Lexington sale concludes with a gross of $61 million, fourth best in history
Yet, the gross was down 7 per cent from 2024 and the average was down 5 per cent.
Story by Dave Briggs, quotes by James Platz
The 2025 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale concluded Friday evening (Oct. 3) with the gross topping $60 million for just the fourth time in history.
In all, 890 yearlings were sold over five days. The gross of $60,891,000 was the fourth best in sale history. It produced an average of $68,417 that was also the fourth best in history. The median was $40,000 and 189 horses sold for $100,000 or more, up marginally over 2024.
Yet, the gross was down 7.3 per cent from the 2024 total of $65,712,700 and down 10.3 per cent from the record gross of $67,916,300 fetched in 2023.
The average was down 5.2 per cent from the average of $72,132 in 2024, down 4.4 per cent from the average of $71,566 in 2023 and down 7.2 per cent from the record average of $73,690 achieved in 2022.
The record for median was $46,500 in 2022. The record for number of $100,000+ yearlings was 233 in 2023.
“I’m happy to wrap up the week and still gross $61 million,” said co-sales manager David Reid. “The average is down 5 per cent and gross is down 7 per cent. You can’t set records every year. Overall, I think it was still a healthy marketplace, besides [Thursday]. We’ll go back and reassess it and I’m sure all the breeders are going to reassess their herds and start planning for the breeding season next year and planning for yearling season next year.
“I’m glad it’s behind us and it’s good for the breeders to have the money in the bank. It’s their cash crop. Leading into the next yearling sale up north and the mixed sale after that. This time of year, there’s a lot of transactions and it’s a great time to reflect on things and plan and move forward.
“There’s a lot of ways to analyze the marketplace and some of it is national, some of it is different countries and regions and tonight you get right back to the heart of the country in the Midwest and they came here and it was just another successful sale.
As for the Friday session itself, 124 yearlings grossed $4,004,000 to average $32,290. The median was $24,500 and six yearlings sold for $100,000 or more. The gross was down 14.3 per cent from 2024’s gross of $4,671,700 (when 16 more horses were sold) and down 10.2 per cent from the $4,457,500 reached in 2023 (when 10 more horses were sold). This year’s average was down 3.2 per cent from $33,369 in 2024 and down 2.9 per cent from the $33,265 in 2023.
“I’m very pleased that the sale finished on a strong note,” said co-sales manager Bruce Brinkerhoff. “Looking at the session average, Friday was on par with last year’s final day, with great support for the regional programs. The consignors are to be commended for the high-quality consignments they brought to Lexington this week. They are key to our success, as are the buyers that helped us once again surpass $60 million in gross sales.”
Reid said, pacers drove the Friday session, “and Downbytheseaside, rightfully so. Some first-crop sires had some nice trotters… Cuatro De Julio sold well, Rebuff sold for $75,000 and Seaside carried the torch.
“I wish we would’ve had some more of the first-crop sires or second-crop sires off the first-crop success of In Range and Ready For Moni.
“I guess from a strategic point of view, we maybe dropped a ball there a little bit from a consignor point of view and maybe even from a sales company point of view.”
Friday’s session topper was sold very close to the end of the sale. Hip #913 Elixir, a Downbytheseaside colt out of Yankee Moonshine, fetched $180,000 from Jeff Berger, agent for Summit Bloodstock out of the Hunterton consignment.
“He was our top one,” Berger said. “He was our top guy and we got him. That was the cherry on top.
“We were really focusing in on some Seasides. I think the sale had a lot more talent than last year and we got basically all our top picks… Everything we got, we loved.”
Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Farm led all consignors with $12,052,000 in sales for 121 sold. It was the second best total in history behind Preferred Equine’s $12,588,000 in sales in 2024. This year, Preferred was second with gross sales of $8,560,000, followed by Kentuckiana ($7,601,000), Crawford Farms ($4,489,000) and Cameo Hills ($4,290,000).
“Amazing,” said Hunterton’s Steve Stewart. “It’s a huge number and it’s very rewarding. A lot of work goes in and we owe a lot to the help, more than anybody.”
“Absolutely,” Cindy added. “I’d put our crew up against anybody.”
“They are really, really good so it’s rewarding for them and they take a lot of pride in it, too,” Steve said. “I think a lot of times people just put in the hours and go home, but they don’t do that. They are as excited how the horses sell.”
Greg Luther sold horses at Lexington for the first time under the Prolific Equine banner. Luther also bought the second most expensive yearling sold on Friday. He spent $160,000 to purchase Hip #894 Kissme Ifyoucan, an In Range filly out of I Gotta Feelin from the Anvil And Lace consignment.
“She wasn’t even on my list, but [the In Range progeny has] been selling well and they raced well this year,” Luther said. “My brother Todd called me and said, ‘There’s one In Range in the whole sale and she’s dual eligible,’ so I checked out her video and went down to look at her at Anvil And Lace and she looked great, so we x-rayed and scoped her and all that and I decided I was going to buy her.
“I got one every sale that I’m going to buy no matter what they go for. Some of the talk was that she’d go for $150,000 to $200,000 and that’s where she ended up, so it was definitely anticipated.
“I think we’re at about 30 yearlings so far. We’ll probably get a few more at the new Indiana sale, as well as Harrisburg, so we’re definitely going big. I’ve got a training centre coming in in Kentucky, so we’re kind of stocking up with Ohio and Kentucky eligibles.”
