$500K Colts on Top as Fasig-Tipton October Sale Maintains Record Pace

[Wandering Eyes]

LEXINGTON, KY – The four-day Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale reached its halfway point in Lexington Tuesday and continued to produce figures significantly ahead of its record-setting 2024 edition. Through two sessions, 540 yearlings have grossed $33,091,000 for an average of $61,280 and a median of $30,000. At the same point last year, 544 horses had grossed $28,753,000 for an average of $52,855 and a median of $20,000. The 2024 auction concluded with a cumulative record gross of $58,575,500 and a record average of $52,206.

“The second session of the 2025 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale was another strong session,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “It posted increases in the average price, the median, and gross sales and the RNA rate was acceptable. Strong bidding continued again throughout. We've seen these same trends really from start to finish in the 2025 yearling marketplace. There were no real surprises. But it's always encouraging to feel the enthusiasm, to see the crowd that is here and to see just the overall level of activity. It felt good and we are looking forward to the next two days.”

With 151 horses reported not sold, the two-day buy-back rate stands at 21.9%, just off last year's corresponding figure of 20.1%.

A pair of colts topped Tuesday's session when selling for matching $500,000 bids just minutes apart. Gustavo Delgado's OGMA Investments was first to hit that mark for a son of Life Is Good consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. A few hips later, Mahmud Mouni bid $500,000 to acquire a colt by Into Mischief from the Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services consignment.

Thank you for joining us for the second session of the Kentucky October Yearlings sale! @btbrowning recaps. pic.twitter.com/yLqF5S5SQA

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2025

Through two sessions, 37 yearlings have sold for $200,000 or more, up from 34 at the same point a year ago.

Fergus Galvin of Hunter Valley Farm has experienced the market as both a seller and a buyer this week.

“There are horses at all ends of the spectrum here, so it's a little bit hard to get a gauge on the market when you are looking at the results,” Galvin said. “But as sellers, it's the carry over from September. The good horses are making all the money and there is less and less tolerance for average horses.”

As a buyer, Galvin signed for a $400,000 filly by Uncle Mo and a $290,000 daughter of Life Is Good.

“We bought a couple of fillies last night for Qatar Racing and we are very happy with both purchases,” Galvin said. “Sheikh Fahad wanted a couple of well-bred fillies. Again they were about where we thought we would have to be. We bought some in September and we knew we would have to stretch on the good ones and the same applied here.”

The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning each day at 10 a.m.

'Looks like a Million Bucks': Life Is Good Colt to Delgados

“He looks like a million bucks–thank God we got him for half,” Gustavo Delgado, Jr. said with a laugh after signing the ticket at $500,000 to acquire a colt by Life Is Good (hip 576) from the Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment. Delgado did his bidding out back alongside his father, trainer Gustavo Delgado, Sr.

The dark bay colt is out of stakes winner and graded-placed Shippy (Midshipman). He was bred by Vinnie Viola's St. Elias Stables, which purchased the mare for $130,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton February sale.

 

Hip 576 c. LIFE IS GOOD o/o Shippy sells for $500,000 at Kentucky October Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:

B: OGMA Investments
C: @HillnDaleFarm, agt
Br: St. Elias Stables#FasigKY @WinStarFarm @LlcOgma pic.twitter.com/w4fV8QbIbH

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2025

“We were fans of Life Is Good,” Delgado said. “We wanted one, but unfortunately we couldn't get one at Keeneland. It was very competitive. This colt looks like the kind of frame we look for. We are looking for two-turn horses, fast, and hopefully the ones that can take you to the Saturday races.”

Also on Tuesday in Lexington, the Delgados' OGMA Investments purchased a filly by Epicenter (hip 471) from the Gainesway consignment for $95,000.

“Thank God we have been able to get a few. It's very competitive,” Delgado said of the October market. “And more importantly, we have to say thank you to our partners. That's the main thing. You have to hook up with the right people. If you think you are going to do it alone, forget it.”

Of the partners on hip 576, Delgado said, “We are still figuring it out. But it's already the existing partners that we have campaigned horses with. It's always a good feeling when you get the horse you want.”

Just a few hips after Delgado made his winning bid, Libyan bloodstock agent Mahmud Mouni also went to $500,000, securing a colt by Into Mischief (hip 579) from the Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services consignment. Bred by Newtownanner Stud Farm, the yearling is out of Shopit (Yes It's True) and is a full-brother to stakes winner and multiple Grade I-placed Shoplifted. Mouni purchased another full-brother to the colt at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale for $450,000. That colt is now named Tanarout.

Hip 579 c. INTO MISCHIEF o/o Shopit sells for $500,000 at Kentucky October Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:

B: Mahmud Mouni
C: Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agt
Br: Newtownanner Stud Farm#FasigKY @spendthriftfarm pic.twitter.com/PDJ8nUYuE5

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2025

 

$425k Flightline Colt to Morplay

The final first-crop yearling by Flightline (hip 512) to sell at auction this fall will be heading to the Ocala base of Morplay Racing after bringing a final bid of $425,000 Tuesday in Lexington.

“What's not to like about him?,” said Morplay managing partner Cameron Dulgar, who signed the ticket as Colorful Farm. “He is striking physically, with a big walk. That physical is hard to come by, especially with that page. We had to have him.”

 

Hip 512 c. FLIGHTLINE o/o Safwah sells for $425,000 at Kentucky October Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:

B: Colorful Farm
C: @CrestwoodKY, agt#FasigKY @LanesEndFarms pic.twitter.com/fTtv5MzDnB

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2025

The bay colt is out of Safwah (Medaglia d'Oro), a half-sister to GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) and Grade I winner Hot Dixie Chick (Dixie Union). He was bred by RMJ Stables and was consigned by Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm. The yearling had RNA'd for $385,000 at the Keeneland September sale last month.

