Records Fall at New York Bred Yearlings Sale

Records fell Sunday night at the New York Bred Yearlings sale as the sale posted the highest gross, average, and median in its history. Highlights of the successful renewal include a $600,000 Pioneerof the Nile colt, the most expensive yearling ever sold at this sale, and a $450,000 daughter of American Pharoah, who set a record price for a filly.

“It was a tremendous night,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “The last half of the session tonight was just electric.”

Hip 588, the session- and sale-topping colt by Pioneerof the Nile, sold for $600,000 midway through the night (video). Shortleaf Stable purchased the record colt from the consignment of his breeder, Jonathan Thorne of Thorndale Farm. The bay colt is a half-brother to three winners, two of them stakes horses, out of Score, a daughter of A.P. Indy out of multiple Grade 1 winner and millionaire Educated Risk, from the immediate family of champion Inside Information. The sale replaced the previous record, set last year when a colt by Cairo Prince sold for $500,000.

The session’s top filly was Hip 573, a daughter of Into Mischief out of stakes winner Risky Rachel, who sold for $350,000 to Kindred Stables from the consignment of Paramount Sales, agent (video). The filly is the second foal out of Risky Rachel, whose first foal, a colt by Scat Daddy, sold for $1,000,000 at The Gulfstream Sale in March to Todd Pletcher, agent for M.V. Magnier from the consignment of SGV Thoroughbreds, agent. The only filly to sell for more at this year’s sale was record-setting daughter of American Pharoah (Hip 329), sold during the first session for $450,000.

Browning remarked on the achievements of what he called the “taproot families” of the New York breeding program: Jonathan Thorne, who bred and consigned the sale topper, and the Nielsens’ Sunnyfield Farm, who bred the record filly. “[Thorne] and his family [have been] longtime supporters and advocates and one of the foundational families… of the New York marketplace. “That would be a good trivia question: Who’s been breeding in New York longer, the Nielsens or the Thornes?”

The success of New York-breds has been in the spotlight in recent years, with the richest New York-bred of all time, Mind Your Biscuits, winning the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) twice in the United Arab Emirates; Diversify winning the Whitney S. (G1) just down the road from the pavilion; and top runners like Florida Derby (G1) winner Audible and millionaire Fourstar Crook keeping the lucrative state-bred program in the headlines. Those four superstars are all recent graduates of the New York Bred Yearlings sale.

“There were certainly some new names on the results that hadn’t been active previously in the New York-bred marketplace,” added Browning. “I think that’s a direct result the [accomplishments of] New York-breds all over the world.”

Overall, 172 yearlings sold for $18,492,000, up 14.0% from last year, when 182 changed hands for a total of $16,214,000. The average of $107,512 represented a 20.7% increase from $89,088 in 2017, while the $76,000 median rose 9.4% from $69,500. The gross, average, median, and top price were all sale records, eclipsing the records set at last year’s renewal.  Thirty yearlings sold for $200,000 or more, up from 16 in 2017. The top filly replaced a record set in 2013, when a filly by Tapit sold for $430,000.

Results are available online.