On a record-breaking night for The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, where both the million-dollar horses and champagne flowed, Fasig-Tipton will have to restock the bubbly.
Fasig-Tipton gladly will take on that assignment after toasts followed the sale of 25 horses that reached $1 million or more at the sale Aug. 4-5 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Sixteen of those seven-figure horses sold on Tuesday night. At last year's record-breaking sale, just a dozen yearlings sold for $1 million over the two days.
"We're all out of champagne," Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. explained as he showed up without the usual glasses of bubbly for gathered media after Tuesday's electrifying session in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion. This year's sale not only set records, it smashed them. The sale saw 160 yearlings sell for $100,715,000, up 23% from last year's gross. Average spiked 18% to $629,469 and median improved 5.9% to $450,000.
WATCH: Experience a Record-Smashing F-T Saratoga Sale
John Stewart's Resolute Bloodstock was leading buyer by gross over the two days, purchasing five yearlings for $5,425,000. Repole Stable was narrowly second, spending $5,410,000 for 11 yearlings. The sale's leading sire was Three Chimneys Farm's Gun Runner , whose eight yearlings sold averaged $1,581,250, including three that sold for more than $2 million. Taylor Made Sales Agency led consignors with $16,185,000 in gross sales for 27 head sold.
Browning became emotional as he recalled consignors who have been bringing top horses to the sale for years, even sons and daughters of parents who brought top yearlings to Saratoga Springs. He saluted the Fasig-Tipton team for bringing the record night together.
"We try to work hard and try to do the right thing. And on nights like this, it all comes together like magic; but there's no magic," Browning said. "It feels like magic, but it's magic because our folks are out there recruiting the very best horses and telling people the truth: 'We love this horse. We wish we could take this horse to Saratoga, but it doesn't fit.' That's part of telling the buyers, 'We're going to bring you the very best group of horses that we can possibly bring you.'"
Champagne orders picked up about midway through Tuesday's session and didn't relent. An Into Mischief colt, Hip 218, would provide a grand finale when he topped the session and became the third-highest-priced horse to ever sell at the sale when he went for $4.1 million as one of the final five hips offered. Peter Brant's White Birch Farm and partners affiliated with John Magnier's Coolmore landed the colt out of the grade 2-placed Tapit mare Stellar Sound.
Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent for breeder Don Alberto Corporation, consigned the sale-topping colt, who left the ring to a round of applause.
"He's a really beautiful horse," Brant said of the colt who eventually will go to Chad Brown for training. "He's well put together, well bred. He goes back to the great old Phipps blood. We really liked him and we're very proud to have him."
Hill 'n' Dale general manager Jared Burdine said the colt had been well received in a sale barn filled with terrific horses.
"He was the man among boys. He stood out from the get-go, and he was nicer today than he was 300 shows ago, when we started showing on Friday," Burdine said. "I'm thankful for Don Alberto for trusting us in selling him. We've got to see him progress throughout the year, and he's always had a great presence. Every time he came out and showed us, even at the farm and even here, he just had a great presence.
"When everything falls in line, you get a little magic up here in Saratoga."
Resolute Bloodstock went to $3 million for another son of Into Mischief. The colt consigned as Hip 178 by Gainesway, agent for Stonestreet Bred for Brilliance, is the second foal of the stakes-winning, grade 1-placed Bernardini mare Lady Kate.
READ: Resolute Lands Into Mischief Colt for $3 Million
"Anytime you see a horse that is Stonestreet-bred, it's a top horse," Stewart said. "Barbara (Banke) does a great job. We're looking for good two-turn colts and you can't beat Into Mischief, so we are pretty happy.
"You can see all of these Into Mischiefs and Gun Runners and Not This Times are bringing good money at the sale as they should."
In both 2023 and 2024 bloodstock agent Donato Lanni signed a ticket for the highest-priced horse in The Saratoga Sale, buying on behalf of Zedan Racing. Lanni and Zedan didn't go three in a row, but they came close during the second session of this year's sale, going to $2.9 million for Hip 179, a Gun Runner colt out of the stakes-winning Tapit mare Princesa Carolina .
"It's a crazy market," Lanni said. "What cost $2 million last year is costing $3 million this year."
Consigned by Four Star Sales, agent, the colt was bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm.
READ: Son of Gun Runner Brings $2.9 Million From Zedan
The night could have been even better if not for a half sister to Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Journalism not selling despite leaving the ring after a bid of $3.9 million. Craig Bandoroff, founder of Denali Stud, said the reserve was $4 million.
READ: Journalism's Half Sister Fails to Meet Reserve
But the vast majority of horses, 82 of 93 offered, did sell. And many of those saw top prices. At $2.6 million and tying for the fourth-highest price of the night were an Into Mischief colt (Hip 163) and a Gun Runner filly (Hip 175). The latter finished as the highest-priced filly of the sale.