“For us, we have been eye-balling pretty much all of the Flightlines to come through these sales and this one we really liked,” Dulgar said. “We had to reach in the pocket a little bit, but we were prepared to do that. We are just happy we got him.”

Of plans for the colt, Dulgar said, “We will have to talk internally. We will bring him back to Ocala to our farm and just give him a once over and give him some time and make a decision from there.”

While Dulgar and Morplay founder Rich Mendez are busy shopping at the October sale, they are looking ahead to a trip out west where Shisospicy (Mitole) is a contender in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“To be honest with you, it's great to be here, but the Breeders' Cup is on my mind for sure,” Dulgar said. “The whole family is going out there, so it will be a really awesome moment.”

Owned in partnership with Qatar Racing, Shisospicy is coming off a win in the GII Music City Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

“She's doing amazing,” Dulgar said. “We saw her this morning. She is looking great, coming in sharp. She will work in the next couple of days and then she will ship over. We have high hopes, but just to be a part of it is really awesome.”

'Beautiful Horse': McCrocklin Strikes for $400k Omaha Beach Filly

Ocala horseman Tom McCrocklin, who went to $400,000 to secure a filly by Omaha Beach (hip 455) early in Tuesday's second session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale, admitted its been tough buying at the yearling sales all season.

“It's been extremely bullish all year,” McCrocklin said. “There is a lot of money still out there and I am just fighting for a little piece of the pizza at this point. I never feel like I have to buy horses, but Keeneland was record-shattering difficult and I am in the horse business and I need horses. And I have people who want to support our program, so we are actively trying to buy good horses and there will be more to come this sale.”

 

Hip 455 f. OMAHA BEACH o/o Ready for Charm sells for $400,000 at Kentucky October Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:

B: Tom McCrocklin, agent
C: @TaylorMadeSales, agent for @WinStarFarm Bred & Raised
Br: WinStar Farm#FasigKY @spendthriftfarm pic.twitter.com/EXdZDjkpyS

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2025

Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency on behalf of her breeder, WinStar Farm, hip 455 is out of Ready for Charm (More Than Ready). The mare, a half-sister to stakes winners Praetereo (Giant's Causeway) and Simply Spiteful (Speightstown), was purchased by WinStar for $120,000 at the 2022 Keeneland January sale.

“Everything,” McCrocklin said when asked what attracted him to the filly. “Pedigree, conformation. She was a superior physical with big upside. And looks like a dirt horse. I didn't want to buy a filly with the perception that it was Omaha Beach and a turf horse. I think they come in both types. But I prefer her physical type. Beautiful horse.”

While Fasig-Tipton will conduct its under-tack show at next year's Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale without timed workouts, McCrocklin said he has not changed his approach to buying yearlings this season to resell next spring.

“I am not a believer that there are going to be a whole bunch of horses galloping,” he said. “The key phrase in that whole format is 'untimed.' There will still be a lot of stopwatches clicking in the grandstand. I can't pay $400,000 for this filly and keep her until Maryland in May and gallop. I am not disparaging anybody who wants to gallop their horse and I applaud Fasig for going out on a limb and trying something different. Historically, what brings money at 2-year-old sales? Fast horses, not good gallopers.”

McCrocklin continued, “My position is, if we are going to do it? Let's do it across the board. OBS, Fasig–and what you will see is purchase for resale will become extinct. The breeders will need to start training horses to sell their offspring that they don't get sold in the yearling sales because there are some very good horsemen who have produced some really high-quality horses, Classic horses, that went through their programs for breezing. I still believe–and numbers for 2-year-old sales verify it–horses that breeze well and perform well at a 2-year-old sale turn out to be better racehorses relative to the other set of the population. I think it's out there in black and white. People don't like the process, go buy yearlings.”

Mystic Guide Continues to Reward Investors

For the second day in a row at the Fasig-Tipton October sale, a yearling from the first crop of G1 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide rewarded pinhookers who invested in his weanlings last fall. This time it was a pinhooking syndicate which purchased a filly by the sire for $100,000 at the Keeneland November sale and returned her to the ring Tuesday as hip 541 to realize a final bid of $245,000 from Legion Bloodstock.

 

Hip 541 f. MYSTIC GUIDE o/o Seabrook sells for $245,000 at Kentucky October Yearlings! Congrats to the connections:

B: @HunterValleyKY, agt
C: @LegionBldstk, agt #FasigKY @DarleyStallions pic.twitter.com/473wZjmhzR

— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) October 21, 2025

 

“One of the partners picked her out last year,” said Fergus Galvin of Hunter Valley Farm, which consigned the filly. “She had a lovely frame and physique. She did great in the interim. We had a ton of action on her. We went from yesterday evening with one or two vets on her to maybe she had 12 or 15 by the time she got up to the ring. And there were several bidders on her. She was a lovely filly and a great advert for the sire. ”

Hunter Valley had already had success with Mystic Guide at the Keeneland September sale. The operation sold a colt by the sire, purchased by Paul Neatherlin for $45,000 at the 2025 Keeneland January sale, for $425,000 to trainer Bob Baffert and The Three Amigos.

“They have a great physique to them,” Galvin said of Mystic Guide's first crop of yearlings. “They have loads of stretch to them and great body. He was a good physical himself, but I think his offspring are a great reflection of him.”

During Monday's first session of the October sale, Vinery Sales sold a colt by Mystic Guide for $150,000. The yearling had been purchased by a pinhooking partnership for $22,000 at Keeneland last November.

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