Cashed-up breeders reinvest at Fasig-Tipton as Ways And Means leads auction in Kentucky

Ways And Means sold for a Fasig-Tipton-topping US$5 million as demand surged for quality breeding stock in Kentucky, (Photo Fasig-Tipton)

The booming American yearling market has translated to huge demand at the high-end Fasig-Tipton November Sale, with 33 fillies and mares selling for US$1 million or more in a US$100 million afternoon of trade.

The weekend’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf Sprint winner Ways And Means, a daughter of Practical Joke, topped the sale of elite broodmares at US$5 million, selling to Boyd Racing and agent Brittany Linton.

Amo Racing paid US$4.2 million for Cy Fair who ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland on Saturday, splitting Bacio and third-placed one-time stallion Starlust, who stood at stud in Australia last year.

Trained by George Weaver, Cy Fair won last year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“She’s sensational,” Amo Racing’s Kia Joorbachian said. “She was a must-have. I think we will keep racing (her) next year.”

With a strong international buying bench in attendance for the Fasig-Tipton sale, and the cross-town Keeneland breeding stock sale, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf Kathrynmarissa sold for US$3.2 million to Japan’s Katsumi Yoshida.

The multiple Group 1 winner has earned US$3,255,745 and became the first US-bred horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf since Stephanie’s Kitten in 2015.

Spendthrift Farm paid $3 million for multiple Grade 1 winner Scottish Lassie, a daughter of McKinzie consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency as a racing and broodmare prospect.

“When she went for $3,000,000, I was quite surprised,” said Steve Weston of Parkland Thoroughbreds, co-owner of Scottish Lassie. 

“Quite surprised and very happy. It’s been a great couple of years with her.”

A pair of weanling fillies also sold for seven figures, with a Not This Time filly purchased for $1.15 million by Caitlin Dunne, as agent for Asagi Stables, and she was back in action when paying US$1 million for an Into Mischief filly.

A lifetime breeding right to Sovereignty sold for $1 million to White Birch Farm, with the Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old male retired to Darley America following his Breeders’ Cup Classic victory and scheduled to begin stud duties in 2027.

Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said the sale attracted strong international participation, including buyers from Japan, Europe, Australia and Saudi Arabia.

“It all comes back to the quality of the horses you’re able to put in front of the men and women sitting in the pavilion and standing out back,” Browning said,

“It was another remarkable evening for The November Sale. There’s something magical about trying to get to $100 million for this night. 

“The demand for beautiful horses was extraordinarily strong, whether it happened to be a weanling, a filly or mare coming off the racetrack, or a mare in foal. We’re very pleased with the sale.”

The overall average was US$725,438, while the median increased 11.6 per cent to US$360,000 from US$322,500 last year. The clearance rate was 81.4 per cent.

It was the fifth time in six years that the November Sale’s aggregate has exceeded $100 million.