The yearling sales season officially kicked off with the Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale. Back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, the July Sale was considered one of the premier boutique yearling sales in the country, consistently setting records and producing top-class racehorses.
Following the July Sale, we step right into another Fasig-Tipton yearling sale in our backyard. The Saratoga Sale, held August 10-11, has produced six individual Grade 1 winners in recent years, including Sierra Leone, Commandment, and Journalism. Expectations are once again high as another outstanding group of yearlings prepares to step into the sales ring.
The following week, August 16-17, the spotlight shifts to the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. Year after year, this auction has proven to be the premier source for quality New York-breds, offering buyers the opportunity to find talented runners eligible for one of the strongest state-bred racing programs in the country.
From there, the industry's attention turns to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, held September 14-26. Widely recognized as the largest and most influential yearling sale in the world, Keeneland September attracts buyers from around the world. The sale has produced countless champions, Grade 1 winners, and successful stallions and broodmares.
The yearling sales season then continues with the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale on October 19-22. Often viewed as one of the best value sales of the year, October gives buyers another opportunity to acquire quality yearlings after the excitement of Keeneland September. Many successful racehorses have come through this sale, proving that talent can be found throughout the entire sales season.
The final North American yearling sale of the year is the Fasig-Tipton Eastern Fall Yearlings Sale on October 27 in Timonium, Maryland. The sale has long served as an important marketplace for Mid-Atlantic breeders and buyers, offering another opportunity to uncover quality yearlings before the season comes to a close.
Each sale offers something a little different. Boutique sales like July and Saratoga feature carefully selected groups of yearlings, while the New York-Bred Sale showcases the strength of New York's breeding program. Keeneland September offers the broadest selection of Thoroughbreds anywhere in the world, the Kentucky October Sale provides buyers another opportunity to find exceptional value, and the Eastern Fall Sale closes the yearling season by highlighting quality horses from the Mid-Atlantic region.
We prefer to purchase yearlings for several reasons. First, you can purchase a horse for one-half to one-third of what it would cost at a two-year-old sale. Second, you can bring that horse into your own program and train it according to its individual physical attributes and growth timeline. You really get to know the horse, its personality, its limitations, and its growth patterns. The latter is probably the most important because once you understand how a horse develops, you can tailor its training schedule to fit its progression.
Two-year-olds are pointed toward a specific sale date, and it's often make it or break it. So we have to be extremely careful in our selection process, yearlings are still babies. They give you the opportunity to bring them along patiently, nurturing both their mental and physical development. And we have just the right people to do it.
As the yearling sales season gets underway, please feel free to join us as we search for the next Dream Maker Racing athlete. As long as I've been in this business, I still learn something new every day and you can too.