Prolific Equine grossed $345,000 for nine yearlings sold.
“It’s been fun and we’ve had a good time with it so far,” Greg said. “I sold some of the better horses, to show everyone that we are willing to sell the good ones. I’ve given them a fully disclosed reserve, which is rare for this industry. I’ve told them, ‘I’d love to keep the horse and here’s my number, so if you want to go higher you’re free to bid’ and they’ve all went to some great trainers and I’m really excited to get them into the right hands. Owning the broodmare, that’s a new side for me and I’m excited to see the good trainers have them and now I can have future babies from those. We’ve got a lot of mares and I’m really excited to see how this side of it is going. We’re doing buying and selling.”
Alliance Bloodstock, the new joint venture between Diamond Creek and Northwood Bloodstock’s Bob Boni made its debut in Lexington and grossed $3,199,000, total, for 53 yearlings.
“For us, it kind of feels like the first time because it is new and even though the changes are small because the staff is similar and we really just added Bob Boni and a great show-woman, who was with Northwood Bloodstock,” said Diamond Creek vice-president Shaun Laungani. “Being a collaboration and being a more diverse set of clients and just being a new look and feel, it feels fresh and new and there’s some energy behind it. We had a lot of confusion early in the week and people were, like, ‘Why is it red, I don’t get it?’… or ‘Is Diamond Creek still in business? What’s going on?’ So, we definitely confused everyone, but it allowed us to tell our story to everybody. The story is real simple… it just made more sense to join up with an ally than it did to be apart.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with how it looked and felt this week, because I know by the second day, even though we’ve been working to put this together for months and months, I really felt the team gelled and Bob was such an asset. It was so helpful.
“We had a really solid week. There’s always highs and lows and I think what happened here in the third and fourth session is going to require a little time and analysis by the industry, as we saw the affects to potentially our middle and lower markets, which has been a concern for everyone. We were able to get through it in good shape. Typically, as long as horses get shown and seen by the public, the market doesn’t lie and that’s the reality and that’s the truth.
“We had some really good horses and we sold horses up to $300,000 and had a strong average all the way through, so we’re pleased enough. It can always be better and it can always be worse.”
Friday was the regional session of the sale, focusing on the midwestern horses in Ohio and Indiana. The results were driven by stallion Downbytheseaside who grossed $3,165,000 for 34 yearlings sold.
“This Downbytheseaside thing that’s been going on down here on Day 5, it’s become some real stability for the stallion and it’s become something that the breeders can hang their hat on – that if they breed a good mare to Downbytheseaside and they get a good individual that they can be rewarded,” Laungani said. “That’s very important because we, as breeders, take chances on all kinds of sires and this was a great week to show that there are no guarantees and stallions can go from hot to cold very quickly or a first-crop sire doesn’t get off the ground like people think… So, a lot of risks get taken, but Seaside has been one that has provided plenty of reward for people and without the Day 5 market coming alive, I can’t imagine what the last several years may have been like.”
For the complete sale, Walner led all stallions with a gross of $10,495,000 for 80 sold. He also led in sire average with $131,188.
Ranked by gross, Walner was followed by:
• Chapter Seven — $7,076,000 for 63, averaging $112,317
• Muscle Hill — $4,143,000 for 37, $111,973
• Captain Corey — $3,740,000 for 43, $86,977.
The top pacing stallion was Bulldog Hanover ($3,503,000, 45, $77,844), followed by Captaintreacherous ($3,287,000, 36, $91,306).
The first crop of trotting stallion King Of The North grossed $1,543,000 for 17 sold ($90,765 average).
Laungani said it was nice to see several new consignors this year.
“Spring Station isn’t brand new, but is still in their early stages,” Laungani said. “Armitage is new. Kountry Lane being new… there’s others as well with their first consignments at Lexington and that gives me a ton of positivity that we have new blood in and people who are challenging the norm. Some of those consignments went really all out and had great results.
“Ultimately, the purse money structures are awesome and there’s so many positive things going on that there’s really no reason to be doom and gloom, it’s just that we need to look at some potential tweaks and something to help out the yearling buyers, whatever that looks like. Whether it’s higher purses for 2-year-olds or incentive programs… the cost to raise and train a horse has increased significantly over the last five to 10 years. That’s nothing new to anybody, so the wherewithal and the risk of buying a yearling can increase with those costs, but as long as we provide plenty for people to take a chance for, humans will do that for the love of the racehorse.”
Greg Luther said the middle of the market, “is definitely dead. The low horses are doing okay. The middle horses are having a hard time and the high horses are going great, as always. There’s always a good market for fast horses. It’s a little unique, but I think with every sale you’re going to have a lot of highs and a lot of lows.”
Reid said, “We’re going to tighten it up a little bit, but you can’t be reactive. You’ve got to look at the whole marketplace for the whole year. My late friend Geoff Stein taught me that a long, long time ago – you go back and you look at the marketplace at the conclusion of the year and do all your analysis and evaluations and then formulate a plan for next year. We’re going to do that. There’s the London sale up in Ontario next week. Then Harrisburg and then Midwest sale. We follow the markets and we’ll see how they flow. We’re the first sale and we’re the biggest, you know, the highest quality, the highest average, the highest gross, so people are going to compare their sales to us and we’ll see what happens.
“Overall, with the political environment, the currency environment, the economics of the horse business on certain levels, it all plays a factor. There’s not one factor to our success and there’s not one factor to our slight slide. That’s the reality.”
