F-T JULY: Yearling Sales Season Kicks Off

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Hips to watch at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale
Nicole Russo

Following are horses to watch during the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer selected yearling sale. Horses were selected based primarily on their pedigrees and the racing or commercial results of notable family members. The selections reflect catalog updates and sale outs through Thursday.

This year’s first-crop yearling sires include two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, winner of the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and 2016 Dubai World Cup. He has five yearlings from his first crop in the Fasig-Tipton July catalog, accounting for outs through July 1. Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and Eclipse Award divisional champion Nyquist went on to win the 2016 Kentucky Derby. He has three yearlings cataloged, while multiple Grade 1 winner Exaggerator, who defeated Nyquist to win the 2016 Preakness, has six. Eclipse Award champion sprinter Runhappy has four yearlings cataloged, while European champion juvenile Air Force Blue has a trio.

Classic-placed Frosted, whose multiple Grade 1 victories included a dazzling score in the 2016 Metropolitan Handicap, sported the highest stud fee among incoming North American stallions for 2017 at $50,000. He has five yearlings from his first crop at Fasig-Tipton July. Other standouts from his class with yearlings cataloged include Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hit It a Bomb (1), Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tamarkuz (1), Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red (1), Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Tourist (4), and additional Grade 1 winners Brody’s Cause (7), Mshawish (4), and Outwork (13).


Hip 76, filly by American Pharoah – Tigress Tale, by Tale of the Cat. Consigned by Paramount Sales, agent.

This filly is the only representative in the sale for Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who already has a French Group 3 winner and an Irish Group 2-placed runner in his first crop. This is the first foal out of an unraced half-sister to Grade 3 winner Stays In Vegas, who is Grade 1-placed on both dirt and turf. Grade 1 winners Dancing Forever, Good Reward, Heavenly Prize, Oh What a Windfall, and Persistently appear on the catalog page.


Hip 108, colt by Ghostzapper – Whisper to Me, by Thunder Gulch. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales, agent.

This is the only yearling in the sale for prominent sire Ghostzapper, and his stakes-winning dam has already produced the multiple graded stakes winner Overheard. This is the extended family of champions Chris Evert, Chief’s Crown, and Winning Colors, as well as of Grade 1 winners Classic Crown and Tap Dance City.

Hip 164, filly by Justin Phillip – Catch My Fancy, by Yes It’s True. Consigned by Paramount Sales, agent.

Stakes winner Catch My Fancy is the dam of stakes winner What a Catch, a full brother to this colt, and stakes-placed Dubini. She also is the second dam of Grade 1 winner Girvin and graded stakes winner Cocked and Loaded.

Hip 211, filly by Uncle Mo – Feathered Diamond, by A.P. Indy. Consigned by Taylor Made Sales, agent.

Uncle Mo produced a classic-winning champion from his first crop and has continued on consistently from there. Feathered Diamond is the dam of six winners from seven starters, led by multiple Grade 3 winner El Areeb.

Hip 243, colt by Bernardini – Honest Gold, by Medaglia d’Oro. Consigned by Warrendale Sales, agent.

The only yearling in the sale by Bernardini, he is a half-brother to stakes winner R Kinsley Doll. The winner Honest Gold is a half-sister to graded stakes winners Feedback and Law Abidin Citizen.

Hip 253, colt by Distorted Humor – Inspeight of Us, by Speightstown. Consigned by Warrendale Sales, agent.

Inspeight of Us is a half-sister to Daddys Lil Darling, a Grade 1 winner on turf and Grade 1 placed on both dirt and synthetic. She sold for $3.5 million as a broodmare prospect last fall. Inspeight of Us also is a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mongolian Saturday, stakes winner Victoryasecret, and stakes-placed Four Song Limit.

Hip 314, colt by Curlin – Michelle d’Oro, by Bernardini. Consigned by Bluewater Sales, as agent.

This is the only yearling in the sale by consistent classic sire Curlin. His dam is out of multiple Grade 1 winner Champagne d’Oro, who in turn is a half-sister to Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice. Italian champion Jurado and multiple Grade 1 winner Grand Canyon appear on the catalog page.

