By Jessica Martini
LEXINGTON, KY – The yearling sales season kicks off Tuesday with the Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington. Bidding at the one-session auction begins at 10 a.m.
“We're optimistic,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said of expectations for the sale. “We've seen a very solid 2-year-old marketplace throughout the spring. There is demand for quality horses, certainly plenty of interest. Racing is pretty good right now.”
On a balmy Monday morning in Lexington, buyers were out in force and consignors were busy showing yearlings to a strong mixture of pinhookers and end-users.
“Hopefully it will be the same as usual,” Paramount Sales' Gabriel Duignan said of expectations for the July market. “Racing is very good, purses are great. The traffic seems to be busy here. The pinhookers had a good year and this sale is driven by pinhookers. So I am very hopeful it will be a good sale.”
Brian Graves, overseeing the Gainesway consignment Monday morning, agreed activity has been brisk at the sales barns.
“It's been busy,” Graves said. “There are a lot of people here. It will be interesting to see how many are end-users, but the market is alive and well, that's for certain. Most of the horses in the barn have been vetted well before they sell tomorrow. Usually, in a different climate when it's not so busy, you are waiting right up to the end to see some action. It seems like people are here to participate. I would expect it to be a fair market, whether it's as good as it was last year or not remains to be seen, but it will be healthy.”
Canceled due to the pandemic in 2020, the July auction rebounded with a strong showing in 2021, setting its fourth highest average and second highest median. A filly by Into Mischief brought the auction's top price when selling for $800,000.
Following a spring of competitive results at the 2-year-old sales and with purses at record levels, a strong yearling market would seem a safe bet, but volatility in the stock market–and in the overall economy–looms in the background.
“[Economic conditions] are a little concerning, but our racing is so healthy at the moment and I think there is a shortage of horses,” Duignan said.
Graves said, “The thing about horse people is they can't just take up plumbing. They just can't take up a different profession. They make their living by buying, developing and selling horses. Whether the horse market trails the stock market and it's off 10 or 15%, it could happen. What is important to me is that there is healthy trade. That you can take a horse and turn it into cash. And that clearly looks like it will be the case here. I don't see any big red flags.”
The July sale comes just a week after the implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act and the new authority is another positive for the industry, according to Machmer Hall Sales' Carrie Brogden.
“I think everyone has to be aware of what is happening in the world-wide economy and in Ukraine and food prices, etc., but I think there are a lot of things to be very excited about,” Brogden said. “Obviously, there are some big changes in our industry with HISA coming online, but I personally am very optimistic that, after the changes shake out, we are going to be better and stronger. For me, I hate that the foal crop keeps shrinking. That means less product, fewer horses to race, but I am hopeful that all the changes, even though in the short term it may be hard for people to get through, ultimately we are going to get through it a lot stronger and reverse the trend on the other side.”
A total of 302 yearlings have been catalogued for the July sale, with 39 withdrawn as of Monday late morning. The auction opens with an offering of 88 youngsters by first-crop sires. The group of new stallions includes: Audible, Catalina Cruiser, Catholic Boy, Copper Bullet, Demarchelier (GB), Enticed, Flameaway, Maximus Mischief, Mitole, Omaha Beach, Preservationist, St Patrick's Day, Vino Rosso, World of Trouble, and Yoshida (Jpn).
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