'He was at a higher echelon' - $850,000 Candy Ride colt tops third Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale session

A well-related colt by Candy Ride topped the third session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale on Wednesday when selling to Jon Green of D J Stables for $850,000. 

The well-related yearling was bred in Kentucky by Liberty Road Stables and consigned by Gainesway. He is out of Unrivaled Princess, a Tapit daughter of 2010 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic winner Unrivaled Belle and a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Unique Bella.

Green told Bloodhorse: "This colt looks more like a Gun Runner than he does a Candy Ride. He's balanced, he's a great mover, and he really just wowed us from really the first moment that our consultants [Kim Valerio and Lauren Carlisle] pointed him out to us. So, this colt has been on our radar almost all week.

"We kept comparing him to all the other yearlings that we were looking at, and to the Gun Runner [hip 504] we bought the day earlier. There's a lot of nice athletes in this sale, but this colt was at a higher echelon based on his athleticism and the way he moved, and just how mentally stable and calm and collected he is."

Green added: "[The market] is strong. It's really strong. It's just a continuation of what happened in the summer time at Fasig Saratoga, the New York-bred sale, what happened all the way through the Keeneland September Sale, it's not just the good horses that are bringing a lot of money. It's all horses that are bringing more money than what we had anticipated a year or two ago. 

"I think there's a lot of factors that play into that, but mostly it shows that, economically, as an investment, the horse industry is no longer just a luxury-item industry. It's actually a real-commodity industry."

Two fillies, by Nyquist and Justify, sold for $500,000 apiece. The former was bought by April Mayberry of Mayberry Farms from Blandford Stud, while the daughter of Justify was purchased by Trade Winds Farm.

Mayberry said of the Nyquist filly: "Nyquist, one of my favourite sires. Big, beautiful filly. She's so pretty. I broke the sister for BBN — Mackinac, and I love her. There was just a lot, between I love the family and Nyquist, and her physical."

At the end of play, 271 yearlings sold for turnover of $19,546,500, including post-ring sales. The average increased to $72,127, a 48 per cent increase from last year's third session of $48,862, and a 38 per cent increase from last year's total sale average of $52,392. The median came out at $30,000, a 50 per cent increase on last year's third session.

Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr said: "It's almost a 50 per cent increase over the corresponding session last year. I tend to use, as I've said all along, the overall sale average as compared to session to session, because I think it's more appropriate generally speaking."

He added: "It started off with robust activity today, and ended with robust activity today, and that's the most encouraging thing of all." 

The final session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale concludes today from 10am local time (3pm BST). 

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