Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale sets records as buyer demand surges

A $2.1 million Flightline colt, a $1.375 million Gun Runner filly and a $1 million Corniche colt pushed Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale into record territory in Timonium, Maryland, with gross receipts of about $52.7 million to $52.9 million across 382 to 384 juveniles. The numbers confirmed that buyers are still willing to pay aggressively for the right horses, and they also showed the market rewarding a wider band of stock than just the very top end.

The sale set records for gross, average and median, with the average landing around $138,313 to $139,525 and the median at $70,000. That compared with 2025, when 327 horses sold for $44,317,500, an average of $135,528 and a median of $60,000. The RNA rate also moved in the right direction, dropping to about 16 percent from 24 percent a year ago, a sign that more horses found buyers even after the market questioned whether Fasig-Tipton’s decision to scrap timed breezes would slow demand.

Instead, the newly formatted under-tack show on May 12-13, which featured untimed workouts, appeared to be accepted rather than rejected. Boyd Browning Jr. said he was “absolutely thrilled” and called the results a “superfecta” because gross, average, median and clearance all improved. He said the sale’s higher percentage of horses sold was the best of any Fasig-Tipton sale conducted in 2026, a notable endorsement for a format change made with horse welfare and customer needs in mind.

The biggest checks came from Pedro Lanz, acting for KAS Stables and KAS Racing, who bought both the sale-toppping Flightline colt and the Gun Runner filly. The Flightline colt, out of Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold, brought the sale’s highest price on opening day. The Gun Runner filly, hip 357, topped the final session and is out of the Uncle Mo mare Modest Maven, making her a half-sibling to stakes performers including Arctic Arrogance and Overstep.

For the pinhooking market, the signal was as important as the totals: elite buyers still drove the headline prices, but the rise in median and the lower buyback rate suggested the strength was not confined to one or two blue-chip purchases. With records already set in 2025, this year’s Midlantic sale extended the upward trend and reinforced that the 2-year-old market remains healthy, especially for colts and fillies with major-race pedigrees and commercial appeal heading toward the next round of graded stakes scrutiny.