Shattering records: Lexington sale concludes with $60 million gross, record average

Record fourth session powers sale above $80,000 average for first time.

story by James Platz
quotes by James Platz and Debbie Little

The 2026 edition of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale wrapped Thursday evening (Oct. 8), and the fourth and final session helped push the gross to over $60 million for the fifth time in history and established a new standard in sale average at $81,320, the first time topping the $80,000 mark. And more importantly, did so with fewer days and fewer horses.

Over the course of the four sessions which commenced Monday evening, 746 yearlings passed through the Fasig-Tipton Newtown Paddocks sale ring. The gross of $60,665,000 was the fifth best in sale history. That figure signaled a slight decrease over 2025’s gross — $60,891,000 — with 144 fewer horses cataloged. By contrast, the overall sale average jumped nearly 19 per cent over 2025 ($68,417), and 10 per cent more than the 2022 figure of $73,690.

“Well, reading the numbers, we grossed the same this year as we did last year, within thousands of dollars,” said sale co-manager David Reid. “The average was up. We ended up selling 746 horses this year and we averaged $81,000. I don’t think there’s been a sale that’s averaged $81,000 with that number of horses sold. It’s one for the historians, but we believe it’s a record. We grossed $60,681,320 for the whole sale. It’s just a testament to all the breeders, like we say, and the consignors. I think it just wraps up a great week here.”

Thursday’s session established records for the sale’s final day, with 125 yearlings grossing $4,978,000 while averaging just shy of $40,000 ($39,824). A dozen babies bringing $100,000 or more helped power the record numbers. The evening started strong, with the second horse through the ring, Hip #664 Brand New Man, bringing $110,000. The night finished with Downbytheseaside colt Hip #792 Walrus selling for $70,000.

“We made adjustments this year to our format and I think those were welcomed by both buyers and sellers,” said sale co-manager Bruce Brinkerhoff. “We had sensed a shift in the market over the last couple years and I feel the results speak for themselves.

“Our first session had the highest average in the history of the breed and our total sale average was also the highest ever for a standardbred sale. We came within a couple hundred thousand dollars of last year’s gross and sold 140 less horses. We had a great set of yearlings to market and the results reflect that.”

Thursday’s closing session, traditionally held Friday as a showcase of horses from regional programs in Indiana and Ohio, was ruled by offspring from Downbytheseaside. Of the 12 yearlings that brought six figure final bids Thursday, seven were from the Ohio-based stallion.

While “Seaside” led the session, it was a filly from another Buckeye stallion that fetched the top bid. Hip #728 Zoetry, an Ohio and Kentucky eligible yearling from the Hunterton Sales Agency consignment, fetched $250,000. The filly is the first foal from $800,000-winning Walner mare Walner Payton. Armitage Farm made the purchase.

“I made the comment before the sale that when people came up to me before the sale and say, ‘Who do you like?’ that I said you could talk about Jolene’s colt, that sold for $600,000 and those ones, but I said I know who is going to top the last session, which was this filly,” said Hunterton’s Steve Stewart. “My caveat to that was that if she doesn’t top the sale, that somebody got a very good buy. That was my line prior to the sale.

“Most people were, like, ‘Who’s Volstead?’ and what not. She’s Walner Payton, a Walner out of a Muscle Hill mare. Well, if you start looking around, there’s not a lot of top stallions at that time three years ago… now you’ve got Captain Corey and some other stallions, T C I.

“Back then, you didn’t have a lot of choices. The people had called me… Virgil Morgan and some of the Ohio people said, ‘Have you got any Volsteads?’ I said, ‘No.’ His opinion of the horse was a lot higher then, than it is now – it’s kind of gone down a little bit, but I don’t think he got the mares that could support him. I know that there was a really, really good filly Down Under. He stood Down Under for a year or two, so he can produce a good horse.

“But this filly… I told Armitage, who bought her, I think she has the most earning potential of any yearling in the sale because of the fact that she’s a wonderful trotting filly and she’s eligible to Ohio. And you don’t have to beat Chapter Sevens and you don’t have to beat Walners and the top Grand Circuit stallions – not to take anything away from Ohio, but when you’re racing against third or fourth crop In Ranges… So, she’s got a wonderful chance to earn money in Ohio. She’s got a great fallback, if she’s not a Grand Circuit mare, then she can earn a lot of money in Ohio.”