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Freshman sires featured at FT July HORA sale
Nicole Russo

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The formal 2-year-olds in training sales season in North America began in March and concluded in June. However, buyers still have a chance to pick up 2-year-old prospects for summer and fall racing at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer selected horses of racing age sale, as young runners with some established form are one of the key attractions of this year’s renewal.

The Fasig July horses of racing age sale, inaugurated in 2013 as an add-on to the company’s first yearling sale of the season, is now solidly cemented in its own position on the calendar. The auction, set for Monday evening at Fasig-Tipton’s Newtown Paddocks, had 200 horses in its catalog through Wednesday as the company continued to review supplemental entries.

Among the additions to the initial catalog was Fierce Lady, who made herself a hot commodity with a six-length debut victory June 22 at Belmont Park. The filly, who was a $75,000 yearling purchase last fall and a $170,000 buyback at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale earlier this year, led throughout in her maiden score and completed the five furlongs in a solid 56.47 seconds.

Fierce Lady is from the first crop of Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes winner Competitive Edge, who has three winners and ranks fifth by earnings on this year’s freshman sire list in a class that has been highly anticipated. Competitive Edge also is represented in the Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age catalog by Competitive Queen, who has two seconds from four starts.

Freshman sires Bayern, Constitution, Danza, The Big Beast, and Wicked Strong, all Grade 1 winners, also are represented in this catalog. Multiple Grade 1 winner Constitution, by perennial leading sire Tapit, already has four winners, tied for third among freshmen in that regard. Among those winners is his cataloged filly Compelling Smile, a debut winner at Emerald Downs. Ms Headley was a sharp maiden winner the first week of May at Churchill Downs for The Big Beast, but then finished seventh in the Astoria Stakes at Belmont. Likewise, My Good Girl was a maiden winner for Danza at Indiana Grand, but then finished sixth in the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Wicked T, by Wicked Strong, won in late June on Presque Isle’s synthetic track. Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern is represented in the catalog by Biddy Duke, who has two seconds from three maiden special weight starts, all in Kentucky.

There also are several winning 2-year-olds in the Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age catalog by older, established sires – and some of those already have stakes experience. Rookie Salsa, by Two Step Salsa, won his first two starts, including the Kentucky Juvenile. He then finished third in the Tremont Stakes at Belmont and seventh in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs. Mean Sophia won her debut on the opening day of Keeneland’s spring meet, then was fourth against males in the Kentucky Juvenile. In between, the Smarty Jones filly was a $240,000 buyback as a late supplement at the Keeneland April 2-year-olds in training sale.

Lady Glamour, a daughter of Discreet Cat, was a supplemental entry to this week’s sale after recently finishing third in the Debutante Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Thirsty Junior, by Stay Thirsty, was a 5 1/2-length maiden winner at Indiana Grand in his second start, having finished third behind the romping Lady Pauline at Keeneland. Also cataloged are Allied Party (by Tale of the Cat), a debut winner at Presque Isle; Annabelle’s Belle (Flat Out), a maiden special weight winner at Belterra Park; and Such Great Heights (Awesome Again), who won her debut in a maiden claimer at Laurel.

Older horses in the catalog include Vettori Kin, a Group 1 winner in his native Brazil. He won the Grade 3 Louisville Handicap in May 2018 at Churchill Downs. All Out Blitz and Orbolution are both graded-placed stakes winners. Also cataloged are stakes winners A Different Style, Adventurous Lady, Bitacora, Brunette Princess, Clint Maroon, Consolida, Cool Arrow, Dunph, Five Star General, Isotope, Itsmyluckycharm, Phat Man, Siem Riep, and Usual Suspect; graded/group stakes-placed Bonita Fransisca, Copper Town, Federal Case, Heavenly Hill, Jalen Journey, La Feve, Ladymidtown, Markitoff, Petrov, Proverb, Royal Asscher, Salsa Bella, Splashy Kisses, and Treble; and stakes-placed Biblical, Crafty’s Dream, High Tech, Honor Way, Miss Imperial, Q Go Girl, Roussalka, Saffron Spirit, Smoken Deb, and War Canoe.