Cover image courtesy of Fasig-Tipton
At A Glance
An Arabian Lion colt topped the sale when purchased by Marc Gunderson's MWG Enterprises for a record-breaking US$525,000 (AU$755,000). The previous record top price was US$350,000 (AU$504,000).
The sale saw 137 horses change hands in the single-day session totalling US$4,863,700 (AU$7 million), a 5.1% boost over last year despite fewer horses selling (143 in 2025) and a higher RNA count (108 in 2026 vs. 95 in 2025). The buy-back rate rose from 40.8% to 44%.
The average jumped 19% to US$35,501 (AU$51,000) while the median held steady at US$15,000 (AU$21,500).
Keeping with recent trends, the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale saw records tumble on Wednesday at Fairplex in Pomona. The sale saw 137 horses change hands in the single-day session totalling US$4,863,700 (AU$7 million), a 5.1% boost over last year.
Encouraging results with new sale topper
“It was an encouraging sale today,” said Fasig-Tipton President & CEO Boyd Browning. “We had a record top price today for the California Sale. The average price was up, the median price was level and the RNA rate was just slightly increased. I think that can be attributed to what I can refer to as a little protectionism from the consignors cause they've got some racing opportunities and the breeder's awards that are still in place for Cal-breds. So they're going to protect those horses maybe a little more than they would in other markets.”
The day's top honours went to an Arabian Lion colt purchased by Marc Gunderson's MWG Enterprises for a record-breaking US$525,000 (AU$755,000). A son of Justify, Arabian Lion's first yearlings ranked him eighth in the standings by cumulative average price for stallions standing in North America through Keeneland September.
Four yearlings broke the US$200,000 (AU$288,000) barrier on Wednesday, beating last year's figure of three. All told, 12 hips earned a six-figure bid, also an improvement over the 2025 numbers.
“The one thing I was very encouraged about was that most of the leading California trainers were in attendance on the sales grounds and worked hard,” Browning said. “We all know its important to have a cooperative approach to the sales and the racing here in California right now. We recognize the challenges. That's why it’s so important to us to serve the market.
“But it's encouraging when the men and women whose future depends on California racing show up and participate. We're making every effort we can to be supportive of the California market. Hopefully the next 12 months continue to have some positive momentum. (California racing) is vitally important to the entire North American thoroughbred industry.”
Gunderson roars for record-breaking Arabian Lion colt
Striking late in the session, Marc Gunderson's MWG Enterprises went to a record-breaking US$525,000 (AU$755,000) to secure a California-bred colt (hip 202) from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Arabian Lion.
The amount far surpasses the previous record set when an American Pharoah filly brought US$350,000 (AU$504,000) back in 2021.
Bred and consigned by Barton Thoroughbreds, the colt is the most recent out of stakes placed Imperial Pippin, a mare Richard Barton purchased for just US$16,000 (AU$23,000) as a broodmare at Keeneland November in 2020. That mare, who carries a perfect five-for-five record of runners to winners, is also responsible for stakes winner Pushiness (Kantharos), a fellow Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling graduate to Mike Repole who she sold with in utero at the 2020 auction.
“Marc (Gunderson) expressed an interest in supporting California racing,” trainer Mike McCarthy, who signed the ticket, said. “(We) certainly weren't expecting to go that high. He mentioned that this was the horse that he wanted. We thought he was the best horse in the sale. I was fortunate enough to train his sister, Pushiness, and had quite a bit of success with her. Physically I thought he was one of the top three or four horses in the sale. He's got a big, wonderful shoulder and a smart look about him.”
Marc Gunderson | Image courtesy of Fort Worth Inc.
Gunderson kept the momentum rolling off a busy Keeneland September Sale where he added 15 yearlings to his barn totalling US$5.84 million (AU$8.4 million). Largely new the California sales scene, he admitted that the lure of the US$500,000 (AU$720,000) Grade I bonus drew him in Wednesday.
“(The bonus) was the reason that I decided that we'd come out here and give it a shot,” Gunderson said. “This was a good opportunity and I like Mike and the way he does business. So this was a good chance for us to get together. (The horse) will go down to Ocala where I have a lot of them broken and then he'll come back to California so that (Mike and I) can start getting a good relationship started by having a good animal underneath us.”
