Gun Runner Leads First-Crop Sires at Fasig-Tipton

Three Chimneys Farm's first-crop yearling sire and 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner  continued to lead his sire class in the commercial market with an average of $331,429 from seven sold during Fasig-Tipton's two-day Selected Yearlings Showcase in Lexington.

Gun Runner, a 7-year-old son of Candy Ride , was one of two sires last year with a first-crop weanling average above $300,000. The other was Juddmonte Farms' late sire Arrogate .

Gainesway sold Gun Runner's top seller at Fasig-Tipton, a $500,000 filly (Hip 570) out of grade 2-placed winner Divine Dawn that was bought by Fortune Farm and It's All About The Girls racing partnership. None of Gun Runner's yearlings sold for less than $100,000. These yearlings were all bred on a $70,000 stud fee.

Two other first-crop yearling sires had averages above $250,000—Claiborne Farm's Mastery  and Arrogate.

Mastery was represented by seven sold out of nine cataloged that averaged $257,143. The 6-year-old grade 1 winner also by Candy Ride had yearlings sell for $140,000-$450,000. His top seller, Hip 413, is a colt out of the Tiznow  winner Texas Gem, who is out of grade 1-placed graded stakes winner Gemswick Park. Eaton Sales sold the yearling to JCM, a group that includes trainer Phil Bauer and owner Richard Rigney. Mastery stands at Claiborne for $25,000.

Arrogate, a four-time group/grade 1 winner who tragically was euthanized back in June due to an apparent neurological illness, had yearlings that maintained the striking physiques that attracted buyers when they averaged $311,250 as weanlings. A son of Unbridled's Song, Arrogate was represented at Fasig-Tipton by six sold out of eight offered that averaged $256,667. Breeze Easy went to $400,000 for Arrogate's top seller, a colt (Hip 393) consigned by Hill 'n' Dales Sales Agency out of the Smart Strike mare Succeeding who hails from the female family of Better Than Honour. Succeeding is out of the Canadian stakes winner Cascading, who is an A.P. Indy half sister to grade 1 winner Streaming and stakes winner Treasuring (both by Smart Strike). Arrogate's first crop was bred on a $75,000 stud fee.

The rest of the first-crop yearling sires with three or more sold and averages above $100,000 were Ashford Stud's Practical Joke  ($169,545 from 11 sold), Ashford's Classic Empire  ($147,938 from eight sold), Spendthrift Farm's Lord Nelson  ($134,091, 11 sold), and Shadwell Farm's Mohaymen  ($106,667, three sold).

Lane's End's Quality Road  took the top spot by average with two sold of four offered that averaged $900,000. His best seller topped the sale at $1.5 million, a filly out of Irish group 1 winner Marvellous (Galileo), who is a full sister to multiple group 1 winner and prominent second-crop sire Gleneagles and three other group winners. The filly was bought by Joseph Allen and consigned by Hill 'n' Dale Sales.

Spendthrift's leading sire Into Mischief  had the sale's third-highest average at $396,765 from 17 sold, but his yearlings had the greatest representation with four among 19 yearlings that sold for $500,000 or more during the two-day sale. An Into Mischief colt out of the Distorted Humor  mare Blind Copy brought the third-highest price of the sale when agent Donato Lanni went to $800,000 on behalf of SF Racing, Starlight Stables, and Madaket Stables. The colt was consigned by Indian Creek.