A colt by Spendthrift Farm's first-crop yearling sire Arabian Lion topped the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale Sept. 30 for a sale-record price of $525,000. The previous record was $350,000 set in 2021 for an American Pharoah filly. California-based trainer Michael McCarthy signed the ticket for Hip 202 on behalf of Marc Gunderson's MWG Enterprises.
MWG Enterprises was the leading buyer of the sale with two purchases totaling $625,000. His other purchase, via McCarthy, was Hip 241, a filly by leading third-crop sire Vekoma for $100,000. Barton Thoroughbreds consigned both hips and topped all consignors Wednesday, selling 30 from their draft for a total of $1,964,500.
Richard Barton Enterprises bred Hip 202 in California. He is out of the Juddmonte Farms-bred Empire Maker mare Imperial Pippin, who was four times stakes-placed. She has produced five horses to race, all winners, including three-time stakes winner Pushiness (Kantharos ). McCarthy trained the latter for Repole Stable.
Barton purchased the mare with Pushiness in utero for $16,000 at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
The highest price for a filly was $300,000, achieved by two consigned by Havens Bloodstock Agency: Hip 251, Little Spunshine, a filly by Hard Spun , sold to IJJ Racing, and Hip 62, No Mo Mo, a filly from the last crop of Uncle Mo.
Hip 251 is out of the Palace Malice mare Miss Segura, who is a full sister to 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) winner Structor and a half sister to Always Carina, the dam of Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Always a Runner (Gun Runner ). Under the third dam are 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G2T) winner More Than Real and that mare's daughter Miss Debutante, the dam of 2024 Golden Slipper (G1) winner Lady Of Camelot.
Owner Mike Repole of Repole Stable, with McCarthy as agent, bought Hip 62. She was bred in California by Thomas Bachman out of the multiple stakes-winning and multiple graded stakes-placed mare Tomlin. She hails from the immediate family of 2025 Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) winner Fionn.
Repole owned the Todd Pletcher-trained Uncle Mo during his racing career.
McCarthy and Repole have had success together from this sale before. McCarthy purchased the aforementioned Pushiness for $115,000, acting as agent for Repole in 2022. She earned $386,426 and hit the board in 10 of her 11 starts.
By the end of Wednesday, 139 horses had changed hands for gross receipts of $4,896,200, including post-ring sales, a 6% increase from last year's gross. The average price was up 9.1% to $35,224, and the median stayed the same at $15,000. The RNA rate was 43%, representing the 106 horses who failed to meet their reserve.
"One thing I was very encouraged about was that most of the Southern California leading trainers were in attendance on the sales grounds and worked hard," said Boyd Browning Jr., president and CEO of Fasig-Tipton.
New this year, Fasig-Tipton, in partnership with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, is offering a $500,000 bonus to the first sale graduate that wins a grade 1 race in the United States at age 2 or 3. Eligibility is limited to horses offered at this year's auction, including both successful sales and RNAs.
The bonus will be divided equally between the owner of the horse at the time of the grade 1 win and the owner of the horse when it was offered at the 2026 sale.
"It's important to have a cooperative approach to the sales and the racing industry in California right now," Browning continued. "We recognize the challenges. We're trying to serve the market. It's encouraging when the men and women whose future, quite frankly, depends on California racing show up and participate.
"We're making every effort to be supportive of the California market, and today was encouraging. It is vitally important to the entire North American Thoroughbred industry, from a sales standpoint, from a breeding standpoint, from a racing standpoint, from a gambling standpoint—it's a very, very important segment of the market."
