'I felt he commanded the room' - $2.4m Into Mischief colt chips in as records smashed at Saratoga Yearling Sale

Hip 183, a colt by multiple leading sire Into Mischief, became the second-highest-priced yearling sold during Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale on Tuesday, going to agent Marette Farrell on behalf of Speedway Stable for $2.4 million.

Bred by Marty and Pam Wygod and consigned by Lane's End on behalf of the Wygod family, the colt nearly exited the ring for $2m, but buyers re-engaged and carried the price much higher. 

The colt was tough to let go as a foal out of stakes-placed winner Sweet Sting, by Awesome Again, who is out of multiple Grade 1 winner and 2000 champion grass mare Perfect Sting.

"We were on our absolute last bid a couple of times," said Farrell, who signed the ticket for the bay colt.

Farrell said partner Zoe Cadman elbowed her to bid again as the bidding war came near an end.

"We absolutely loved this colt, I felt he commanded the room, as they say," she said. "We love all the connections, and we love to honour Marty Wygod. He was such a big supporter of our thoroughbred business and so successful." 

Wygod, who died on April 12, was a well-known breeder and owner. He and his wife, Pam, bred many stakes winners, including 2004 Eclipse two-year-old champion Sweet Catomine and multiple Grade 1 winner Life Is Sweet, both out of their homebred mare Sweet Life. 

Wygod's daughter Emily Bushnell said: "We bought the mare at the beginning of Covid and my dad picked her out, and he liked the pedigree. We were all house bound. 

"She's still kind of new to our broodmare band, we have a two-year-old that we love, it's a full-brother, so hopefully this one will be just as nice."

Lane's End sold both of its offerings on Tuesday for seven figures. They also sold Hip 146, a colt by Gun Runner, for $1.9m to MV Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm.

"It's been a super healthy market for us," said Allaire Ryan of Lane's End. "We try to bring quality individuals here across the spectrum. We want nice individuals that are going to show themselves well and be good representations for the breeder and for us, and we've been really well rewarded for it."

Farrell said: "I cannot thank Peter [Fluor] and KC [Weiner] enough, I'm still shaking because I loved this horse, but I really had hoped I wouldn't have to go to this amount of money, and they knew that we loved the horse. I hope he's a lucky horse, I hope he's a good horse. They deserve this, and so does the horse.

"He's a stallion in the making and I really think he's a fabulous horse."

The Saratoga Sale set records for gross sales and average, exceeding last year's records by 9.5 per cent.

Auction house president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr was quick to credit his team for the record-breaking success of this week's sale.

"Thank goodness when you've got a team that's unbelievable," he said. "They're the unsung heroes, like the back-side workers. They don't get any damn credit. It's not easy, it's a thankless job, but it's the combination of everybody that wears a red shirt. It's a shared responsibility, it's a shared effort and the shared desire to do a great job." 

Boyd Browning: credited team for record-breaking success of the saleCredit: Fasig-Tipton Photos

Helping set the records were 12 horses who sold for $1m or more during the two sessions. After the last horse walked out of the ring, gross sales totalled $82,160,000 and the average settled at $533,506 from 154 sold.

The second session was the stronger one, with gross sales of $41,900,000 for 73 horses sold from 92 offered and an average of $573,973. The reserve not attained rate for the entire sale was 19 per cent. 

Resolute Racing's John Stewart was the leading buyer for the second night in a row, buying six yearlings for a total of $3,660,000. Over the two nights, Stewart spent $9,085,000 for 11 yearlings. 

Gainesway was the leading consignor of the Saratoga sale, selling all 19 of its yearlings offered. They produced an average of $670,526, with gross sales of $12,740,000.

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