Hip 502, a colt by Practical Joke bred by Stone Bridge Farm, sold for $525,000 Monday at the Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. Susie Raisher Photo.
The Saratoga Special’s editorial team of Miles Clancy, Alec DiConza, Darby O’Brien and Julia Reedy covered Monday’s second session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grounds and talked with buyers, sellers and sales company officials about the results:
Boyd Browning Jr., Fasig-Tipton: “It was an improved sale, or an improved sales result. … It’ll be fun to start recruiting for next year. We always try to improve the selection process, we always try to improve the recruiting process. It’ll be a little tougher task to have significant meaningful improvement for 2026, but we’ll try. We’ll hope our game stays really healthy. We’ve been doing this since 1898, 127 years, so to say we’re invested in the Thoroughbred industry would be a pretty significant understatement.”
Sarah Sutherland, Indian Creek: “We love it. The New York-bred program is a really important part of what we do. We’re obviously based in Kentucky, but it’s a program that we have a lot of owner support and we’ve really enjoyed being a part of over the years. So to come up here with one that we didn’t necessarily foal but we raised, it feels neat to have that joint effort with the breeders.”
Buyer John Eaton, who purchased Hip 408, a Constitution filly, for $390,000: “Loved her pedigree, love the fact she’s supported by the owners of the mare. She’s got athletic ability, hope so. She’ll fit in my broodmare band very nicely. She checked all the boxes, as far as I’m concerned.”
Reiley McDonald, Eaton Sales: “We thought (Hip 400) would bring in the $300,000 to $400,000 range and she brought $390,000. At the top end of the market, it seems to be very strong. The middle end might be a little soft here. She’s by Constitution, who’s having a great year, and this is the first foal out of a stakes winning mare. I thought that was right in line with what she should’ve brought. Physically, a very nice filly. John Eaton followed her all along from Day 1 and he saw what we saw. Really lovely filly with a good pedigree. … It’s been a good sale. The middle is a little soft and the lower end is a little softer than it was last year.”
Trainer Chad Brown, representing Klaravich Stable on its four purchases Monday along with Mike Ryan, including Hip 403, a Nyquist filly that sold for $370,000: “That’s about where we appraised her. We’ve had luck with Nyquist before with Randomized, particularly the fillies. Mike and Mary Ryan do all the work for us, and they both graded the horse very high. When I relayed that to Mr. Klarman, he said ‘Make this one of our top choices.’ It’s right exactly where we appraised her. …We’re familiar with what the best Nyquist fillies look like, and you have to pay for them. The sire is doing fabulous, and she’s got a little bit of an extra bonus being a New York-bred, in case we need to do that.”
Browning: “Everyone always says how do you all put together the catalog? New crops, new sires … We’re not smart enough to do any of that stuff. We had Mind Control that came on board this year that was strongly represented in the catalog. We’ll have some Americanrevolution coming on board with some other interesting horses. We try to be supportive and recognize that there’s a time and a place for all the horses. And we want good Mind Controls and we want good Americanrevolutions. And we also want good New York-bred Practical Jokes and good New York-bred Nyquists and things of that nature. We’re striving. We’re a physicals-first sales company and that’s in our DNA and will continue to be our DNA.”