The US$525,000 (AU$755,000) final bid was the highest price paid for an Arabian Lion yearling, surpassing the price of the 65 hips sold at Keeneland earlier this month. While the price was admittedly higher than Gunderson expected to pay, he was happy to come away with what he felt was the best horse in the sale.
“We thought he was the best colt and (hip 62) was the best filly,” Gunderson said. “And as we did that, we decided we'd only go for one of them and just go for the very best. This turned out to be horse Mike chose, because he had trained the half-sister previously. I've found in the regional sales, especially with the bonuses and all, you're better off trying to locate the very best one and go get it. And that's what we did.”
No Mo Mo a perfect fit for Repole
For the first time since 2023, prominent owner and breeder Mike Repole is on the board in California, striking the winning US$300,000 (AU$432,000) bid for a filly named No Mo Mo (hip 62) from his late champion Uncle Mo's final crop.
Trainer Mike McCarthy, who bid on behalf of Repole Wednesday and has previously acted as his agent when purchasing three hips at the same sale in 2023, signed the ticket for the California-bred daughter of stakes winner Tomlin.
“Mike Repole is obviously a huge supporter of Uncle Mo and they're not making them anymore,” McCarthy said. “This was the one [he] wanted. She was a wonderful physical. She's a nice, medium-sized filly with a lot of balance to her. Quite a bit of presence here in the ring. She'll head to Florida to be broke and then come back (to California).”
Mike Repole | Image courtesy of Keeneland
McCarthy admitted that the US$500,000 (AU$720,000) bonus, offered to the first sales graduate to win a Grade I in the country, could be a nice incentive for Repole's return to the California sales scene.
“You never know with Mike,” McCarthy said. “It's obviously nice to think about something like that.”
Repole has seen success with his prior Fasig-Tipton California Yearling grads. His priciest 2023 purchase at US$115,000 (AU$166,000), a daughter of the recently Florida-bound sire Kantharos, turned into stakes winner Pushiness, a filly who finished seventh to 'TDN Rising Star' Tamara (Bolt d'Oro) in the 2023 GI FanDuel Racing Del Mar Debutante Stakes.
No Mo Mo was consigned by Havens Bloodstock Agency as agent for Fairview LLC, who purchased the now 10-year-old Tomlin for US$200,000 (AU$288,000) as a Keeneland September Yearling grad in 2017. The mare is a Distorted Humor half to young sire Beau Liam (Liam's Map) along with the dams of stakes winner Sea Foam (Medaglia d'Oro), Graded winner and Grade 1-placed Great Stuff (Quality Road) and Graded winner Coffee In Bed (Curlin). She banked more than US$251,000 (AU$361,000) on the track before retiring to the paddocks where she has one winner from a pair to the track, a 4-year-old Medaglia D'Oro filly named Seven Emmys.
No Mo Mo, who was bred in California by Tom Bachman's Fairview, was initially catalogued for the Keeneland September Sale earlier this month but had to withdrawn due to a minor injury before the sale. Bachman was quick to give credit to Andy Haven's Haven Bloodstock Agency for helping to re-route the filly to this sale.
“We figured we'd give it a shot (after her pre-KEESEP injury) to be a big fish in a smaller pond,” Bachman said. “Andy was instrumental in that after doing such a great job selling my horses in Kentucky.”
Bachman, who said he is trying to keep his broodmare band around eight to 10 mares, already has another Uncle Mo mare in that group and was happy to support the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling Sale once it became clear that No Mo Mo would be unable to make her date in Kentucky.
“She got kicked in the hind leg (in the field),” Bachman said of the injury. “I didn't want to put her on a van and my options were to either keep her at home or sell her out here which is what we decided to do. I don't know if I would've gotten more for her in the wildness that was Keeneland but (the price) is just fine and what I expected for her.
“I've kind of got a pipeline already for my future mares so everything added up to say, 'let's sell this filly.' I feel good about her going to Mike McCarthy and staying in California, all of those are positives. I feel good about the sale.”
