The second session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale saw new record highs for session gross (over $20 million), average (over $90,000) and six-figure yearlings (75) and established new standards for gross (over $43.5 million), average (over $124,000) and $100,000+ yearlings (164) through two days.

story by Dave Briggs / quotes by James Platz and Dave Briggs

The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale remained red hot through its second session held Tuesday (Oct. 4) at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion.

The sale set new records for second-session gross ($20,433,000), average ($90,013) and six-figure yearlings (75) and has also established new two-day standards for gross ($43,500,000), average ($124,642) and $100,000+ yearlings (164).

The second-session median of $75,000 tied the record set during the second session of the 2018 sale.

The second session was up 14 per cent in gross and up 7 per cent in average compared to the second night of the sale in 2021. Through two nights, the sale is up 19 per cent in gross and up 12 per cent in average compared to a year ago.

This year 227 yearlings were sold in session two compared to 213 a year ago.

“Through two sessions, the gross is $43 million and we’ve sold 164 for more than $100,000. Last year, it was 159 for the whole sale,” said the sale’s co-manager David Reid. “It’s very simple, in my opinion. I haven’t looked at the breakdown numbers, but I’m sure it’s attributed to the sire power that we have, the pedigrees of the mares and the performance.

“(Tuesday’s) session we obviously added some horses. We started an hour earlier and ended a little late. That’s something I think that (co-manager) Randy (Manges) and myself will address for next year, but the crowd did stay right here until the end. The end of the session was strong and it was another outstanding session, for sure.

“The proof was in the pudding. The sale was great. The numbers indicate that it was great. It’s a good thing to have a lot of quality horses. Part of the planning, when Randy and myself go through and talk to the consignors… it’s a great problem to have. It validates our position by having the quality and the numbers.”

SESSION TOPPER HITS $500,000

The session topper was Hip 197 Flashback Bi, a Greenshoe colt out of Dream Child that sold to Courant Inc. out of the Hunterton consignment for $500,000.

Sabine Kagebrandt, CEO for Courant Inc. said, “I loved all the four horses that we bought from Greenshoe. I loved them because they have so much of Greenshoe in them,” Kagebrandt said. “They have flawless conformation. They are very athletic and they are good technicians… very good. They are well balanced and I like that they have a good mindset.”

Hunterton also sold the two highest-priced yearlings on opening night — Hip 57 Epoch (f, Chapter Seven—Jolene Jolene) for $725,000 and Hip 70 Vic Zelenskyy (c Greenshoe—Mission Brief) for $550,000— and three of the top four, including Hip 63 Awaiting (f, Walner—Lonely Lady) for $525,000.

“It’s rewarding,” said Hunterton’s Steve Stewart. “People look at it and think that it just happens, but it doesn’t. There’s a lot of work involved… Forty years. After many years, you get better at it, I guess.

“The one thing that helps us a lot, as I’ve said in the past, is that a lot of the horses we’ve sold have raced very well – the expensive ones. That give a lot of confidence. As an example, last night Lovely Lady’s filly brings $525,000. She was bought by Ken Jacobs because he spent $510,000 last year on the full sister and they look very similar and she made $300,000 this year. They are coming back and that’s the most rewarding for us.

“We’re well-aware how important the sale prices are, but it’s even more rewarding when a good horse that we sell races. That’s the biggest reward for us.”

Through two days, Hunterton is neck-and-neck with Preferred Equine for the leading consignor title by gross. Preferred leads with $7,549,000. Hunterton has grossed 7,548,000.

“Success begets success. It’s the same thing if you’re a trainer. If you do really well and you’ve got a lot of good horses, guess what? People are going to send you more horses,” Stewart said. “So, our reputation of selling horses that race and do well comes back and rewards you. It’s the same thing if you’re a stallion. If you’re a stallion and you produce a lot of good horses… it kind of makes sense, but it’s still very rewarding. We do not take it for granted.”

Hip 200 Eunoia Hanover, a Captaintreacherous filly out of Eloquent Grace, posted the second-highest price of the second session. She was sold for $375,000 to Nancy Takter, agent for Caviart Farms, from the Hanover Shoe Farms consignment.

Through two days, Hanover leads all consignors in average with $194,174 for 23 yearlings.

ALAGNA LEADS BUYERS

Through the first two sessions, trainer Tony Alagna has spent the most. He’s paid $2,469,000, total, to take home 15 yearlings — $1,485,000 to get eight yearlings on day one and $984,000 on day two for seven horses.

Trainer Marcus Melander, agent, is next with $1,910,000 all spent on day one on eight yearlings.

Doug Overhiser is third with $1,883,000 spent on 14 yearlings — six for $1,082,000 on day one and eight for $801,000 on day two.

“There’s a little bit of science to it,” Overhiser said. “I try to do a little bit of analytics, but last year I concentrated very heavily on pacers and very few trotters. This year, coming in, we’re going to heavy trotters and a little lighter on the pacers. It works out nice, right, because all those are moving to 3 and now these are 2.

“Last year, we bought 16 and I think my average price was $60,000. I think I raised my hand a lot, just because I liked it. It was my first year really doing it. I listened to Erv (Miller), most of the time, but some of the time I went off on my own and that didn’t work, so this year it was like, ‘This is what we did, here were some of the mistakes…’ I said it last year, but really this year I really let Erv drive it. Now, he’s conservative when it comes to the money. Sometimes, he stops and it’s just crazy to keep spending and then I (keep going) because if I don’t, then he won’t.”

FILLIES STILL RULE, WALNER TAKES OVER

Through two sessions, fillies are averaging the most. Trotting fillies lead with an average of $135,735, followed by pacing fillies ($132,320), trotting colts ($118,566) and pacing ($115,097).

Whereas Greenshoe led all stallions in gross through day one, Walner is now the leading sire through two sessions ($6,467,000), followed by Captaintreacherous ($5,954,000) and Greenshoe ($5,738,000) and Chapter Seven ($5,724,000).

ONLINE BIDDING

As for online bidding, the Proxibid platform sold zero horses on opening night. On Tuesday, four were sold online for a total of $282,000. Online bidders were the underbidders on eight yearlings on night two. Over two days Proxibid has taken 141 bids — 20 on day one and 121 on day two.

“I think in the next few days you’re going to see people bidding remotely that have friends or colleagues look at horses here on their behalf,” Reid said. “I think our Proxibid sign-ups today are better than yesterday. When you’re dealing with more expensive yearlings, part of the buyer’s process really does involve being on the grounds. They want to be here and see the horses and put partnerships together. They are trying to figure out what other guys are doing and the gamesmanship that goes into it all.”

Today’s (Oct. 5) third session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale will feature some 237 yearlings. It begins today at 2 p.m. at Fasig-Tipton. For more information about the sale, please visit: www.lexingtonselected.com