The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale took place Sept. 30, and with the Lexington-based auction company in the thick of its fall sales schedule, president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. sat down with BloodHorse to talk about recent market trends and his company's commitment to regional sales at a time the industry is seeing centralization to the Bluegrass state.
BloodHorse: Your recently concluded California Fall Yearlings Sale featured a 10% increase in average price, with gross and median roughly holding from last year, but a 40% buyback rate. How did that market feel to you?
Boy Browning: Honestly, some metrics improved in California. The average increased by a not insignificant amount. The buyback rate did increase, and I think that was indicative of the challenges we face in the regional markets.
On that buyback rate, California breeders do have a significant incentive for the horse to stay in the state and race for breeders' awards and owners' awards, so at times, that can contribute to the sellers having higher valuations on those horses than the market does.
But no doubt it would be unrealistic to say the health of some of the regional markets is moving in unison with the Kentucky market or even the New York market. I think New York actually is on par with the national market in terms of the increases we have been seeing.
But we see some of these regional markets struggling in terms of foal crop. It doesn't take a genius to look at The Jockey Club's Report of Mares Bred and see trends taking place in most regional markets that are alarming.
BH: Even with those struggles, you and your team at Fasig-Tipton seem committed to operating sales in regional markets.
BB: We're absolutely making an effort to serve them. Maryland has been part of our heritage probably for 75 years. It's an important segment of the marketplace.
We have not been in California that long, but one of the reasons we went to California is we think it's a vital part of the national Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and sales cycle. There's a lot of very significant owners, a lot of very important trainers, and a lot of great racing that takes place in California. It's important for us to say we're going to support California and make a commitment to it.
There is hope. Right now, they are not thriving, but every market we've been involved in is somewhat cyclical in nature, and we hope there's brighter days ahead.
BH: You have the Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale Sept. 30, and those results will come out the same day this interview runs. How does the Midlantic market look to you going into the sale?
BB: The numbers are declining from where they once were in terms of Maryland-bred horses, Pennsylvania-bred horses, Delaware-bred horses, and Virginia-breds. I can't tell you off the top of my head which state is down 10% or whatever this year. But the Midlantic catalog frankly is smaller (225 this year vs. 284 last year).
I wish we had some additional horses in there, but history shows there will be some high-quality horses that will be sold at that sale that will be very successful on the racetrack and also very successful in the 2-year-old sales arena. For many, many years, the Maryland sales have produced very high-quality runners, and I am sure they will again this year.
BH: Fasig-Tipton also kicks off the breeding stock sales Oct. 14 with your Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale. There is a lot of buzz in New York right now.
BB: We're very optimistic with regard to that sale. We've seen continued upward momentum at our New York-Bred Yearling Sale in recent years. We've seen the New York-breds thriving both in their statebred program and performing in open company. We're now looking at purse parity starting in New York.
There are many reasons for optimism with regard to this crop of New York-bred foals, and there are some new stallions in New York that are certainly attracting interest. All indications are very positive in the New York marketplace.
BH: You released your catalog for the Kentucky October Yearlings Sale last week (1,601 hips). That's a sale that has had very strong results, particularly in terms of high-profile graduates.
BB: The October sale has a tremendous track record, and success begets success. Anytime you have a Horse of the Year come out of your sale ... Thorpedo Anna was sold there for $40,000, and another Breeders' Cup winner and champion from last year, Soul of an Angel, came out of the sale.
The quality of horses continues to improve year after year as a result of the success of the graduates and as a result of the market performance. People are confident to bring a quality horse to sell in the October sale, and people also have confidence coming to the sale to shop for quality horses. We're very optimistic about the 2025 edition, given the trends we've seen in the market so far.
BH: Do you think it is likely the momentum of this yearling market carries over into the main breeding stock sales later this fall?
BB: I think everyone has been buoyed by the health of the market so far in 2025. There's no question, as has been mentioned by everyone time and time again, the tax incentives have certainly helped. The financial markets at or near record highs has certainly helped. Purses on a national basis continue to be strong.
I think we need to continue to make sure, as an industry, to not be lulled to sleep or take this success that we've enjoyed so far in 2025 and rest on our laurels. There's still a lot of work we can do and improvements we can make for a better, stronger, more sustainable business.
Back to your question, if strong yearling sales carry over to breeding stock sales—they sure help! There's definitely a correlation.
The breeders have gotten rewarded for their quality of product at the yearling sales, and that gives them more confidence to reinvest into the mixed sales. Some of the same tax incentives that have boosted the yearling sales will also be in play for the breeding stock sales. You'd a whole lot rather go into the mixed sales with a strong yearling market, and that's certainly the case this year.
