Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
YEARLING SALES RIDE JUVENILE WAVE
On paper, Fasig-Tipton is solely responsible for developing momentum in the yearling sales market, as the auction company hosts the first three sales of the North American season over the summer. But some of the momentum may have actually been built up earlier this year by all three major auction houses and with the help of some of last year’s sale yearlings.
The formal 2-year-old sales season in North America ran from March through June and included three sales each hosted by Fasig-Tipton and the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. and one at Keeneland – all of which also host yearling sales. The juvenile market was outstanding this year, surpassing $200 million in aggregate gross sales for the first time, with a number of sales led by record-priced offerings.
Pinhookers, perhaps feeling bullish, can now begin restocking their benches at the yearling sales, hoping to continue their success in 2020. Meanwhile, “end users,” those who intend to race their purchases in their own colors and even eventually add them to a breeding program, will be active at the boutique yearling sales showcasing outstanding pedigree pages. The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale is set to kick off that portion of the season in a market that last year showed major signs of revitalization after the recession of a decade prior.
The yearling sale season officially began with the FasigTipton Kentucky summer selected yearling sale in early July. With many breeders holding back their most wellregarded offerings for highdollar sales in August and September, that sale offered a chance for first-crop yearling sires to get off on the right foot, as there were relatively few yearlings by some leading sires for them to contend with. For example, there were no yearlings in the catalog by classic sires Tapit and War Front, both commercial powerhouses; none by this year’s leading general sire Quality Road; and none for multiple championship-producing sire Candy Ride.
The sale, which was led by a $440,000 Flatter colt, finished with 202 yearlings sold for gross receipts of $18,621,000, good for an average price of $92,183. The median price was $75,000. The average represented a drop of 9 percent from $100,829 at the 2018 renewal, while the median held steady. The buyback rate also held fairly steady, checking in at 33 percent compared with 31 percent the year prior. FasigTipton president Boyd Browning placed the drop in average in context as relatively minor and also noted that the 2018 sale figures were improvements over 2017, with the average improving 8 percent and the median up 7 percent. Statistically, the market may drop or plateau off such improvements.
“Statistically, it was remarkably similar to the 2018 level, which had a pretty good jump from 2017, so all in all, a stable market, a consistent market, and kind of as everyone expected,” Browning said. “You can have minor fluctuations. If you’re up 7 percent, I don’t think you’re jumping up and down, and if you’re down 7 percent, I don’t think you’re terribly concerned about it. A couple of big horses can influence that significantly.
“We’re off to a start in 2019 that looks similar to the start of 2018,” Browning added. “We’ll expect the marketplace in 2019 later this year to be similar to last year.”
Heading into those majormarket sales, statistical pundits must keep in mind that several headline auctions last season posted record figures, meaning regressions from 2018 to 2019 may occur while the sales still, in context, remain strong. One of those record sales last year was Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga selected yearling sale, which holds its 99th renewal in 2019. Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 223 yearlings for the sale, set for Aug. 5 and 6 at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs.
Last year’s sale completed its two-day run with 170 yearlings sold for record gross receipts of $62,794,000, a gain of 18 percent from 156 sold for $52,995,000 in
2017. The cumulative average price finished at $369,376, the boutique auction’s secondhighest all-time, and a gain of 9 percent from $339,712 in 2017. The previous record gross and the record average were both established in 2001, as the sale finished with receipts of $62,412,000 and an average of $385,259. The median price, $300,000, matched the record established one year before, and the buyback rate finished at a relatively steady 21 percent, compared to 20 percent.
Fasig-Tipton continued a strong season in Saratoga last year by hosting its New Yorkbred sale a week later, which bested the prior record gross, average, and median figures established in 2017 as that regional program continues to soar. A total of 172 yearlings sold for receipts of $18,492,000, a gain of 14 percent from $16,214,000 from 182 sold. The average price was $107,512, soaring 21 percent from $89,088 in 2017. The median was up 9 percent to $76,000, from $69,500.
This year’s New York-bred sale is set for Aug. 11 and 12.
Looming down the road is the Keeneland September yearling sale, continually the bellwether for the market in North America because it tests the market at all levels during a nearly two-week run. In addition to commercial rivals Tapit and War Front – who have combined to lead the sale by average price for four straight years – the sale also attracts yearlings from a wider
variety of international stallions, attracting more international buyers in response.
Strong results are due to “the depth and breadth of our buying bench, both domestic and international,” Keeneland director of sales operations Geoffrey Russell said. “People come from South America, Korea, Japan, Russia as well, to come in to buy in Books 3, 4, 5. They like the American-bred speed horse, and they know they’re going to get good quality, regardless of price.”
This year’s Keeneland September sale runs from Sept. 9 through Sept. 22, with the catalog typically released in early August. The sale has experimented with format changes in recent years to general success. Last year’s sale, the 75th anniversary edition, finished with a total of 2,916 yearlings sold for
gross receipts of $377,140,400, finishing as the fourth best in the auction’s history. The average price finished at $129,335, surpassing the 2017-established record of $120,487 by 7 percent. The median checked in at $50,000, missing the 2017 record median of $57,000 by 12 percent but tying for the second highest all time with the 2013, 2014, and 2015 editions of the sale.
The cumulative buyback rate finished at 24 percent, relatively steady from 25 percent in 2017.
“I don’t think we could have predicted it would be as successful as it has been every step of the way,” Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales, said at the close of the sale.
For more on this year’s other scheduled yearling sales and their 2018 figures, please see the calendar on page 9.