by Christina Bossinakis, Alan Carasso & Jessica Martini at The Thoroughbred Daily News
LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton November Sale, led by the $6.2-million Streak of Luck (Old Fashioned), produced strong results with increases in average and median over its 2024 renewal during its single session Monday in Lexington.
“The market was very, very good, but it’s still rational,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said. “I think that’s one of the things that we’ve seen in recent years during the November sale that there is still a sense of rationality to it. The buyers are demanding. You have to have the proper combination of pedigree and conformation, being by the right horse and the right physical, whether it’s a mare or if it’s a baby. But it’s a very fair market overall.”
A total of 138 horses sold Monday for $102,027,000. The average rose 35.4% to $739,326 and the median was up 20.0% to $300,000. In 2024, 172 horses sold for $93,948,500 for an average of $546,212 and median of $250,000.
Streak of Luck was supplemented to the November sale in mid-October and went through the Fasig-Tipton ring just days after her 2-year-old son Ted Noffey (Into Mischief) completed an unbeaten season in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Friday at Del Mar. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency on behalf of Aaron and Marie Jones LLC and was purchased by AMO Racing.
“It’s obviously very rewarding to see a horse that came in late and that got a significant update top the sale,” Browning said. “Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been longtime patrons, not just of Fasig-Tipton, but of our industry. It’s nice to see Mrs. Jones achieve the success she did tonight with an absolutely beautiful mare for whom all the stars aligned.”
A total of 27 horses sold for seven figures Monday, up from 25 a year ago.
Japanese buyers were once again an active force in the November sale. Katsumi Yoshida purchased six mares for a total of $14.9 million. Leading the group was the $4.5-million Just F Y I (Justify). Other Japanese interests to acquire seven-figure mares included Hidetoshi Yamamoto, Haruya Yoshida, and Shadai Farm.
“There was tremendous support from international buyers,” Browning said. “I think it was probably very surprising to see the extent and the depth of the support from international buyers.”
With 40 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 22.5%.
“There is not euphoria,” Browning said. “It’s not like everything that walked in there brought three times what anybody was expecting. Sellers were pretty aggressive with setting reserves in some spots because, with the nature of this sale, there are alternatives for some of these horses. It’s not like the men and women who owned them had to sell them tonight. They have some opportunities to go back to the racetrack or to breed them.”
The November sale opened with an offering of some 90 weanlings, with a filly by Justify out of Summer Sweet (More Than Ready) bringing top price of the foal section when selling for $800,000 to Hugo Lascelles. Lascelles returned later in the auction to acquire Summer Sweet herself for $3 million.
AMO Racing Fires Late with $6.2M Final Bid for Dam of Ted Noffey
With just a handful of offerings left to go through the ring at Monday’s Fasig-Tipton November Sale, the crowd had thinned out noticeably. However, those that remained solidly planted in their seats in the main pavilion were clearly several of the game’s biggest hitters.
All of them were waiting for the star attraction, Streak of Luck (Old Fashioned), the dam of recent GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and 2026 Kentucky Derby favorite Ted Noffey (Into Mischief).
Offered as Hip 220 in the supplemental catalogue, the 10-year-old mare realized the highest price of the day with a $6.2 million final bid from Ben McElroy, bidding on behalf of AMO Racing.
Throughout the robust bidding that bounded past the $3-million mark in a blink of the eye, Ben McElroy, seated in the main pavilion with a phone planted squarely to his cheek gave the signal that suggested his team would not be letting up any time soon.
“Kia Joorabchian and the AMO team really wanted this one,” McElroy confirmed.
Also staying on until the end of the session for the grey mare, Spendthrift Farm’s Ned Toffey, the namesake of Ted Noffey, engaged McElroy on the mare as did the Ace Stud team, who were extremely active at the top end of Monday’s buying activity.
“We had to wait around and I knew by who was waiting around that it was going to be extremely strong,” said McElroy. “She was probably the one that came in with all the momentum. She has the [presumptive] champion 2-year-old colt and the Kentucky Derby future favorite. [Ted Noffey] is a great looking horse.”
In foal to Not This Time, Streak of Luck was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency on behalf of Aaron and Marie Jones.
Out of graded stakes winner Lindsay Jean (Saint Ballado), the grey mare produced a filly by Munnings in 2024 and a colt by Into Mischief earlier this season.
In foal to Authentic, Streak of Luck was purchased by the Joneses for $620,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale.
“She’ll go to Archie St George’s Brookstone Farm and foal her out,” said McElroy. “[Taylor Made’s] Frank Taylor just asked me if she’d go back to [Not This Time]. I thought the hardest part was just trying to get her.”
Spendthrift Farm, who stands Into Mischief, purchased Ted Noffey for $650,000 at last year’s Keeneland September Sale.
“She was a good-looking mare and he made our list as a yearling,” recalled McElroy of Ted Noffey. “Unfortunately, we weren’t smart enough to buy him. She is a young mare in foal to a great stallion. Frank told me that the [Into Mischief] foal is a super star, so when you get a mare like that and a horse like that, and add in a great cover, people will line up for them. I wouldn’t say she is cheap but she is a good long-term investment.” –CBoss
Full-Circle Moment For Taylor Made
Streak of Luck was consigned to the Fasig-Tipton November Sale by Taylor Made Farm as agent, and Frank Taylor is quick to pay homage to breeders Aaron and his widow Marie Jones for contributing mightily to the success of the farm.
“They put us on the map,” said Taylor. “We could have been called ‘Jones Made Farm.’ They gave us a chance when no one knew who Taylor Made was. I was 17 years old and I walked up to Mr. Jones and told him I wanted to board some mares. A year later he called me and sent me 40 that day. At that point we didn’t have an employee and we probably had five mares boarded on the farm. They gave us our start, they trusted us and it’s been a win-win relationship and it’s been a lot of fun doing it.”
The California-bred Streak of Luck was acquired by the Joneses for $620,000 in foal to Authentic at Keeneland November in 2021. The mare is a paternal granddaughter of Unbridled’s Song, their ‘best stallion to that point’ according to Taylor. Streak of Luck’s Grade III-winning second dam Lindsay Jean was a daughter of Saint Ballado, who also contributed more than his fair share to the farm’s success.
The dam of a yearling Munnings filly that was sold to Repole Stable for $425,000 at Keeneland September, the best may be yet to come for Streak of Luck.
“We bought her with the idea of breeding to Into Mischief and she’s got an Into Mischief at the farm that if it grows up right, it could top the September Sale next year,” Taylor said.
Streak of Luck is due to Taylor Made’s Not This Time for 2026
Learn more at $6.2-Million Streak of Luck Tops Fasig-Tipton November Sale