$725K Nyquist Filly Heads Day 3 of F-T October Sale

Demand for fillies drove the market during the third session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale Oct. 21, with fillies accounting for five of the top seven prices. Hip 996, a filly by Nyquist, who was carrying a major pedigree update, topped the third session, selling for $725,000 to Andrew Beck—son of Gainesway chairman Antony Beck—and Ben Gowans, signing as Young Squirrel Stables. The filly is a full sister to Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) entrant Gaudreau, who was recently second in the Champagne Stakes (G1) to U. S. S. Valor. "The moment we saw her, we were really just blown away by her, and my dad was thrilled by her when he was here," Beck said. "He was teaching me things and using this filly as an example. "She's the epitome of what we're looking for and she's just so classy and an absolutely lovely filly that we can't wait to have in the stable." Beck credited the team for its group effort. He also added that being a full sister to Gaudreau only added to her appeal. The Chad Brown-trained colt is pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, set to take place Oct. 30 at Keeneland. Hailing from a fast, active family, the filly possesses immense long-term upside with significant residual value as a future broodmare. Beck said her value as a broodmare certainly influenced the decision to purchase her. "We try to continue to grow our broodmare band and try to be as strong as we can on that front and really breed racehorses; and that's what she looks like to us," Beck said. "The way she walks, the way she acts, everything about her just screams racehorse." Although Beck grew up at Gainesway, near Lexington, it has only been over the last few years that he has gotten involved in the Thoroughbred business. "My dad and I love doing it together. I'm new to it, but loving it so far," he said. The filly was the fifth purchase during the October sale for Gowans, four as agent for Young Squirrel Stables. Gowans is part of the bloodstock and racing team at Gainesway. "We're so lucky to have him (Ben) on our team and he's a very good friend of mine," Beck said. "It's onward and upward for us. We're the young squirrels." Hip 996 was bred in Louisiana by Coteau Grove Farms. She is out of the stakes-placed Congrats mare Free Cover, who was acquired by Cary Bloodstock for $260,000 on behalf of Coteau Grove at the 2020 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale while she was carrying a foal by Nyquist. Keith and Ginger Myers, who established Coteau Grove in 2008, had their best year overall in 2025, finishing 17th nationally among breeders, with 78 wins totaling $3,738,553. They were named a finalist for National Breeder of the Year for the first time for that season. Hip 996 became the highest-priced horse ever sold by Coteau Grove. "We're thrilled. Over-the-moon ecstatic," said Andrew Cary, adviser for Coteau Grove. "Thrilled that she went to a great home; Ben Gowans is a good friend of mine, he had a Nyquist filly win a grade 1 recently, so he certainly knows the type, and he's had an amazing summer. He's a top up-and-coming agent; I wish him all the best." Gowans, as agent for Young Squirrel Stables, purchased recent Alcibiades Stakes (G1) winner Emphatic at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $260,000. She is a top contender for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Oct. 30 at Keeneland. Brendan Walsh trains the filly for Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen. Free Cover's first foal was Undercover Girl (Nyquist), who won on debut by 2 3/4 lengths. After a minor setback, the filly was never able to reach her full potential, but joined the broodmare band at Coteau Grove. Free Cover produced a Wit colt in February and, with Nyquist's fee at $175,000 for the 2026 season, Cary and Coteau Grove instead sent her to a different son of Uncle Mo in Arabian Knight, who has his first foals on the ground this year. "(Coteau Grove) has been so successful. It's been amazing," Beck said. "You know she's coming from a great place and she wasn't prepped like most of the other horses were, which is something we really like to see. All natural, just a horse that was born to do what we'd like to see her do, which is be a great racehorse." Shortly after the sale of Hip 996, another filly lit up the bid board at $500,000. April Mayberry, bidding on behalf of Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable, secured Hip 1030, a filly by first-crop yearling sire Forte from Woods Edge Farm. Mayberry was already well acquainted with the family, having broken and trained the filly's half sister Ghostline (Flightline), for C R K. "This filly was beautiful; big, strong, looks like a colt," Mayberry said. "Just very classy and smooth. I just loved her. The first day I saw her, I called my client and said 'OK, I found one. I found the one.' That's it." Hip 1030 was bred and consigned by Woods Edge Farm. She is out of the Ghostzapper mare Ghostslayer, who was purchased by Woods Edge for $110,000 in 2018 at the November Breeding Stock Sale. "Beautiful filly; she was a beautiful foal," said Peter O'Callaghan of Woods Edge Farm. "She was staged to go in (Keeneland) September, had a last-minute hiccup, and wheeled her back here. She showed like a queen all week. We were delighted (with the price), beyond our expectations." READ: Mayberry Farm Secures Forte Filly for C R K Stable Hip 1088, a filly by Constitution out of the grade 1-winning Uncle Mo mare Dream Tree, sold for $375,000 to Good Horse, agent for Morplay Racing. Dream Tree is the dam of Hypnus (Into Mischief), who is multiple group-placed for owner Wathnan Racing. Hip 1088, bred by Brookdale Racing, was consigned by Denali Stud, agent. The highest-priced colt of the third session was Hip 1191, a son of second-leading freshman sire Jackie's Warrior, who sold for $330,000 to Alex and JoAnn Lieblong/Fawkes, agent. The colt was bred in Kentucky by Cypress Creek Equine and KK Thoroughbred Racing and consigned by Summerfield, agent. He is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Ju Ju Vip, a full sister to grade 2 winner and grade 1-placed Dream Lith. He was picked up as a short yearling for $100,000 by Florida Boys at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale in February, proving to be a successful pinhook. Sale Statistics At the end of the third session, 268 horses had changed hands for $15,153,000, including private sales. The gross was down 23% compared to last year's third session, which saw 278 horses sell for $19,747,500. "Last year's Wednesday session was pretty spectacular. It was by far the best session we'd ever had in the October sale," said Boyd Browning Jr., president and CEO of Fasig-Tipton. "So, the stats were going to be very difficult to ever match that one session last year." Horses are cataloged in alphabetical order for the October sale catalog, which makes session-to-session comparisons difficult. The average price was $56,541, down from last year's record session of $71,034. The median was $27,000, down from $30,000 last year. Sixty-eight horses (20%) failed to meet their reserve. "I think what we're seeing is a pretty consistent marketplace," Browning said. "The buyers of the upper-end horses are complaining that the competition is too significant, that they're getting beat and wish they could have bought some more horses. "I think some of the consignors would say on the lower half of the market, it's a little weaker than they would have hoped, which is reflective of the state of our racing world and, honestly, our sales world right now." Cumulatively, the sale is performing comparably to last year's. Through three days, 811 hips have sold for a total of $48,640,000, compared to 835 horses for $53,509,000 at this point in the sale last year. The average is down 6.4% to $59,975, while the median has held steady at $30,000.