Boyd Browning

Forty years after his first GI Kentucky Oaks win, D. Wayne Lukas relished his fifth appearance in that winner's circle this year alongside a special filly named Secret Oath (Arrogate - Absinthe Minded, by Quiet American). "We've celebrated in that winner's circle a number of times already, but this one was a little bit better though, because when you're an old man you often wonder if you're going to get another one--one of those really special ones," explained Lukas. The Hall of Fame conditioner known as "The Coach" has a...

Separated by just one year in age, Bellafina (Quality Road -Akron Moon, by Malibu Moon) and Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo - Coin Broker {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) were both $800,000 2-year-old purchases for owner-breeder Kaleem Shah. Both were brilliant juveniles on the racetrack, with one becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut and the other winning a pair of Grade I contests at two, and they each went on to achieve further graded stakes success throughout their careers. Retired from racing after their 2020 campaigns, they now both have one...

A few weeks before Bell's the One (Majesticperfection - Street Mate, by Street Cry {Ire}) made her career debut, her trainer Neil Pessin set aside a few dollars to place a wager on the promising juvenile. But in the days leading up to the race, he started to rethink the idea. Every morning as Bell's the One went out to gallop, the juvenile would stop in the middle of the track, somewhere around the sixteenth pole, and refuse to move. Pessin would have to take to the track, red-faced with...

John Velazquez wouldn't give a definitive answer on where Gamine (Into Mischief - Peggy Jane, Kafwain) ranks on the list of all-stars the Hall of Fame jockey has been associated with over the years, but he came pretty close. Asked how the champion sprinter stacks up against a long line of high-class fillies he has ridden to Grade I success, he responded, "She's definitely one of the top ones. Like definitely one or two, I would say." That answer is high praise coming from the two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, who...

The focus switches to breeding stock with the return of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale, which will be held at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion today. A total of 236 broodmares/broodmare prospects and New York-bred weanlings have been cataloged for the single-session sale, which gets underway at 10 a.m. To view the catalog, click here. After being KO'd by COVID in 2020, the sale returned in 2021, generating $3,657,800 in revenue for 163 head sold. Heading last season's sale was a filly by Catalina Cruiser, that realized top price of...

A total of 299 main-catalogue entries--the largest in the history of the sale--have been taken for Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale, the auction house's boutique mixed sale, to be held in Lexington, Kentucky, Sunday, Nov. 6, beginning at 1 p.m., one hour earlier than last year's 2 p.m. start in order to accommodate the extra volume of offerings. "The Fasig-Tipton November Sale annually offers the highest concentration of quality breeding stock in the world, and this year's catalogue more than lives up to that billing," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr....

by Dan Ross & Jessica Martini POMONA, CA - The Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings and Horses of Racing Age Sale, held Tuesday at Fairplex in Pomona, produced 14 six-figure lots, led by a filly by Mr. Big who sold for $250,000 to Todd Tomazic. Numbers declined from last year's lively renewal of the auction, with 205 head grossing $6,257,100 and the average falling 22% to $30,522 and the median dipping 15% to $17,000. The buy-back rate was 25.7%. It was 24.4% in 2021. "It was a very solid session," Fasig-Tipton...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 1,594 yearlings for its Kentucky October Yearlings Sale to be held Oct. 24-27 at Newtown Paddocks. Each of the four sessions will begin at 10 a.m. "This is our strongest Kentucky October catalogue to date," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "We have outstanding representation from all current top 20 ranked sires, and quality yearlings at all price levels. With 200 stakes wins or placings so far this year, sale graduates continue to achieve tremendous success on the racetrack at the highest levels." Recent Fasig October graduates include...

A total of 235 horses have been catalogued for the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Sale, the auction house's annual New York breeding stock sale, to be held Monday, Oct. 17, at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in Saratoga. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. ET "This is an important sale for those that actively participate in the New York-bred program," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "Saratoga Fall annually offers the highest concentration of New York-bred weanlings of any mixed sale in North America. This year we have 175 weanlings...

Anna Seitz and Evan Ferraro, both long associated with Fasig-Tipton, have been promoted within the company and will assume new roles. Seitz, most recently the Client Development and Public Relations Manager, has been promoted to Director of Client Relations. Ferraro, who most recently served as Recruiting and Marketing Manager and was previously a Sales and Recruiting Associate, has been promoted to the Director of Marketing. "Anna and Evan are both exceptional members of the Fasig-Tipton organization," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "Not only are they very talented individuals with tremendous...

by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale opened with a lively session of trade punctuated by four seven-figure yearlings Monday evening in upstate New York. A colt by Uncle Mo, consigned by Lane's End as agent for his breeder, Summer Wind Farm, attracted the session's highest bid when selling for $1.5 million to the partnership of West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing. In all, 69 yearlings sold at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Monday for a total of $28,930,000. The average...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Fasig-Tipton marks 101 years of selling at Saratoga Monday with the start of its highly anticipated Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale. The Saratoga Sale is known for offering some of the country's top yearlings, many of whom have quite the star-studded pedigrees. The 2022 catalogue, which features 216 yearlings, is no exception. "It's just a fantastic collection of yearlings, both in terms of pedigree and the physical conformation," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said. "We were excited all spring when we were going to the farms with the interest and...