‘Highest Grossing Digital Sale Ever’: Treadstone Tops Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale

[Wandering Eyes]

The 2025 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale set a new high-water mark for gross, closing Wednesday evening with sales of $10,607,900 for 421 horses sold including the sales topper Treadstone (hip 34) (Tapit) who brought $470,000.

The sale, which opened Thursday, December 4, and closed over two sessions on December 9 and 10, is believed to have established a new top gross for an online thoroughbred auction held worldwide, exceeding last year's Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale's gross of $10,258,700. Offerings during this sale included horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, racing/stallion prospects, broodmares, yearlings, weanlings, and stallion seasons.

Treadstone, a 2-year-old who broke his maiden on debut at Aqueduct Nov. 23, sold to Greg Compton out of the Gainesway consignment. Out of the winning Empire Maker mare Bayou Tortuga, Treadstone is a half-brother to G3 UAE Oaks winners Down On Da Bayou (Super Saver) and Polar River (Congrats).

The sale's second highest price went to Tour Player (hip 42) (American Pharoah) who sold for $350,000 to Legion Bloodstock, as agent for Graham Grace Stables, from the consignment of Bob Baffert, agent for Natalie J. Baffert. The 4-year-old colt was offered as a horse of racing age, is undefeated in three starts this year and entered the sale off three consecutive 90+ Beyer Speed Figures.

“We were looking to add a racehorse for his stable,” Legion Bloodstock's Kyle Zorn said of Dr. Adam Ainspan's Graham Grace Stable. “We'd looked at the last couple of sales, picked a few over and for whatever reason, decided not to go after those. But this one really caught his [Dr. Ainspan] eye. [Trainer] Whit [Beckman] was really high on this colt. He's seen his performances and his last race at Churchill [a win facing allowance horses Nov. 30]. Obviously [Tour Player] has an affinity for that track so we thought he could be a fun horse to carry on into 2026.”

A Bob Baffert homebred, Tour Player began his career at Santa Anita, making three starts in California before shipping to Kentucky where he broke his maiden at Churchill Downs in Oct. 2024. His three wins this year have all come under the Twin Spires but Zorn said a trip to Florida is in the colt's immediate future.

“He's leaving to go down to Payson Park to join Whit's string there,” Zorn said. “We'll look at some of the races at Gulfstream Park around Pegasus weekend. I think [Whit] wants to get some miles under him and just kind of see where he's at. I went and looked at him at Margaux Farm where [bloodstock agent] Donato [Lanni] was showing him and he looked fantastic. He looks like he could run tomorrow. So we'll let Whit make that deciding factor. We just thought he'd be a fun horse for next year, maybe target some of those big races. You can always big-time dream, maybe even those overseas races if he carries on that form.”

Other top prices for the sale include Empress Eleanor (hip 368) (Bernardini), sold for $280,000 to Ashview Farm from the consignment of Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services, agent for Merriebelle Stables. Empress Eleanor was offered in foal to Tiz the Law. Her first foal, Channel the Music (Maclean's Music), is a stakes-placed winner as a 2-year-old this year.

Wild Bout Hilary (hip 6) (Midnight Lute), sold for $250,000 to Bourbon Boys from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. A 4-year-old racing/broodmare prospect, Wild Bout Hilary counts this year's GIII Bayakoa Stakes among her six wins from two to four.

Rock On Layla (hip 645) (More Than Ready), sold for $230,000 to Fiddleleaf Bloodstock from the consignment of Harris Farms. Offered as a broodmare, the 4-year-old is a half-sister to this year's GII Clark Stakes winner Magnitude (Not This Time).

Zapple (hip 351) (Ghostzapper), sold for $220,000 to Reverie Farm from the consignment of Kingswood Farm, agent. Zapple is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Nootka Sound (Lonhro {Aus}) and to the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Instant Coffee (Bolt d'Oro), and was offered carrying her first foal by Girvin.

“This is the highest grossing digital sale ever,” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “We're thrilled with how it went. We've sold over 1,600 horses this year and grossed over $50,000,000 in digital sales. I never thought we'd be where we are now when we launched the platform nearly four years ago.”

Aaron continued: “The growth of Fasig Digital is all thanks to our buyers and sellers from across the globe. We had over 1,500 registered bidders for the December sale alone–so many that it crashed Jesse and Frank's broadcast on Day 1. I'm thrilled with where we're going and we cannot wait for 2026.”

Fasig-Tipton, who has offered digital auctions from one-horse flash sales all the way through this record-breaking sale, seems poised to continue that growth.

“We're gonna continue to expand,” Aaron said. “Our goal this year was 50 [million] and I think we've hit 50.1 [million], and that's just in four years. Wherever the market allows us to go, we're going to take it. As long as people want to keep giving us horses to sell, we're going to continue to grow.”

Overall, 421 horses sold for $10,607,900, believed to be the highest gross ever for an online thoroughbred auction worldwide. Twenty-two offerings sold for $100,000 or more. Horses were sold to buyers from eight different countries and three continents.

Next on the calendar is the Fasig-Tipton January Digital Sale which will run Jan. 15-20.

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