Hope Springs Eternal at F-T July Freshman Sire Showcase

The American yearling sales season kicks off July 12 at Fasig-Tipton's Newtown Paddocks with The July Sale, which will showcase for the first time the progeny by first-crop yearling sires alongside offerings by stalwart sires. Long regarded for cataloging top-notch physicals, this year's selection includes 302 yearlings for consideration.

"The buyers who shop the July yearling sale … the first thought that comes to mind is precocious and athletic, which are two adjectives we try to live by when we are doing our inspections," Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. said. "People are looking for the forward horse, which will be athletic and early."

Browning added: "They must be a good walker, mature, and with the potential to run early in their racing career. The other thought that comes to mind when you think of The July Sale is the success of the young stallions. Again, this year, we offer the freshman sire showcase leading off the sale. Hope springs eternal; no one has bought a horse from a freshman sire that hasn't been successful or been able to run. We are all intrigued and excited to see the yearlings by the new freshman sires every year. When you look at the numbers, there is a great popularity of the new sires in the breeding shed and enthusiasm in the sales ring."

Last year marked the return of the freshman sire showcase, when the sale sold 208 yearlings of 277 offered for gross receipts of $21,608,500. The showcase averaged $103,887 and set an $80,000 median. There were 69 horses that failed to meet their reserves to represent a 24.9% RNA rate.

The freshman sire showcase encompasses Hips 1-88 and features first-crop yearlings by 15 different sires. Following the showcase is a selection that includes yearlings by 16 freshman sires, whose first 2-year-olds hit the track this year.

"I think this is a nice group of first-crop sires coming to the market for the first time; it's a diverse group both in stud fee range and their preferences on the racetrack. It offers something for everybody," Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency said.

Leading consignor Taylor Made Sales brings forward a draft of 34 selected individuals, 11 of which are part of the freshman sire showcase. 

"Maximus Mischief   is a horse that has impressed many people since last November when his babies started selling. I regularly heard people have positive comments and have seen a few myself. They are athletic-looking horses," Taylor commented. "Being by Into Mischief   and out of a Songandaprayer mare, the ones I have seen you can see the Songandaprayer coming through; they look fast. I think the pinhookers will like these horses; they look precocious.

Maximus Mischief stands at Spendthrift for $7,500 for the 2022 season, which is unchanged from 2020.

"On the other end, Omaha Beach   has a higher stud fee; he's by War Front   and is a well-bred horse and was a top-class racehorse. Coming off the track, he was an A prospect. I have seen many of his progeny, and you can see a lot of War Front in his yearlings. They are strong horses with a good topline; some I have seen are more two-turn-looking horses. Overall, I think they have a lot of quality, a good head and eye, and substance to them. Breeding-wise, you would have thought he would be a turf horse, but he ran very well on the dirt, so it will be interesting. I think the buyers will see him as a horse that could achieve success on both surfaces."

Omaha Beach stands at Spendthrift for $30,000 for 2022. In 2020 he stood for $45,000.

"Audible   is a horse that I think is interesting, another son of Into Mischief; the yearlings I have seen have more of a stretchy/scopey look to them than Into Mischief. They look like they could be more route horses than the early Into Mischief models, which were more compact and blocky. I think people started breeding different types of mares to Into Mischief, he will get a good horse regardless, but the Audibles are more scopey and refined. I like them a lot."

Audible stands at WinStar Farm for $25,000 in 2022, which is the same as his entering-year fee in 2020.

"Just as important as the freshman sires, when you look at the success of The July Sale and its strength of producing quality runners by proven sires, this year we have a strong line up of horses by the top horses in the world like Gun Runner  , Into Mischief, Quality Road  , and Uncle Mo  ," Browning said.

The sole offering by leading second-crop sire Gun Runner (Hip 153) is offered by Gainesway and saw a recent update to the catalog page when his full sister placed in a grade 3 event over the weekend.

"He is one of the nicer horses we brought to the July Sale, we were looking to make him stand out a bit more here, as opposed to the super select sales, and he ended up being the only one in the catalog," Gainesway's general manager Brian Graves said. "He is an athletic colt, and his full sister, Runaway Wife  just finished second in the Indiana Oaks (G3) Saturday with Kenny McPeek. This colt is a homebred for Fern Circle; he's leggy, has a nice shape, and a good walk on him."

Three Chimney's leading sire Gun Runner has seen seven short yearlings sell earlier in the year at an average price of $215,000; similarly, his 2-year-olds have averaged $258,632 in the sales ring worldwide this year.

Uncle Mo, sire of this year's Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Mo Donegal  has had 23 2-year-olds sell this year worldwide for a $298,622 average and a single short yearling sold for $310,000.

"Our Uncle Mo colt out of Runway Doll , Hip 167, is a nice athletic horse," commented Graves. "He's the type of horse that looks like he could go to a 2-year-old sale and breeze in :9 4/5. He has a speedy look to him. He's from a family of 2-year-olds; his dam broke her maiden at Saratoga in her first start and won by 13 1/2 lengths—so it runs in the family."

As of Monday afternoon, 38 yearlings had been withdrawn from the sale, which begins Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. ET.