‘This Year It’s Been Back To Reality’ – Alex Solis Leads American Buying Bench at Tattersalls October

[Wandering Eyes]

Alex Solis, one of the American buying bench's most prolific operators, described trade at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale as being “back to reality”, after signing for another five yearlings this week to take his overall number of purchases across Books 1 and 2 to 14.

Solis and Jason Litt, his partner in Solis/Litt Bloodstock, were registered as the buyers of four fillies and a colt at Book 1, as well as signing for four fillies in the name of leading American owner Mike Repole.

The total spend on those nine yearlings came in at 1,950,000gns, which put Solis and Litt right up there among the most active American buyers at Book 1. They were joined by the likes of David Ingordo, who bought eight yearlings – predominantly for Matt Dorman's Determined Stables – for a total of 3,240,000gns; Liz Crow, whose total outlay was 1,625,000gns on the five yearlings she purchased for various entities; and Mike Ryan, who spent 1,440,000gns on five yearlings for Klaravich Stables.

By the time the merry-go-round that is the October Yearling Sale stopped at Book 2, Ingordo, Crow and Ryan had already disembarked and returned home to America, but Solis was still going strong as Wednesday's proceedings at Park Paddocks drew to a close.

After spending another 402,000gns over the past three days – buying three yearlings in the name of Repole and two in tandem with Litt – Solis reflected on a market that, whilst remaining very strong at the top end, did allow more room to manoeuvre compared to the record-breaking trade we witnessed here in October last year, as well as that at Saratoga and Keeneland in recent months.

“We all know that Europe is the nursery of the world for grass horses and we're happy to be able to participate,” said Solis. “There have been a lot of nice horses and I think there has been great value compared to last year. Last year was really strong, but this year it's been back to reality.

“It's been much easier to buy nice horses. In the US this year, from the two-year-old sales through to the yearling sales, it's been insane – it's been so strong. A lot of people [in the US] seem to have more money than ever.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Joe Miller, the leading bloodstock advisor and American representative for Tattersalls, who also revealed the extent to which the American footfall at Book 2 has gone up a notch this year.

“It's tough to buy good horses everywhere,” he said of the market. “It's almost impossible to buy the ones you like, although I think a lot of Americans have found it a little easier here to get the ones they like, for the price they want to pay, than it is in America.

“Last year, Tattersalls made a big effort to get a lot of Americans to come over. They were very strong in Book 1 and tailed off a little bit in Book 2. This year, I think a lot of them have stayed for Book 2 and we've had some new buyers coming in for Book 2 from America.”

He continued, “We've had a lot of California buyers here for Book 2. Tim Cohen from Rancho Temescal, this is his first yearling sale here. He's been a staple at the horses-in-training sales and the December Sale here for almost the last 20 years, but this is his first yearling sale. And Chief Stipe O'Neill is here with an owner of his, Mark Davis, who raced [multiple Grade I winner] Raging Torrent.

“About 65% of the races they run in California are grass races now. People like racing grass horses – oftentimes they have longer careers and stay sounder longer – and the best grass horses in the world come from Tattersalls.”

Connecticut-based trainer Philip Antonacci was another first-time attendee at Book 2 on a trip which, admittedly, didn't get off to the best of starts. The owner of a handful of horses trained in Ireland by Joseph O'Brien, he travelled to Newmarket primarily to see his Group 3-winning juvenile, Queen Of Hawaii, line up in Friday's G1 Fillies' Mile, but the daughter of Kingman ended up being withdrawn at the eleventh hour due to a foot abscess. She is now in contention for a tilt at the GI Breeders' Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“Kingman has had good success in America, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise and it was meant for her to go to the Breeders' Cup,” said Antonacci, by now back home supervising trackwork after returning from his maiden voyage to Book 2.

“It was a good excuse to come over and look at yearlings,” he continued. “It was my first time at a yearling sale there at Tattersalls. I came in after Book 1, just for Book 2, looked at a bunch of horses and then came home.

“I was impressed with the horses that I saw and I definitely think there were a lot of nice horses that could fit America. We race for a lot of money on the turf here in America and it's obviously no secret that Europe has the best turf bloodstock in the world.

“If you can source a few high-quality horses from over here and bring them to the US, you'd hope to think that you have an advantage over everybody else. I think that's the idea everybody is following and it's obviously been successful in the past – it's easy to follow success.”

For 160,000gns, Antonacci came away with a colt from Whatton Manor Stud bred on the same Kingman-Galileo cross as Queen Of Hawaii. Now, he must decide whether the colt – plus the five yearlings he bought at Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Sale – will be put into training in Europe or travel to America to join his barn.

He added, “I think right now we're evaluating which ones to bring over and which ones will stay. It will be a combination of both, but I think the majority of them will come over to me as two-year-olds next year, after they've been broken in Europe.”

That dilemma faced by Antonacci is one shared by many American owners, certainly since US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on goods coming into America – at a rate of 10% on imports from the United Kingdom.

Solis confirmed that the tariffs were factored into his bidding process, before revealing that one of his biggest clients, LNJ Foxwoods, is likely to have a larger contingent of horses based in Europe in 2026. This year, the two-year-old filly Coming Attraction (Dark Angel) has been the operation's sole runner in Britain, notably finishing fourth in last week's G3 Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket for trainer Roger Varian.

“You definitely have to think about it,” Solis said of the tariffs. “If you really value a horse at 300 [thousand], you might knock it back to 270 [thousand] and that's what you have.”

He added, “All of the horses that we've bought for LNJ are staying over here. It's a great place to get the horses started and we have Shahbanu with Tim Donworth who runs in a Group 3 in France next week. We really enjoy the European racing – the Roths [of LNJ Foxwoods] absolutely love it.”

LNJ Foxwoods won't be alone in their approach, according to Miller, who revealed that he expects more of the other American owners in attendance at Park Paddocks over the past fortnight to grow their European racing interests.

“There are quite a few owners who have come over, specifically to buy horses to race here and get them started,” he said. “Then, down the road, they have the option of bringing them to America, after they've seen what sort of level they're at. I'd say the majority of them are coming straight back, but there are plenty of people who will race them over here.”

On the impact of the tariffs, he added, “It definitely has an effect. Whenever you have to pay a little bit extra it does, but you just have to factor that into your bidding.

“It's expensive to run a large racing operation and, at the end of the day, the tariff is probably just a very small expense in the grand scheme of things. Although it's very frustrating, and we all certainly hope it goes away in the future, I don't think it deterred too many Americans from coming over here and spending.”

The tariffs might not have deterred the Americans from making their presence felt at Tattersalls, but Miller did concede that the fierce competition for the biggest and best lots on home soil this year might have caused a tightening of budgets by the time buyers crossed the Atlantic.

He summed up, “The Americans were strong here, they were really active, and they were trying to buy a lot of horses. But the good ones are expensive and I think people spent more than they were planning on at the previous sales.

“Maybe that [the strength of the American market] worked against us, actually. People still bought the horses they wanted to, but they had to spend more to get them. In the end, maybe they did spend a little bit less here than they would have if the American sales weren't so strong. That's kind of the way I look at it.”

For Antonacci, who featured among the buyers at Saratoga back in August, notably paying $625,000 for an Into Mischief filly, his first taste of Book 2 was a familiar tale, having already covering plenty of ground on the sales circuit in 2025.

“I think it's continuing the trend that we've seen around the world,” he said. “It's a polarised market, but you're buying high-quality bloodstock, by the best stallions in the world, and they're good individuals.

“There are horses that are making everybody's list and they're probably making to 20-30% more than you would anticipate. But, if you like them, you've got to step up and buy them, right?”

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