The 2019 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale concluded Saturday evening at the Fasig Tipton Sale Pavilion, and numbers climbed in just about every category compared to last year’s event.
An additional 60 horses went through the ring (762 compared to 702 in 2018) this season, and that helped this year’s gross sales climb to $46,480,000 compared to last year’s total of $39,770,000. There was also a spike in the average sale price compared to last season. This year’s average checked in at $60,997 compared to last year’s average of $56,652.
The only category that showed a weaker average was the pacing colts category. The gross sales climbed from $9.7 million to $11.8 million thanks to an extra 43 horses selling in that category, but the average price sunk from $60,689 to $57,926.
Pacing fillies saw the average climb from $44,159 in 2018 to $49,913 in this year’s event, while trotting fillies went from an average of $62,449 in 2018 to this year’s average of $64,139.
The biggest jump came in the trotting colts category. There was one less horse (207) selling in that category compared to last year (208), but the gross sales soared from just over $12 million to $14.2 million this season. The average also skyrocketed, with an average price of $69,005 compared to last year’s average price of $58,053.
Muscle Hill was the overall leader in the gross sales category among stallions with more than $5.8 million spent on his progeny. Captaintreacherous was next in line with more than $5 million spent on his sons and daughters.
The leading Ontario-based stallions based on gross sales were Bettors Delight ($1,472,000) and on the trotting side it was Kadabra ($1,275,000).
Preferred Equine was the top consignor with gross sales of close to $8.9 million, which was more than $3 million higher than the next highest total produced by Hunterton Sales Agency, Inc.
The top buyer over the course of the five-day auction was Burke Racing Stable LLC which forked over in excess of $1.2 million for their 13 purchases. Kenneth Jacobs shelled out close to $1.2 million for his six acquisitions, and agent Bryan Montgomery rounded out the top three with total sales topping just shy of $1 million for his six purchases.
Leading the Canadian contingent when it came to shopping at this year’s auction was Clark Beelby, who signed five tickets for total sales of $625,000. Serge Godin’s Determination Stable bought four yearlings for total sales of $615,000 while Blake MacIntosh bought nine youngsters worth a combined $446,000.
Important Links:
Links to the recaps of the sale’s first four sessions appear below.