Fresh Faces at The July Sale 2024

Highlights from the Freshman Sire Showcase at Fasig-Tipton July

The Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale takes place tomorrow at 10am, with 286 yearlings in the catalog this year. A great deal of the focus during the Fasig-Tipton July Sale is going to be on the first 88 hips, which comprise the traditional “Freshman Sire Showcase” portion of the sale. According to statistics from the BloodHorse's Market Watch, the July Sale is ranked first by percentage of stakes winners, stakes horses, and two-year-old winners out of auctions that sold more than 250 yearlings in 2019-2021, and ranks behind only the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in percentage of G1 winners and graded stakes winners sold. Graduates of the July Sale by freshman sires include G1 Starlet Stakes winner Faiza, from the first crop of Girvin, G3 British Columbia Derby winner Accidental Hero, from the first crop of Mo Town, G3 UAE Oaks winner Mimi Kakushi, a member of the first crop of City of Light, and G3 Bewitch Stakes winner Chop Chop by that same stallion.

Freshman sires whose foals will be highlighted this year include 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go, Eclipse champion two- and three-year-old Essential Quality, multiple G1 winners Maxfield and Charlatan, and G1 Forego winner Yaupon, among others. Twenty stallions are represented among the first 88 hips of the sale. Of those, sixteen had at least five weanlings sell at auction in 2023, and five of those saw weanling averages of at least four times their 2022 advertised stud fee - Beau Liam led the way with 21 weanlings selling for an average of $31,643 on a $6,000 fee (527%), Yaupon’s 36 weanlings brought an average of $130,889 on a $30,000 fee (436%), Charlatan’s 18 weanlings brought an average of $210,278 on a $50,000 fee (421%), Maxfield’s 11 weanlings brought an average of $165,182 on a $40,000 fee (413%), and Essential Quality had five weanlings sell for an average of $308,000 on his $75,000 fee (411%).

For this blog post, I will be highlighting five yearlings by five different freshman sires, focusing on horses who illustrate patterns I’m looking forward to seeing from these young stallions. A stallion not appearing on this list doesn’t mean I don’t think highly of him, only that I didn’t find a yearling in this sale that stood out to me on the dam’s side as much as these five.

Hip 81 - c. Yaupon x Totem Power (Unbridled’s Song)

Yaupon may be one of the most talked-about stallions in this freshman class, and for good reason. He’s an absolutely stunning son of Uncle Mo, who is quickly establishing himself as a venerable sire of sires with sons Nyquist, Outwork, and Laoban all G1 producers and other promising young sons such as Mo Town and Sea Wizard also proving themselves capable of siring stakes winners. This year, Uncle Mo’s freshman sire son Caracaro has already gotten a stakes winner in just three foals to race.

He was a bit late to the races, debuting in late June of his three-year-old season, but he quickly made a name for himself, winning his first four starts, including two graded stakes. He showcased his tenacity on debut, a trait that would be on full display the following year in his notorious G1 Forego victory, where he was savaged by Firenze Fire in the stretch but prevailed to win by a head. He fractured a sesamoid in his left hind leg while training for the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and was retired. Yaupon won six of his eight lifetime starts, with losses coming in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint and 2021 Dubai Golden Shaheen, and throughout his career proved that he was a brilliantly fast sprinter with plenty of heart - traits that should serve his offspring well if he passes them on.

In addition to being by Uncle Mo, Yaupon brings quality in on his dam’s side, being out of a G1 placed daughter of Vindication. His second dam, Swift Alliance, is a stakes winner and the dam of three stakes winners, two by Sky Classic and one by Orientate, who could be an especially interesting cross with Yaupon as Uncle Mo is the sire of stakes winner Uncle Lino out of an Orientate mare (10% of 10 starters on the cross). Yaupon’s third dam is a stakes placed winner who produced three stakes winners as a broodmare.

There are 13 yearlings by Yaupon cataloged in the July Sale, many of which look quite promising - I was quite torn between talking about this colt and Hip 45, whose dam is bred on the same Forestry/Seeking the Gold cross as the dam of Nyquist. However, this colt stood out to me due to the presence of graded stakes winner Adios Charlie under the second dam. Adios Charlie, like Uncle Mo, is a son of Indian Charlie, and I give quite a bit of weight to the fact that this sire line has already proven successful with this immediate female family. Uncle Mo himself has stakes placed runners Mo City and Great News from more distantly related branches of this Lowe family 2o.

In addition to the presence of a graded stakes winner by Indian Charlie on the page, Uncle Mo has crossed very well with both this colt’s damsire Unbridled’s Song and his second damsire Northern Afleet. The cross of Uncle Mo with mares carrying Unbridled’s Song is responsible for G1 winner Golden Pal (out of a mare by Unbridled’s Song’s Midshipman), along with nine other stakes winners, in 124 starters (8.1%). The cross of Uncle Mo over mares carrying Northern Afleet has produced four stakes winners in 41 starters (9.8%), including G1 winner Dream Tree out of a mare by Northern Afleet’s son Afleet Alex. In Yaupon’s case, the cross with Northern Afleet creates inbreeding to that stallion’s sire Afleet, who is Yaupon’s second damsire. There have only been 21 starters inbred to Afleet, but one of those is a stakes winner by Adios Charlie and out of an Afleet Alex mare (thus creating inbreeding to Afleet via his son Northern Afleet).

The major concern with this pedigree is durability, as Totem Power herself made only two starts and her first foal, a four-year-old this year by More Than Ready, never raced. However, her three-year-old by Speightstown has made five starts this year, two of those wins - one at the $30,000 maiden claiming level at Oaklawn Park and one for a $16,000 tag at Ellis. Her two-year-old by Game Winner sold for only $15,000 at Keeneland September. There is some hope, however, as Totem Power is a 3/4 sister to Streakin’ Mohican, a multiple stakes placed runner who made 40 starts over five seasons, and a half sister to Afleet Moment, a son of Uncle Mo who won seven of 22 career starts over six seasons (another sibling by Uncle Mo, a filly named High Authority, was unraced). So while these concerns need to be kept in mind, I think this colt is a very interesting prospect, and I think we’re going to see plenty of brilliant runners from his sire once they hit the track next year.