Fasig-Tipton October Starts Monday

The Fasig-Tipton October Sale, the final yearling sale of the season, begins its three-day run in Lexington Monday, with the first of 1,256 catalogued youngsters scheduled to go under the hammer at 10 a.m.
October sale graduates continue to prove successful both on the racetrack and while making return trips through the sales ring. Mor Spirit (Eskendereya), an $85,000 purchase at the 2014 sale, resold for $650,000 at the following year's Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale before winning the GI Los Alamitos Futurity. Birdatthewire (Summer Bird), a 2013 graduate of the auction, counts the GI La Brea S. among her three graded tallies, while 2015 graduate La Coronel (Colonel John) won this month's GIII Jessamine S.
“I think the October sale has certainly gained acceptance among both buyers and sellers,” commented Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “It's a legitimate marketplace. It's a sale that people can now literally point horses to and buyers literally plan some of their shopping behavior and set aside some of their money specifically for October. It certainly has a strong presence and a place on the calendar. The results in the sales ring and on the racetrack have been positive for the last several years and we would expect that to continue.”
The October sale is the finale of a yearling sales season which produced plenty of action on top offerings, but significantly less interest at lower levels of the market. Browning looks for that trend to continue this week in Lexington.
“I think we will continue to see the same trends that we've seen throughout the yearling marketplace in 2016,” Browning said. “It will be a fairly similar marketplace with some polarization and some selectivity and probably a little less competition than we would like at the lower end of the market, but plenty of competition at the upper and middle segments. I think we've lived in a fairly static market in pretty much all sectors for the last two to three years and there haven't been any really dramatic changes.”
Last year's October Sale, which was held for the first time over four days, saw 854 yearlings gross $29,369,300 for an average of $34,390 and a median of $15,000. A colt by Tapit brought the auction's top price of $410,000 when selling to John Oxley.
With entries down from last year's 1,485 yearlings, the October sale moves back to its three-day format in 2016.
“Last year was a substantial increase–it's the most we've ever had and I think we're all pretty happy that we have a few less horses this year just from a facility standpoint,” Browning said. “We had as many horses in temporary stalls as we had in permanent stalls last year. It was kind of taxing with four days given all the level of activity that takes place during this time of year, between sales in Maryland and Saratoga and approaching November, so this more in line with the traditional number that we've sold in the last three to four years. I think last year was an aberration.”
Bidding continues Tuesday and Wednesday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.