An optimistic market is expected as the North American yearling sales season kicks off July 14 at Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale in Lexington. The one-day sale will feature 19 highly anticipated first-crop yearling stallions, as buyers swarm in for first looks.
Few entries have the privilege of being a sibling to one of the most exciting juveniles in the country. Hip 52, a filly from the first crop of the multiple graded-stakes winner Two Phil's , flashes both potential talent and a family with unlimited market appeal.
Taylor Made's president and CEO Mark Taylor is highly optimistic about the filly in the consignment lineup and expects she'll be popular.
The Taylor Made Sales Agency-offered filly is out of the graded-stakes-producing mare Fingerprint, making Hip 52 a half sister to recent Sanford Stakes (G3) winner Booked.
Going off as the favorite, the Steve Asmussen trainee crushed the field to win the Sanford by 6 lengths July 4 at Saratoga Race Course, increasing his career earnings to $204,520.
The 2-year-old son of Yaupon was a $325,000 yearling purchase at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he sold to Jackpot Farm from the Vinery Sales consignment.
Their dam Fingerprint, an unraced daughter of Competitive Edge , set the bar high at the very start of her career as a broodmare. Her first foal Zadorsky, by Tapiture , is a multiple stakes-placed mare and has earned more than $400,000 from 23 career starts.
"She's already gotten a stakes-placed horse in her very first foal, and now she's gotten a graded stakes winner. So you know she's stamped herself as one of those special mares that maybe no matter what you breed her to, she's going to throw," Taylor said.
Hip 52 was bred in Indiana by Versatile Thoroughbreds and Polo Green Stable. Versatile Thoroughbreds purchased her dam Fingerprint for $20,000 in last year's Fasig-Tipton March Digital Sale, with Hip 52 in utero.
As a late April foal, Taylor noted that she has the structure to allow plenty of room for growth.
"The timing's right in this sale because the pedigree is very live, but I think this filly is going to look even better (as she matures)," Taylor said. "She just looks like she's got an awesome frame to fill into."
By first-crop stallion Two Phil's, Hip 52 carries the class and precocity of her sire and will look to continue the early success of her family.
"I think this horse looks like what I'm expecting out of Two Phil's; nice long neck, beautiful shoulder, and a good hip on her," Taylor said.
A son of veteran sire Hard Spun , Two Phil's announced his arrival when becoming a graded stakes winner in the 2022 Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old. He then went on to win the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) by 5 1/4 lengths, finishing just 0.74 seconds off the track record.
Following that performance, Two Phil's was runner-up in the 2023 Kentucky Derby (G1), where his 105 Beyer was equal to or higher than that of any Derby winner from the previous 18 years. He closed out his career with a 5 3/4-length victory in the Ohio Derby (G3) before retiring to WinStar Farm later that year with career earnings totaling $1,583,450.
"From what I've seen, I think Two Phil's is throwing a lot of that size and scope that you see with Hard Spun," Taylor said.
Two Phil's stood his third season in 2026 at WinStar Farm near Versailles, Ky., for an advertised fee of $7,500.