Spendthrift Farm bought out co-breeders Carolyn Gray and Fletcher Gray, with the winning bid on Hip 163, who was consigned by Warrendale Sales for the breeders. The colt is out of multiple grade 1 winner I'm a Chatterbox, by Munnings .
"We bought half of I'm a Chatterbox several years ago," said Spendthrift Farm general manager Ned Toffey. "We raised this colt, we know a lot about him, and he's as pretty as any colt in the sale. We're really happy to have him."
The Gun Runner filly is the first foal offered at auction out of multiple grade 1 winner Paradise Woods. She was purchased by Love/Linton, agent for Boyd Racing, from the consignment of Lane's End, agent for Tranquility Lake Farms. The purchase was icing on the cake for Billy Love as he celebrated his birthday Tuesday.
Toffey said buyers came ready to spend the money needed to get the horses they wanted at the two-day sale.
"We got outbid so badly on several horses (Monday) night. We got several bought, others we tried to buy but didn't get anywhere close," Toffey said. "I came up here thinking that (Hip 163) would bring maybe $1.5 million, but after last night, I started thinking that he might bring more because the market is so strong."
Encouraging Results
As a select sale of just 181 horses offered, the Saratoga Sale is perhaps not the best to form an overall opinion of the health of the industry, but this year's sale seems to indicate that at least the upper market continues to be on very solid ground. The Saratoga Sale enjoyed a record year in 2024 and the yearling market overall for 2024 finished with the top gross sales, $636.5 million; and top average, $100,665; of the 21st century.
While those overall numbers will play out in the months ahead, the success of the Saratoga Sale has followed some encouraging months for racing and breeding.
The Triple Crown series in the spring proved compelling and influencer Griffin Johnson, in partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds and America's Best Racing, brought new eyeballs to the sport. Through America's Best Racing's "A Stake in Stardom" initiative, Johnson was able to lean into his love of horses as a minority owner of Arkansas Derby (G1) winner and Kentucky Derby (G1) runner Sandman. In the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby, Johnson provided his 14 million followers behind-the-scenes access to the Sport of Kings through videos and social media content that saw 212.2 million impressions. Churchill Downs officials credited that surge as one reason the Derby enjoyed record wagering and highest television ratings since 1989.
Racing continues to register record safe seasons for its equine competitors under the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
The stars from this year's Triple Crown resonated and they continue to race: dual-classic winner Sovereignty, Preakness winner Journalism, and dual classic-placed runner Baeza. Pimlico Race Course and Belmont Park will soon have renovated new homes for their classics while Churchill Downs continues to invest in the home of the Kentucky Derby.
In April Netflix released a documentary series, "Race for the Crown," that provided viewers with behind-the-scenes access to some of the biggest races of 2024. Longtime Standardbred horseman Kjell Andersen saw his interest in Thoroughbred racing piqued when he watched that show and it took the form of a $1.4 million purchase of a Not This Time colt during Monday's opening session. Browning noted a depth of buyers helped the sale to record numbers.
Off the track, recent legislation that made 100% bonus depreciation permanent is boosting confidence and allowing forward-thinking business plans. Warrendale partner and director of bloodstock services Hunter Simms credited that legislation with providing long-term stability.
"The bill that provided 100% depreciation plays into a good market," he said. "There's a good vibe in the horse business."
Browning said those positive industry trends are impacting sales.
"The current tax legislation is certainly a benefit. The racing at the upper levels is really good. We see some positive signs with major investments being made in Kentucky, New York, Maryland, and so forth," Browning said. "So there's a lot of positive things that are happening.
"Love them or hate them, I think that you have to give some credit to HISA. I think that HISA certainly has had a positive influence on the upper end of our business. Again, I always say if we all will continue to work together, we can build a bigger base with both buyers and sellers."
Buyer Andrew Hudson of Hoolie Racing, which purchased Hip 36 for $1.6 million during the opening session, noted that overall inflation in recent years likely is a factor in increasing prices at auction. He said the $1.6 million paid for the Good Magic colt was more than they had projected.
"It’s a little bit higher than what we thought, but the reality is, in this market, that’s the world we live in right now," Hudson said. "I think the horses that a few years ago were bringing a million are now going to bring $1.2, $1.3, or $1.4 million."
An elated Browning, thankful for years of commitment by many, left the pavilion to attend a small post-sale party with other Fasig-Tipton employees while noting the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale was just around the corner, Aug. 10-11. The team would soon clean up the grounds and prepare for that auction.
And while moving forward with those plans is all part of the industry's constant flow, the memory of the 2025 edition of The Saratoga Sale will happily linger.
Teresa Genaro, Karen Johnson, and Sean Collins contributed to this story.
