On the other hand, those two are still banner-carriers, with each owning a Grade 1 triumph.

“Everyone at Fasig-Tipton is very proud to call Mage a Midlantic May graduate,” said Fasig’s Midlantic sales director Paget Bennett.  “It was just a year ago that he breezed over the dirt surface at Timonium in our under tack show, and now he is a Kentucky Derby winner.” 

There are more than 600 numbered hips in the sale, which annually is one of the top such events in the nation.

Mage is a son of Good Magic, one of the industry’s hottest young sires. There are four other offspring of Good Magic on offer at the upcoming sale, the first of which to go through the ring is Hip 194.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST OFF TO THE RACES RADIO!

Faiza is a daughter of Girvin, and five of his offspring will be offered for sale this week. The first of those is Hip 6.

The sire with the most hips on offer is Mitole, who has 21 prior to outs. The 2019 champion sprinter, Mitole’s oldest are two-year-olds this year, and they have hit the ground running, with two winners already.

Other sires with more than 15 hips (prior to outs) include Vino Rosso, Uncle Mo, and Maximus Mischief.

Given the high-end nature of the sale – nine horses brought winning bids of at least $500,000 last May, including the sale-topper, a $3.55 million Bernardini colt – it’s no surprise that a strong majority, 347,  of the 598 horses were bred in Kentucky, home, notably, to virtually all of the industry’s commercially popular stallions.

New York is the second most popular state, with 125 hips on offer. In the Mid-Atlantic, Maryland and Pennsylvania have 34 apiece, while Virginia has five, and West Virginia has three.

Most of the horses to post recorded breezes during last week’s show in preparation for the sale breezed one furlong, while a couple dozen breezed a quarter-mile.

Six horses tied for the fastest eighth, getting the distance in 10 seconds flat. Two tied for the fastest quarter of 21 2/5 seconds.