The atmosphere around Newtown Paddocks was bubbling over the weekend as the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearling Sale prepares to get underway Tuesday in Lexington. A select group of 238 catalogued yearlings, including the much-anticipated first crop by several freshman sires, leads the action at 10 a.m. and will be followed directly after by a further 64 hips highlighted in the Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale.“[This sale] is kind of like opening day,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “It's kick off season. It's the beginning of a process that goes through late October. It re-energizes you. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of folks that we haven't seen in a little while. It's a different crowd, a different audience for these yearling sales than the 2-year-old sales. I'm happy to get going!”The July Sale offers buyers a first look at notable freshman sires whose first-crop yearlings are newly available to the market.“Some very nice yearlings [by freshman sires],” Browning said. “It's always fun to see the first-crop yearlings. It's another good group–a group that had some real quality on the race track with some nice pedigrees. It should be a lot of fun selling these yearlings out of the freshman sires.”Highlighted by the likes of classic winners Arcangelo and Mage, this year's crop also includes such recognizable names as Cody's Wish, Forte and Taiba.Arcangelo | Lane's End“I think it's going to be really strong,” said Marshall Taylor, whose Taylor Made Sales consignment features yearlings by Two Phil's and Olympiad along with the operation's own young stallion in Early Voting whose first juveniles are on the track this year. “I think it will be a strong market. The numbers at the July sale might be down slightly, but it's pretty similar numbers. And if you look at the 2-year-old sales, they were all up from last year and last year was a pretty good year. I think the pinhookers, for the most part, had a good year, and when the 2-year-old market is stronger than it was the previous year, I feel like that's a really good sign for the yearling sales. So I expect the July sale to be a really good sale, I expect good results out of that sale and it will be a good way to start off the yearling season.”Last year's July Sale saw 156 yearlings bring $16,828,000 for an average of $107,872 and a median of $90,000, numbers largely in line with previous editions.There was a strong vibe amongst consignors that, coming off a record-setting 2-year-old sales season in Ocala earlier in the spring, that momentum would continue rolling through to the yearling market as pinhookers looked to get in earlier with new added tax benefits.“I think there are a lot of positive signs,” said Warrendale Sales's Hunter Simms. “I think a lot of buyers take advantage of the 100% depreciation. I think the market will continue to stay strong. All indicators that you think would make it that way look good. In July, they might be a little bit pickier because it's the first yearling sale of the year, but a lot of people thought that about March at OBS and then that ended up being a very good sale and it rolled into April and May and throughout. So I think you will see the same. I think it will be very, very competitive for the horses that tick all the boxes and some that might miss the mark or have some vetting issues will probably struggle to a certain degree, but again I think you will see people participating at all levels.”The July Horses of Racing Age Sale will look to continue a trend of successful renditions as last year saw a new high-water mark set with the $1.7-million purchase of stakes winner Romeo (Honor A.P.), who was a late supplement to the sale, by Mahmud Mouni.Our Moneyman | Hodges PhotographyThis year, another late addition will look to achieve similar success as Our Moneyman (Mr. Money) was entered as hip 365 the day after his runner-up finish in Saturday's GIII Indiana Derby. Prior to that, he was also second in the GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs.“[Owner] Chester [Thomas of Allied Racing Stable] and Josh [Stevens] had a conversation after the race and floated the idea to potentially supplement him,” said Hunter Valley Farm's Fergus Galvin. “It got traction from there with the group at Fasig-Tipton, we all got together and we're lucky enough to be the ones who get to sell him.”Our Moneyman, a homebred for Chester Thomas out of a stallion also raced by Allied Racing, has earned more than $392,000 in nine starts and has never been off the board with three wins, five seconds and a third to his record.“Since word got out Sunday about him, we've had a ton of calls and action on him,” Galvin said. “He's shipped in and handled everything with so much class. He's a star on the grounds. He looks great. Credit to [trainer] Bret Calhoun and his crew, because he looks fantastic. He's had some racing here lately and he's a horse that I can see, without knowing too much about him, that handles everything with class. There's always a hunger for a horse with current form and his is excellent. He's probably as good a racing prospect that's come to market in the last several years. He's very much on an upward trajectory with his speed figures. He got a 7 Ragozin from Saturday in the Indiana Derby and that's right in the mix with some of the best 3-year-olds in the country. It's all leading up to what should be a great sale Tuesday.”The post ‘Opening Day’ In Lexington As Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale Starts Tuesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.