Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale opens upbeat market with first-crop sires

Fasig-Tipton’s July Selected Yearling Sale opened Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington with 238 yearlings and an unusually crowded first-crop sire list, turning the auction into the first real commercial test of the 2027-28 racing pipeline. The 10 a.m. sale drew immediate attention because buyers were not only shopping for runners, they were also trying to sort which young stallions could become the next market leaders.

Nineteen first-crop yearling sires were represented in the catalog: Annapolis, Arabian Lion, Arcangelo, Cody’s Wish, Country Grammer, Dr. Schivel, Forte, Fulsome, Gunite, Loggins, Mage, Pappacap, Proxy, Rombauer, Taiba, Two Phil’s, Up to the Mark, Verifying and Zandon. That group gave the sale a clear storyline at the top end of the market, with Mage and Arcangelo standing out as two 2023 classic winners whose first yearlings are now being judged as future stallion stock as much as potential racetrack talent.

The mood around the grounds was upbeat. Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning said the sale site had been busy and that the right buyers were showing up, while Taylor Made’s Mark Taylor pointed to pockets of strength across the business even as the broader industry still faces pressure. Taylor cited Kentucky racing, Kentucky Downs, Oaklawn and Belmont Park’s reopening program in New York as places where enthusiasm has stayed concentrated, even as Florida and California continue to face headwinds.

Specific pages added to the interest. Taylor Made offered Hip 52, a Two Phil’s filly whose half sibling Booked gave the page a lift by winning the Sanford Stakes on July 4 at Saratoga. Cody’s Wish, the Horse of the Year whose first crop is under close watch, was represented by just one yearling in the sale, Hip 193, a filly out of TakechargeDelilah, a reminder of how selective the market can be even around a stallion with elite appeal.

The numbers from last year explain why the July sale carries so much weight. In 2025, the auction grossed $16,828,000, with an average of $107,872 and a median of $90,000. The companion July Selected Horses of Racing Age sale also produced a headline result when Romeo sold for a record $1.7 million. Fasig-Tipton says The July Sale ranks first among major North American yearling sales by percentage of stakes winners, stakes horses, two-year-old winners and winners sold, and second by percentage of Grade I winners and graded stakes winners sold, behind only Saratoga. The Horses of Racing Age sale followed immediately after the yearling session, extending a market day built around proof, pedigree and the next wave of bloodstock demand.