VIBRANT trade at the two-day Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed sale in Lexington led to a record aggregate and median. The average was the highest in a non-dispersal year, and the second highest overall.

Brilliant Cut, second in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last time out, topped the sale when she sold for $750,000 to Katsumi Yoshida. Highgate Sales consigned the four-year-old daughter of Speightstown as a racing and broodmare prospect. Twice a winner and multiple graded stakes-placed, Brilliant Cut was trained by Doug O’Neill.

Excluding dispersals, Brilliant Cut is the second most expensive filly or mare in the sale’s history, second only to Better Begin who sold in foal to Northern Dancer for $900,000 at the 1984 sale. A trio of dispersal mares have sold for more in the intervening years, namely Grade 1 winner Pool Land in foal to Smart Strike for $900,000 in 2013, dual-Eclipse champion Roxy Gap $850,000 the same year, and French champion Tropicaro, in foal to Kris, who sold for $825,000 in 1984.

“There was great activity on all types of horses and really all levels of horses,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “February has clearly established itself as a meaningful sale on the calendar that people can and should point horses to in the future. The ones that brought horses that were really of some quality were richly rewarded over the last two days.”

Meah/Lloyd buy

For much of the second session on Wednesday, Lady Edith held sway after bringing $370,000 from Meah/Lloyd Bloodstock, acting as agent for Abbondanza and Omar Aldabbagh. The four-year-old Street Boss filly was offered as a racing and broodmare prospect by Hermitage Farm on behalf of the Estate of J. David Richardson. A winner at two and three, Lady Edith opened her four-year-old season with a win in the Wishing Well Stakes at Turfway Park two weeks before the sale, bringing her earnings to $208,982.

Wednesday’s, and the sale’s, most expensive broodmare came in the form of Lucky Draw, in foal to Gun Runner, who drew a winning bid of $330,000 from Gracie Bloodstock. Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned the seven-year-old daughter of Lookin At Lucky whose first foal You Look Cold, by Frosted, won twice in four starts last year as a two-year-old, including the Finest City Stakes.

Delayed start

Inclement weather postponed the first session of the sale by a day, but the level of activity on Tuesday showed that the decision was the correct one. A healthy market for broodmares, racing and broodmare prospects, and short yearlings showed itself in vibrant results.

Grade 2 winner Bodhicitta topped the opening session when she sold for $450,000 to K I Farm in Japan. The six-year-old daughter of Showcasing was offered by St George Sales. Winner of the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar at dour, and placed in back-to-back editions of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita, Bodhicitta has earned $370,808 to date.

A colt from the second crop of multiple Grade 1 winner City Of Light sold for $260,000 to lead the short yearling contingent and the dark bay or brown colt was purchased by Peter Pugh, agent for Cherry Knoll, from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency. He is a half-brother to stakes-placed winner Eloquent Speaker and from the immediate family of Grade 1 winner Behrens. The colt was bred in New York by John W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding. A yearling filly by Gun Runner was second-best among this age group at $225,000.

Conclusion

At the sale’s conclusion Browning said: “I think we’ll continue to have a very vibrant market. It’s healthy, it’s transactional, it’s trading, but it’s not ridiculous. We’ve had some overall growth, and we’ve had some improvement overall in the marketplace, and it does feel sustainable.”

Over the two days 431 horses changed hands for $17,245,500, a record gross for the Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale and a 38% increase over last year’s gross of $12,506,700. The median was $16,000, which tied 2014 for a sale record, and represented a 60% increase over the $10,000 median in 2021.

The average was the second highest in sale history at $40,013, up 36% over $29,428 last year. Forty-eight horses sold for $100,000 or more, up from 23 sold at or beyond that price in 2021. The unsold rate was 11.5%, the third lowest in sale history and the lowest since the record was set in 1992.