By Murray Evans
The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Smarty Jones' impact on the thoroughbred industry could clearly be seen Tuesday at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Summer Yearlings sale.

The highest price at the two-day sale was $950,000 for a dark bay or brown colt sired by Elusive Quality and out of Cercida. John Ferguson made the purchase, acting as the agent for Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, who also owns Elusive Quality.

Elusive Quality, the leading sire in North America this year, is the sire of Smarty Jones, whose Triple Crown bid earlier this year tantalized the nation. Dromoland Farm owner Gerry Dilger, who consigned the colt sold Tuesday, said it would have merited a high price even without a connection to Smarty Jones, because "he might have been the best horse" at the sale. But Dilger acknowledged that the connection probably helped drive up the colt's price.

"Of course it had to do it, and Elusive Quality, he's a good stallion," Dilger said. "He gets horses that will go to the distance. It all helps."

Smarty Jones' trainer, John Servis, attended the sale to buy horses for two clients. He said there was little doubt that Smarty Jones' run influenced the sale.

"I think it's got people pumped up about the business, and I'm sure it's brought some people into the business that really didn't know a lot about the business, how exciting it can be and how much fun it can be," Servis said. "Those are the new people that are here, looking to get in."

On the second day of the sale, the summer's first major auction of yearlings, three horses went for $800,000 or more, helping Fasig-Tipton post its highest average sale price since at least 1985, the first year for which records were available. At the auction, 338 horses were sold for $38,620,000, an average of $114,260. During last year's sale, 303 horses sold for $28,202,000, an average of $93,076.

This year's sale produced more horses sold than in any sale since 1985. The highest sales price recorded during the July sale since 1985 had been $97,815 in 2002.

Boyd Browning, Fasig-Tipton's executive vice president and chief operating officer, said he was "ecstatic" about the sale results.

"It's a very healthy market," Browning said. The sale's success "is a combination of the fact we had very good horses offered for sale and we are enjoying and participating in a very strong thoroughbred market right now."

A Fusaichi Pegasus colt from the 2000 Kentucky Derby winner's second crop brought $800,000 from Demi O'Byrne, acting as agent for Coolmore Stud owner John Magnier and Michael Tabor.

The chestnut colt, out of the filly Regent's Walk, brought the high price not only for its racing potential, but also for its breeding, said Pat Costello of Paramount Sales, which consigned the horse for sale.

"He's got a pedigree that, if he makes it on the track, he'll be one of the top sires in the future," Costello said.

O'Byrne later paid $650,000 for a Hennessy bay colt, out of Halter Top.

Agent John Gasper of Lane's End Bloodstock paid $825,000 for a gray or roan colt by Cozzene, out of the filly Avie's Fancy. Gasper bought the colt for Alexander Garese, a banker from Ukraine, and said the horse would race in Europe.

Garese never before had purchased a thoroughbred, Gasper said. Gasper said he had unsuccessfully bid on several other horses at the sale, but won the bidding on the horse he wanted. "Being by Cozzene, he's got pedigree," Gasper said. "If he's successful over there racing, he's going to be worth some money. It could be a very cheap investment, if you want to call it that, in the long run."

The market wasn't just strong at the top - it was strong for medium-priced buyers, too, Servis said. The trainer bought three horses at the sale, for prices between $100,000 and $130,000.

"I'm not crazy about going crazy on a high-dollar horse," he said. "I just think if you stay between $100,000 and $200,000, you can buy a good horse. There are a lot of good horses in this sale. I think people are liking what they're seeing."