Constitution Colt Tops Day 1 of F-T October Sale

An opening day of solid trade is how sale company executives and consignors described the Oct. 19 session for the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale that runs through Oct. 22 in Lexington. Boyd Browning Jr., president and CEO of Fasig-Tipton, said it is impossible to evaluate trends just on one session and even comparisons across sessions year over year are tricky because results can be skewed. But based on the conversations he had with participants on the sales grounds, he said the quality of horses being offered is expected to improve in the coming days. "All in all, good solid trade and plenty of activity. Hopefully, we have some higher prices tomorrow; we have every expectation that we will," Browning said. A colt (Hip 328) by Winstar Farm's top sire Constitution topped the first session after selling for $360,000 to Kaleem Shah's KSI. The colt was consigned by Peter and Jenny O'Callaghan's Woods Edge Farm, who purchased the colt as a pinhook prospect for $310,000 at the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale. "He was a lovely foal when we bought him," Peter O'Callaghan said. "A good Constitution. A strong one, a good hip on him, which for such a good stallion it's hard to get one as robust and as good of a shape as that, that looks like he'd have speed." Hip 328 went through the ring at last month's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he failed to meet his reserve, attracting a final bid of $225,000. "We thought he was a particularly nice one in January, and he just had a few hiccups during the year that kind of set him back a little bit, and he just wasn't quite where he needed to be in September," O'Callaghan said. "He wasn't quite ready, but he was ready today." Jenny O'Callaghan said the extra month was exactly what the colt needed. "It's always amazing every year how well yearlings do between September and November, when the heat kind of subsides in Kentucky," she said. "They really let down. They grow and develop. That colt turned inside out. He's always been so light on his feet. He's always been a beautiful mover, a beautiful shape. "Physically, he manned up, and he presented himself so well for the last three days. He was the most popular horse in the consignment, and we're so happy. We love this sale; we target this sale for the May foals, we buy horses specifically for this sale and we love this sale for horses that like him, maybe lost a bit of time along the way and needed that extra time. They thrive and they get to show themselves in a way that they don't in the rush of Keeneland sometimes." Peter O'Callaghan said the colt was vetted 12 individual times, with a majority of them being pinhookers. He said Shah called him earlier in the day after watching the colt's videos online. "I recommended him (Hip 328) and I wasn't expecting him to bid for him, but he did. We're very grateful and we think he bought a nice horse," he said. Shah said the horse will head to Florida for his early training and see what unfolds next spring. "I always look for the grade 1-type horses; we shall see how the story with this horse unfolds," he said. "It has been competitive, especially at Saratoga and the Keeneland sales. I was outbid on quite a few of them, so I am glad I got this one." Shah added that the quality of horses coming out of the October sale influenced his decision to buy Hip 328. "I've bought many horses at the sales, but only a few of them pan out. I hope this horse pans out," he said. "The main thing is for these horses to be healthy, and hopefully he's a runner." Hip 328 was bred in Kentucky by Hunter Valley Farm and is out of the stakes-winning Elusive Quality mare Team of Teams, who is out of the multiple graded stakes winner Teammate. Constitution currently sits No. 6 on the North America general sire standings with more than $13.4 million in progeny earnings. He will stand the 2027 season for an advertised fee of $110,000. The top-priced filly of the first session was Hip 276, a daughter of Twirling Candy who sold for $325,000 to First Row Partners. The filly was bred in Kentucky by Fred W. Hertrich III and consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency. The filly's full brother Showa sold for $1 million at last year's Keeneland September sale to trainer Wesley Ward. Showa broke his maiden last month at Kentucky Downs going 1 mile over the turf for owners Asagi Stables and followed that effort up with a 3-length win in an allowance optional claiming race Oct. 15 at Keeneland. Hip 276 is the third foal of the stakes-placed Super Saver mare Super Tigress and hails from the family of grade 1 winner Hennessy and 1996 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Editor's Note. Gunderson Goes to $300k for Gun Runner Colt Marc Gunderson's MWG prevailed in the bidding for Hip 123, a colt by Three Chimneys Farm's Gun Runner, for $300,000. The colt is out of the unraced Galileo mare Season Ticket, who is a half sister to 2015-16 champion turf mare and Hall of Famer Tepin and multiple graded stakes winner Vyjack. Tepin produced last year's Eclipse Stakes (G1) and Irish Champions Stakes (G1) winner Delacroix (IRE). "Marc Gunderson Sr. loves Gun Runner, as well as he loves the second dam Tepin; it was a horse he had been after. He was very excited and interested in the colt," said Will Gunderson of Twin Oaks Bloodstock. "Really great physical, loved the way he moved. Myself, Rob Brennan, our farm manager, and some of the other guys we have working really liked what we saw from the pedigree page side, but were also very excited about the colt's movement when we saw him." The Gundersons are not just buying at the October sale; they are also offering eight horses under their Twin Oaks Bloodstock consignment. "At Twin Oaks, and with our recent purchase of Creekview, we're expanding in the boarding and consignment side, so we're just trying to bring good horses to the market and on the racing side. We're excited to add a horse like this to our portfolio," said Will Gunderson. "He'll go down to Florida and we have a great group of trainers that we work with, so we'll see who best fits him and go from there." Hip 123 was bred in Kentucky by Yulong Investments and consigned by Brookdale, agent. He was offered at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he failed to meet his reserve, attracting a final bid of $325,000. Hip 119, a colt by Tapit, also brought $300,000, selling to VBS, Main Line Racing. He was bred and consigned by Gainesway. He is the ninth foal out of the grade 1-placed Lemon Drop Kid mare, Sea Queen, who is the dam of four winners, including stakes winner Where's Chris (Twirling Candy). Day 1 Stats At the end of the day of trade, 265 horses had changed hands for $15,294,000, including private sales, a 12% decrease from last year's corresponding session. The average also saw a dip from $60,993 to $57,713. The median increased 23% to $37,000. Eighty-seven horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 24.7%. "Like always, it's a bit of a slow burner," Peter O'Callaghan said. "It gets going here every day, and it finishes strong every day. Tomorrow it will be stronger, as will the next day and the next day. "It's kind of only two days of showing essentially, so people are playing catch-up all along. The first day always takes a while to get going, but it's kind of luck of the draw a little bit." Browning also added that this sale saw a dramatic increase in results from 2024 to 2025. "So all in all happy with today. Hope to be happier tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday," he said. Last year's October sale saw record-breaking results across all metrics. The gross and average saw increases of 22% and 25%, and the median jumped up 50% from 2024. Monday's leading buyer was Klaravich Stables with Mike Ryan as agent. Klaravich purchased two horses for a total of $520,000—Hip 187, an American Pharoah filly for $270,000 from Stoneriggs Farm and Hip 227, a colt by Gunite from Machmer Hall Sales, agent. Gainesway led the consignors, selling 24 from their draft for gross receipts of $1,524,000. The second session of the October sale begins Oct. 20 at 10:00 a.m. with Hips 405-808 slated to head to the ring. As of Monday evening, Fasig-Tipton had reported 46 outs.