A QUALITY catalogue and an enthusiastic buying bench combined to make Fasig-Tipton’s 103rd Saratoga Yearling Sale, held on Monday and Tuesday evenings, the best ever. The sale established new records for turnover, average, and median, and posted the lowest unsold rate since 2015.

The sale’s highest-priced yearling was a $3,400,000 Not This Time colt sold during Monday’s opening session, and this was the fifth highest price in the sale’s long history.

“It’s been a remarkable two nights of selling horses,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning on Tuesday night. “We almost went back-to-back with million-dollar horses with the first two horses to go through the ring [on Tuesday], and that momentum carried the entire evening. But the reason the momentum carried is because of the quality of the horses.”

The sale-topping Not This Time colt was consigned by Kim Nardelli and sold to Donato Lanni, agent for Zedan Racing. Kayce Ace, the dam of the colt, is a stakes-placed full-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and sire Colonel John. She is already the dam of the multiple Grade 1-placed, graded stakes winner Comical, and granda, of stakes winner Sweetlou’sgotaces. The colt was bred by Susan Casner.

Tuesday’s second session was headlined when Speedway Stables went to $2,400,000 to secure a son of five-time leading sire Into Mischief. Lane’s End consigned the bay who is out of the stakes-placed Awesome Again mare Sweet Sting, herself a daughter of Eclipse champion Perfect Sting. The colt was bred by the late Martin Wygod and his wife Pam.

Five other yearlings sold for seven-figure sums during the second session, taking the sale total to a dozen, two more than in 2023. A Gun Runner colt out of Secret Sigh sold for $1,900,000 to M.V. Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch from the consignment of Lane’s End, acting for Summer Wind Equine. The chesnut is from the immediate family of Grade/Group 1 winners Mozu Ascot, To Honor And Serve, and Angela Renee.

A Gun Runner filly out of multiple Grade 1 winner Pure Clan also featured, selling for $1,500,000 to Whisper Hill Farm from the consignment of Gainesway. She is a half-sister to five winners including Princesa Carolina, a Grade 1-placed, course record-setting stakes winner. Again from Gainesway, a daughter of Ghostzapper and Seeking The Blue sold for $1,200,000 to John Stewart’s Resolute Bloodstock. Both of the filly’s siblings to race are stakes-placed.

Two colts on Tuesday sold for a million dollars each. First to do so was a Justify colt out of Dolce Lemone, purchased by Godolphin from Hunter Valley Farm. He is a three-parts brother to stakes winner Dolce Lili, by Scat Daddy. The price was later matched by an Into Mischief colt out of Validest, sold to Grandview Equine from the consignment of Indian Creek. The bay colt is out of a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Global View and to the dam of recent Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes winner Gun Pilot.

Overall, 154 yearlings sold for a record gross of $82,160,000, eclipsing by almost 10% the record set last year when the same number of yearlings sold. The average and median also toppled records established last year. The average rose 10% to $533,506 and the median climbed 13% to $425,000.

Prior to the first yearling being offered on Tuesday, a 1/40th share in this year’s leading first-crop sire Complexity sold for $510,000 to David Lanigan, agent for Heider Family Stables.

Opening session sets a strong pace

VIBRANT trade marked the opening session of the sale. “It was obviously a really strong start to this year’s Saratoga Sale,” said Boyd Browning. “Lots of competition, lots of energy, lots of excitement; just a tremendous start.”

Six lots sold for a million dollars or more, and they included the eventual sale-topper. Next to him during the opening session was a filly by Curlin who sold for $1,900,000 to West Bloodstock, agent for Robert & Lawana Low. She was consigned by Gainesway for Don Alberto Corporation. The filly is the first foal out of the stakes winner Matera, a half-sister to record-setting Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam’s Map, and graded stakes winner and successful young sire Not This Time.

A colt by Gun Runner sold for $1,700,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Bluewater Sales. Out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Lady Godiva, he is a half-brother to the Grade 1 Clark Handicap winner Leofric. Bred by Don Alberto Corporation, a son of Tapit sold for $1,500,000 to Flying Dutchmen from the consignment of Lane’s End. He is the second foal out of Grade 2 winner and four-time Grade 1-placed Mopotism.

A member of the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Charlatan realised $1,500,000 to Resolute Bloodstock from the consignment of Warrendale Sales, agent for Stonestreet. He is a half-brother to Grade 1 winning juvenile and current leading first-crop sire Complexity. Another significant purchase by M.V. Magnier and White Birch was a son of Into Mischief, and he cost $1,000,000 from the Darby Dan Farm draft. The colt is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner She Can’t Sing.