Armitage Farms’ Tim Hayes said that Zoetry will make a nice addition to the farm’s broodmare band, but not before she gets a chance to race.

“We liked her pedigree and that she was dual eligible to Ohio and Kentucky,” he said. “There’s great earning potential in both those states and with being close to both states we’ll be able to race both jurisdictions. With that pedigree, down the road, being a Volstead, she can get bred to just about anything.

“We paid what we had to pay. As far as buying and selling… when we’re buying, it’s what we had to pay. When we’re selling, that’s what they thought it was worth. Otherwise, you’re just going to drive yourself crazy.”

Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Farm topped all consignors in gross sales, with a roster of 106 babies bringing $11,717,000. Kentuckiana Farm ranked second in gross sales (92 for $8,540,000), followed by Preferred Equine (115 for $6,234,000), and Concord Stud Farm (47 for $4,842,000).

Kountry Lane Standardbreds led consignors by average, with a seven-yearling group that were hammered down for an average of $242,857. Blue Chip Farm’s nine-horse consignment followed with a $161,000 average, while Hunterton ranked third with a $110,538 average. Cameo Hills (30/$107,400) and Concord Stud Farm (47/$103,021) rounded out the top five.

Following last year’s sale, Reid indicated changes were coming to the sale. Reducing the sessions from five to four, and cutting over 100 yearlings from the catalog achieved the desired results for both the sale company and consignors. The session adjustments were also reactionary to a number of factors.

“It was really a multiple tier effect – originally, the thought process was that the marketplace was being a little bit more selective, we felt, based on the prices that the horses were bringing,” Reid said. “After last year’s sale, management wanted to tighten it up a little bit. That was our first inclination. We had been over 900 yearlings being sold for a number of years and we really wanted to bring it down to closer to 800.

“Then, in March and April, when the dates for the Breeders Crown were released and it was moved forward a week, so The Red Mile dates were affected, so they went back to the traditional Thursday, Friday, Saturday racing. So, when they did that, we just kind of tightened it up more and we figured it wouldn’t be a problem and we’d just adjust our schedule a little bit and go to four days with a little bit longer sessions.

“I think the initial response is obviously very good, but we’ll analyze the whole situation again. All week, we’ve heard good things from the consignors. Coming off a night like tonight, I’m assuming people are happy.”

Throughout the week, consignors indicated the changes had resulted in a stronger catalog and better results in each session. Stewart drove home the point again Thursday evening.

“Absolutely fantastic,” he said. “We really pushed for that. We thought it made a lot of sense, to do away with 60, 70, or 80 horses and take those extra horses and just put 30 or 40… start the sale at 11 o’clock and they did it and I think it worked brilliantly.

“A lot of people said, ‘Oh, 11 o’clock is too early.’ We had the first horse in the sale at 11 on Tuesday and he brought $100,000. We had the first horse in the sale yesterday and it brought $75,000, and we were very happy with both of those sales. The money is there. The people are going to be there if they want to be, no matter what time it is.”

Walner led all stallions in gross sales for the third consecutive year. This year’s group of 75 progeny garnered total sales of $11,204,000. His $149,387 per-yearling average was second only to Chapter Seven’s benchmark of $173,929 for 56 sold. To his credit, Chapter Seven grossed $9,740,000, and together, the two trotting sires accounted for nearly $21 million in total sales, over one-third of Lexington Selected Yearling Sale’s gross sales.

Ranked by gross, Walner and Chapter seven were followed by:

• Tactical Landing — $5,109,000 for 52, averaging $98,250

• Confederate — $4,300,000 for 51, good for a $84,314 average

• Captaintreacherous — $4,205,000 for 49, $85,816

• Sweet Lou — $3,547,000 for 47, $76,043

The first crop of pacing stallion Cannibal grossed $796,000 for 16 ($49,750 average), while trotting stallion Tactical Approach grossed $888,000 for 29 sold ($30,621 average). First crop sires Lou’s Pearlman (three averaging $43,333) and Branded By Lindy (seven averaging $24,286) were also represented in Thursday’s session.