Selling just minutes apart, two colts brought the top price of $500,000 on the second day of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale Oct. 21 in Lexington.
OGMA Investments secured Hip 576, a colt by first-crop yearling sire Life Is Good , and for the second year in a row at the October sale Mahmud Mouni nabbed an Into Mischief full brother (Hip 579) to multiple graded stakes-placed Shoplifted .
Gustavo Delgado Jr. of OGMA Investments said his team was trying to land a yearling by Life Is Good at Keeneland, but did not succeed as the competition was fierce.
"What's not to like?" Delgado said of the yearling colt. "He's a beautiful horse, his frame, he's a nice horse.
"We aim for two-turn horses, races on Saturdays, that kind of thing. He looks like one of the horses that can take you there. I think we're going to be fine with this one. But like anything, you have to be lucky."
Delgado has experience selecting accomplished two-turn horses; he bought 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage for $290,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
"That was my guess," Delgado said about the $500,000 price tag. "I could see interest from a lot of groups. Thank God we have our own group, and I have to say thank you to the partners that we have. You have to hook up with the right people."
Delgado said the colt would ship to Florida and will be put on the same schedule as their other yearlings. He hopes to add another colt to the roster by the end of the sale.
Hip 576 was bred in Kentucky by St. Elias Stables, and is out of the multiple graded stakes-placed mare Shippy. She was consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent.
WinStar Farm's Life Is Good stood his first year at stud in 2023 for an advertised fee of $100,000. His yearlings have averaged $318,878, topped by a $1.25 million half sister to group 3 winner Shivaji and grade 1-placed Westwood. The multiple graded stakes winner earned more than $4.5 million during his career, retiring with nine wins from 12 starts. He will stand the 2026 season at $60,000.
Mouni, who is plenty familiar with the family of stakes winner Shoplifted, secured a full brother (Hip 579) to the horse yet again. Last year, he purchased a full brother to Shoplifted for $450,000 at this sale. The colt was bred in Kentucky by Newtownanner Stud Farm, and was offered by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent. He is out of the Yes It's True mare Shopit, who is the dam of five winners from six to race.
Hip 455, the highest-priced filly of the day at $400,000, went to prominent pinhooker Tom McCrocklin. The daughter of Omaha Beach is the second foal of the More Than Ready mare Ready for Charm, who is a half sister to dam of recent Alcibiades Stakes (G1) runner-up Percy's Bar. Hip 455 was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for WinStar Farm Bred and Raised.
When asked what he liked about the filly McCrocklin responded: "Everything. Pedigree, conformation, just a superior physical."
McCrocklin said he was not at all surprised by the prices horses are bringing at the sale.
"It's been extremely bullish all year. There's a lot of money still out there, and I'm just fighting for a little piece of the pizza at this point. Keeneland was record-shattering, difficult.
"I'm in the horse business, and I need horses, and I have people that want to support our program, so we are actively trying to buy good horses, and there will be more to come this sale."
At the conclusion of the second session, 263 horses had changed hands for a total of $15,912,000, including private sales. The average price was $60,502, with a median of $32,000. Seventy-five horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 22%. Last year's results for Day 2 of the sale produced a similar gross of $15,572,000, from 275 horses sold, for an average of $56,625, and a median of $20,000.
"The median has probably been a little bit impacted by raising the upset price from $1,000 to $2,500, so a few horses aren't getting sold that would've been sold last year," explained Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. "We're not complaining about that, because we did that for other reasons that we thought were very, very important to what we're trying to do.
"Increases in the average price, increases in the median, gross sales increased, RNA rate was certainly acceptable. Strong bidding again, throughout. We've seen these same trends from start to finish in the 2025 year in the marketplace, with no real surprise. But, it's always encouraging to feel the enthusiasm, to see the crowd that's here, and to see the overall level of activity. It felt good, and we're looking forward to the next two days."
Kenny McPeek was the leading buyer of the day with six purchases totaling $1,017,000, which included a Liam's Map colt (Hip 610) for $360,000, and a Twirling Candy filly (Hip 692), who received a timely update Oct. 4 when her half brother Litmus Test ran third in the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland behind Ted Noffey.
Taylor Made Sales Agency sold 41 from their draft for $2,397,500 to lead the consignors.
The October Yearlings sale continues at 10 a.m. ET, Oct. 22, with hips 801-1200 scheduled to go through the ring.
