Darley Stallions' high-profile first-crop yearling sire Cody's Wish reasserted his position as the market leader of his sire class following a robust edition of Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale, its boutique select yearling sale Aug. 10-11.
The 2023 Horse of the Year exited last year's mixed sales with the class-leading weanling average of $281,071 from 14 sold. Lane's End's Up to the Mark and Juddmonte's Elite Power were ranked second and third nearly $100,000 back, with averages of $182,444 (nine sold) and $182,353 (17 sold), respectively.
At the Saratoga sale, the appetite for some of the strongest individuals among Cody's Wish's first foals drove his average to $525,000 from four sold out of seven offered. A bay colt out of the grade 1-placed winner Pride of the Nile (Pioneerof the Nile) grabbed the limelight among the Cody's Wish entries after Flying Dutchmen went to $950,000 to buy him out the Lane's End consignment.
The colt (Hip 50) was bred by Wild Aire Partners, a group formed and managed by Virginia "Gigi" Lazenby, who began assembling a small band of high-quality commercial mares for the partnership several years ago. Pride of the Nile was among those early purchases, having been acquired for $1.025 million by agent Jim Schenck at Fasig-Tipton's 2023 The November Sale. Hip 50 is the first foal out of Pride of the Nile, who also has a weanling colt by Taylor Made Stallions' leading sire Not This Time .
Lazenby is the CEO of Bretagne, an oil company based in Eastern Kentucky, and also has a long association with the racing industry through steeplechasing and flat races.
"He far surpassed our expectations, and we couldn't be happier with the results," said Allaire Ryan, sales director for Lane's End during a video captured by Darley after the colt sold. "It's always exciting to have such a nice physical that's by a first-crop sire, like Cody's Wish. The stallion himself was such a phenomenal racehorse, and everybody's a Cody's Wish fan, so it just made all the sense in the world to bring an individual like him up here, where he could be showcased in a boutique setting. It worked out for everyone."
Cody's Wish was among the main stories of the 2023 Breeders' Cup World Championships because of a connection the horse had to the late Cody Dorman. The bond between Cody's Wish and Dorman began in 2018 when the Dorman family visited Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Dorman was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and used a wheelchair for mobility. During the Gainsborough visit, Dorman, who was 12 at the time, was approached by a young foal that was Cody's Wish. From that moment, a lifelong connection was formed. Cody's Wish went on to become a two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in 2022-23 and was named 2023 Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male. Watching Cody's Wish capture his second consecutive victory in the Dirt Mile, Dorman's courage and joy captured the hearts of fans worldwide.
The Cody's Wish yearling colt was only one sentence in a strong statement made by Flying Dutchmen among the Saratoga sale's buyers. The operation owned by Dutch Bros drive-thru coffee chain co-founder Travis Boersma bought 11 yearlings for an eye-popping $21,625,000, more than the top four buyers spent at this sale in 2025.
"He is awesome. We liked him all week," said Hunter Rankin, racing manager for Flying Dutchmen. "You know, you get them so many times up here, and he was cool every time."
After Cody's Wish, the next three highly ranked first-crop sires all had averages of $400,000 or up. They include Ashford Stud's Gunite ($478,333) and Spendthrift Farm's Forte ($457,500) and Taiba ($400,000). Taiba and Gunite were also the leading first-crop sires by average at Fasig-Tipton's The July Sale among stallions with two or more sold. During the July sale, Cody's Wish and Forte were represented by only one horse sold.
As a testament to the overall strength of the Saratoga sale, which set records for gross, average, and median, none of the 10 first-crop yearling sires represented had an average that fell below $225,000.
| Leading First-Crop Sires by Average at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale | |||||
| (min. 2 sold) | |||||
| Sire | Offered | Sold | Average | Median | High Price |
| Cody's Wish | 7 | 4 | $525,000 | $450,000 | $950,000 |
| Gunite | 4 | 3 | $478,333 | $450,000 | $675,000 |
| Forte | 8 | 6 | $457,500 | $450,000 | $700,000 |
| Taiba | 3 | 2 | $400,000 | $400,000 | $400,000 |
| Loggins | 2 | 2 | $387,500 | $387,500 | $550,000 |
| Elite Power | 10 | 7 | $350,000 | $300,000 | $550,000 |
| Mage | 2 | 2 | $325,000 | $325,000 | $450,000 |
| Up to the Mark | 2 | 2 | $325,000 | $325,000 | $400,000 |
| Arcangelo | 3 | 2 | $305,000 | $305,000 | $475,000 |
| Arabian Lion | 2 | 2 | $225,000 | $225,000 | $250,000 |
