneland, so we were always on him here.”
Hip1288 | Fasig-Tipton Photo
The colt, consigned by Eaton Sales, is out of Grade I winner A Z Warrior (Bernardini) and is a half-brother to stakes winners Justa Warrior (Justify) and Key to My Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). He was bred by Cypress Creek Equine, which purchased A Z Warrior, in foal to Uncle Mo, for $550,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale.
The yearling sold to Milan Bloodstock for $375,000 at this year's Keeneland January sale before RNA'ing for $575,000 at the Keeneland September sale last month.
A Z Warrior's dam Carson Jen, who produced multiple graded winner Jojo Warrior (Pioneerof the Nile) and graded winner E Z Warrior (Exploit), is a daughter of the speedy Carson City.
As for plans for the colt, Jones said, “He will go to Raul Reyes at King's Equine [in Ocala] for the winter and then will be trained by Danny Gargan.”
Jones purchased three yearlings at the October sale. In addition to hip 1288, she purchased a colt by Charlatan (hip 490) and a filly by Tiz the Law (hip 1326) for $240,000.
On behalf of various groups, Jones purchased seven yearlings at the Keeneland September sale, led by a $850,000 son of Curlin (hip 875).
'The Good Ones, You have to Pay for:' Charlatan Filly to Legacy Ranch for $400k
A first-crop daughter of Grade I Charlatan (hip 1231) will be heading to the West Coast after selling for $400,000 to Pete and Evelyn Parrella's Legacy Ranch early in Thursday's final session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale.
“I just loved her presence. I loved everything about her,” said Legacy manager Terry Knight after signing the ticket on the yearling. “She is a lovely filly and a great mover. Obviously, we are taking a little chance on a young stallion, but she had all the parts that I like.”
The yearling is the first foal out of the unraced American Life (Medaglia d'Oro), a daughter of multiple graded stakes winner Paid Up Subscriber (Candy Ride {Arg}). The mare was purchased, with the filly in utero, for $320,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale. The yearling was bred by Magic Cap Stables and was consigned by Indian Creek.
“She will ship to California and we will decide what we are going to do with her from there,” Knight said of plans for the yearling.
Knight said he had waited all week for the chestnut filly to walk into the sales ring at Fasig-Tipton.
“She was the one I wanted,” he said. “It's hard to sit and wait for three days. We have passed on a few and I was prepared to walk home empty if we had to. The good ones, you have to pay for. The ones that looked like they were going to bring the money, brought the money, and the other ones, they brought what they brought.”
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