THE Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearling Sale, the last major yearling sale of the year, ended its three-day run on Wednesday by setting records across the board. The sale was led by a sale-topping $410,000 for a Tapit half-sister to graded winner and Darley stallion, Desert Party.

The three-day auction in Lexington, Kentucky set new marks for gross, average, and median, breaking the standards set just last year. The auction overall sold 837 yearlings for $30,006,200, up 7.5% from last season’s $27,908,000 for 818 horses. The average gained 5%, climbing from $34,117 to $35,850, and median rose 8.8%, from $17,000 to $18,500. All of the figures were a new benchmark for the sale.

However, buy-backs also increased from last year’s cumulative 16.2% to 20.8%.

“It is a record gross, record average, record median - that pretty much says it all,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “Obviously, it was a very good horse sale overall. Clearly the October sale has established an important place on the calendar for both buyers and sellers alike. We are very, very happy.”

Highlighting Wednesday’s session was Hip 984, a filly by leading sire Tapit out of Sage Cat (by Tabasco Cat). She was offered by Lexington-based Irishman Peter O’Callaghan’s Woods Edge Farm, who had purchased her as a weanling.

O’Callaghan, the eldest son of Gay and Annette O’Callaghan of Yeomanstown and Morristown Lattin Studs in Naas, Co Kildare, was rewarded for his patience when his Tapit filly topped not just the Wednesday session of the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale, but the entire three-day auction. The Tapit filly, was hammered down for $410,000, making her one of only two horses to reach the $400,000 mark during the sale. The other, the sale’s most expensive colt, also went to Conquest Stables. That was a $400,000 colt by the late great Street Cry out of Never Is A Promise, consigned by Baccari Bloodstock.

“We would like to thank Mark (Casse) and his team for buying her,” said O’Callaghan of the sale topper. “We wish them the very best with her. She really looks like she could be a racehorse. She is very correct, very athletic, beautifully made and has a lovely pedigree. She is by the best sire in the country, and for a big outfit like that, she makes a lot of sense.”

The bay filly is a half-sister to stakes winner Elliecat (Crafty Prospector), as well as Grade II winner and young sire Desert Party (Street Cry).

O’Callaghan purchased her for $300,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale and attempted to sell her at this year’s Keeneland September yearling sale, but she failed to meet her reserve when bidding stalled at $325,000.

“It’s a relief that she got sold,” he said. “It is a big risk every time you give a lot of money for a weanling like that, but we really liked her. I was prepared to take a small loss on her coming in here, but we weren’t going to take a big loss. Her price was double her reserve, so we are just delighted it worked out in the end.”