George Isaacs, general manager of Bridlewood Farm, had high hopes for the homebred colt by Maclean's Music , and he was rewarded July 9 at the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings Sale. The hammer dropped at $500,000 for Hip 170, the highest price of the sale.
"I personally thought he was the type that could potentially be a sale-topping type colt. I hope we stay at that level," said Isaacs. "But needless to say, it's an awesome result and we're tickled to death."
John Stewart with Resolute Racing signed the winning ticket. Since 2023, Resolute has spent more than $25 million at public auction, boldly stating its presence on the racetrack and in the sales ring.
"He (Hip 170) was one of the top five colts that we came here to buy," said Stewart.
The chestnut colt will head to the farm to be evaluated until the fall. He will then be sent to WinStar Farm to prep for the races the following year.
Resolute Racing now has 120 Thoroughbreds on its roster, with goals of racing 50 to 75 horses each year. In his first time at this sale Stewart added nine yearlings to his stable Tuesday—including a colt and a filly for $250,000 apiece— both by successful first-crop sire Complexity .
Stewart recently sent his first 2-year-olds that he bought in September to their trainers. “We’re a little light on colts in our yearling stock, so we’re looking to stock up on colts right now,” he said. Six of his nine purchases were colts.
Gainesway consigned the Florida-bred colt who was born and raised at John Malone's Bridlewood Farm in Ocala. He is the second foal from the Speightstown mare Jotown and a half brother to Spiralizer (Twirling Candy ), who won his first time out June 13 in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs. The colt's dam is out of the Pioneerof the Nile mare and graded-stakes winner Jojo Warrior.
The average for the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings sale was up significantly compared to 2023, rising 14% to $112,461. The median was $90,000, up from $77,000 a year ago, and gross sales totaled $17,319,000 from 154 sold. The buy-back rate was 33%.
Two colts sold for $400,000. Hip 135, an Uncle Mo colt consigned by Funny Farm, sold to Mayberry Farm. Hip 168, a colt by Justify consigned by Gainesway, sold to Golden Star Farm.
A year ago, this sale sold 210, with a gross of $20,732,000 for an average of $98,724. The highest price was $475,000.
"RNA rates, same as it always is in July, a little higher than we would like because people have some options," said Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr.
"They've got October, they've got some other sales they can attend or possibly even a 2-year-old market place."
Browning thought the sale lived up to his highest expectations as the start of the yearling-sales season in North America.
"Saturday morning was busy. We pulled in Sunday morning, I had to park a row further behind than I normally do. It was really refreshing," said Browning.
"It felt good on the sales grounds from 8 o'clock Saturday morning to almost 5 on Tuesday. And a lot of people were smiling," he added.
While notably a sale for pinhookers, he stated there were a lot of end users active on the grounds—including top trainers Kenny McPeek, Steve Asmussen, and Wesley Ward.
"We've spent 10 years trying to change the label of this sale from a pinhookers sale to a yearling sale," he said.
Brian Graves, general manager of Gainesway Farm, echoed Browning's optimism.
"When we saw him (Hip 170) on the farm, we thought he was that kind of colt," Graves said of Hip 170's $500,000 price. "There's always a few anxious moments, but in the end, yeah, we were expecting something like that.
"We went through the horses in our consignment and I turned to Lakota, our assistant, and I said this is the nicest horse we have so far. He was perfect. I mean he looks like if he was at a 2-year-old sale, he'd go :09 4/5. He's a big horse, it looks like he could carry his speed," he added.
The sales action heads north to New York for Fasig-Tipton's premier yearling sale of the summer, The Saratoga Sale, which takes place Aug. 5-6 in Saratoga Springs.
"I can't wait to get to Saratoga. I cannot wait for Monday and Tuesday night," Browning said. "We've got a great catalog."
