Mark Taylor

LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearling Sale kicks off, not just the yearling sales season, but also a bidding-packed day of action at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington Tuesday. The auction, with 261 head catalogued, begins at 10 a.m. and will be followed immediately by the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale, with 70 catalogued ready-to-race offerings. Buyers were out in force at the sales barns on a steamy day in the Bluegrass Monday, with temperatures inching over the 90- degree mark. "We have been slammed all...

Later this week, breeding sheds across the Lexington region will open their doors to mares, but in the lead-up to the start of the 2025 mating season, there is an underlying feeling of unease in the Bluegrass. Several farms have already--and quite publicly--announced discounts off their initially posted stud fees, while others are either fighting hard to attract mares, or shopping private deals or fee reductions. The fear among many in town is that in 2025, the industry has reached some sort of tipping point--either due to the economy, a...

Graded winner Miss Macy Sue (Trippi), an accomplished racemare and the dam of 'TDN Rising Star' MGISW Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song) and GSW & GISP Not This Time (Giant's Causeway), has died at the age of 22, Taylor Made announced Friday afternoon. The 2007 winner of the GIII Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs, and runner-up in her title defense a year later, competed in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Monmouth Park in 2007, finishing third when it was still a Listed stakes. Upon retirement, she left...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm Lexington, Ky - The Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale concluded its three-day run Wednesday in Lexington with figures largely in line with its four-day 2024 edition. Through three days, 685 head grossed $33,444,900 for an average of $48,825 and a median of $22,000. The average increased 6% and the median rose 47% from last year's four-day sale when 831 horses grossed $38,330,300 for an average of $46,126 and a median of $15,000. The buy-back rate was 26.34% this year compared to 22.84%...

It's not that Medallion Racing, a branch of Taylor Made, didn't get off to a good start. It was anything but. A racing partnership whose goal is to gets its partners to experience racing at the highest levels around the world, Taylor Made was delivering on that promise. Out of 250 plus starts, Medallion, at one point had raced five Grade I winners, won 28 graded stakes and had 72 top-three finishes in graded stakes. But what it didn't have was a superstar, the type that could win multiple Grade...

LEXINGTON, KY -The two-session Book 3 section of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock concluded Saturday, producing double-digit increases in average and median compared to its 2023 counterpart. Keeneland sold 499 horses through the ring during Book 3 for a gross of $37,747,000. The section's average was $75,645--up 20.98% from last year's Book 3--and the median was $60,000, an increase of 20% from a year ago. During the two Book 3 sessions in 2023, 494 horses sold through the ring for a total of $30,888,000. The section average price was $62,526...

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire--Armony's Angel, by To Honor and Serve), who took home the GI Arkansas Derby, has been retired and will join the roster at Taylor Made Stallions for the upcoming breeding season, according to a press release from the farm on Wednesday. The 4-year-old, who last raced in 2023 when he finished third in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga, will stand for $7,500 LFSN. Breeders will have an opportunity to earn a lifetime breeding right to the millionaire earner of more than $1.4 million. "We're...

Nestled in the heart of Kentucky's rolling hills, Taylor Made Farm has been a cornerstone of the Thoroughbred industry for almost 50 years. Having been the leading consignor in the world 28 times in the last 30 years, Taylor Made is an operation that lives at the epicenter of the horse racing industry. When the idea of putting together a racing division was being batted around, it was a no-brainer for Mark Taylor and his family to begin to construct what is now monikered as Medallion Racing. "You could say...

by Christina Bossinakis & Stefanie Grimm LEXINGTON, KY-Up until its final moments, the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale unfolded much like last year's edition of the summer auction. Consistent trade throughout, but with the majority of the bidding action leaning toward the more accomplished offerings. That was until Informed Patriot (Hard Spun), a last-minute supplement to the sale, blew the doors off proceedings when drawing a $1.55-million final bid from agent Ibrahim Rachid, acting on behalf of HRH Prince Saud bin Salman Abdulaziz. "Quite a way to...

As is the custom, the summer ushers in the yearling sales season, headed by Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton July Sale of Selected Yearlings at Newtown Paddocks. Beginning at 10 a.m., the sale features a trimmed-down catalogue of 286 yearlings, once again highlighted by a selection of first-crop sires, making up roughly a third of the catalog. Featuring 370 head one year ago, this season's offering of yearlings points not only to availability, but to the ongoing drive toward quality. "It's always a function of the type of horses that you're exposed to...

In 2023, when Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio) went to Ascot for a shot at the G3 Albany Stakes, which she would go on to win, the other partners in the ownership group tried to convince Mark Taylor to come along on the trip. Taylor Made's Medallion Racing had bought Porta Fortuna along with Barry Fowler, Steve Weston and Dean Reeves after her two-year-old debut win at the Curragh last April, and had already been rewarded with three graded stakes wins, including the G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes, and a second in...

The Midwestern sage, Mark Twain espoused, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." Nothing could be more apropos when considering joining a Thoroughbred racehorse partnership. Getting started is the hardest part for most prospective owners. The world of Thoroughbred racing can seem as inaccessible as the Churchill Downs Turf Club on Derby Day. The good news is joining a partnership makes getting started easier. In the first part of this series, we provided basic information such as investment levels, tax considerations and the entertainment value partnerships offer. In Part...