Relative to the longstanding history of selling Thoroughbreds in the United States, the digital sales market can probably be considered just a blip on the radar. With a mere four years under its belt in the digital sales arena, Fasig-Tipton has seen rapid growth in that segment of the market in a relatively short time.“In reality, the digital sales are still in their infancy,” explained Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales. “When you look at the fact that Fasig-Tipton has been around since 1898 and digital sales have been happening for four years, we are 100% in our infancy. And for me to pontificate on where [the digital market] is going to go is crazy.”The Fasig-Tipton June Digital Sale, which opened at noon on Thursday, will continue through Tuesday, June 30, closing at 2 p.m. (view catalogue).Fasig-Tipton has amassed just under 300 head for this season's June digital catalogue, significantly up from 97 catalogued for the sale in 2025.“You're just seeing horses of racing age sales continue to shrink that are in-person brick and mortar sales. And I think the digital sales are just a little easier to sell a horse from its home stall,” said Aaron. “They can do the films there, they can do everything there without shipping them. And I think for the trainers a lot of the times it's easier for the horses to stay in their home space. Let's say you get a horse all the way to the sale and it doesn't vet. Now you've wasted the van ride.”He added, “It's literally better for the buyers, it's better for the horses, it's better for the sellers, it's better for everybody. I think we're just now starting to see the real buy-in to digital based on the number of trainers now that are selling on digital, the number of trainers that are buying on digital, the number of owners that are buying.”Among the ready-made racehorses highlighting this year's June Digital Sale is Belleza Latina (Maclean's Music), offered as Hip 30. The juvenile filly is out of Nightstand (Malibu Moon), a full-sister to Grade II winner Freedom Child.From the family of GISW City Band (Carson City), the dark bay filly broke her maiden by 2 3/4 lengths going 4 ½ furlongs at Churchill Downs on June 13. The filly recorded a 76 Beyer Speed Figure during her win in Louisville.Bred by Craig Bernick and Jamie Frost, the Kentucky-bred is consigned by agent Grovendale Sales.“I think that's a very interesting horse,” Aaron affirmed. “Those types of horses are extremely desirable right now. She has the whole summer in front of her. And her numbers are super impressive. I mean, the top of the top for a 2-year-old, that's exciting to see.”With the Saratoga and Del Mar meets just around the corner, Aaron explained that the timing couldn't be better to sell a racehorse in training.“This is a very active time of year for racehorses. There's no doubt about that,” he said. “This is when all the summer meets are opening up in the Northeast and this is when the racehorses are going to be in high demand right now. It's 100% the time to sell one.”Representing the draft of breeding stock in this year's June Digital catalogue, 13-year-old broodmare Lovely Em (Scat Daddy) receives a timely update. Offered in foal to Oscar Performance, she sells as Hip 3. Consigned by agent Bluewater Sales, the grey mare is responsible for Classic Q (Classic Empire), winner of the June 6 GI Just a Game Stakes at Saratoga.Trained by Mark Casse, the Classic Q is being pointed toward the Aug. 8 GI Fourstardave Stakes in Saratoga.Lovely Em also has a yearling filly by Vekoma in the pipeline.“She's in foal to Oscar performance on an early cover and that's just becoming a staple of the digital [sales],” said Aaron. “As soon as you get a update, you can sell. Horses are extremely liquid now. You don't have to wait until November. So we're excited to have her.”Another highlight of the 2026 June Digital catalogue is the continuing reduction of California-based Harris Farms, which listed 41 head listed at the opening of the sale on Thursday.“I want them to all sell well,” said Aaron. “Mr. [John] Harris was such a staple in the industry.”“Harris Farm was very happy with the phase one reduction [last August]. And now we're here for the phase two part of the reduction, which is a lot of horses of racing age, 2-year-olds in training. We're selling them actually as horses are racing age, but a lot of them actually are in training.”Aaron indicated that the Harris Farms consignment could also prove to be a productive replenishing of racing stock out West.“They have a nice group of horses,” said Aaron. “California also needs horses. They continue to need a volume of horses at the racetrack. And to me, this really provides an opportunity to get a horse for Del Mar, to get a Cal-bred, to get something that's already in training for immediate action on the racetrack.”He added, “We're lucky right now that the purses are as high as they've ever been, I'd say around the country. So the demand for racehorses has been very high.”Given the explosive growth in catalogue volume from just one year ago, Aaron points to the convenience factor that the June Digital Sale affords to both its patrons and sellers.“That's a huge number,” he said of this year's offering. “And it just goes to show you not everybody can take time out of their lives to travel to Kentucky to look at a sale. So it's just working fantastic for both [the horses in training] segment and the breeding stock because [sellers] don't have to wait till the fall to sell breeding stock.”“It's also opened up a whole new segment of the market with breeding stock by selling broodmares with foals by their side. We have nine in the catalog that is broodmares with foals by their side. I think that's a segment of the market that's going to continue to grow. It's similar to how they're doing it in Japan, even though they split off the folds later on, but we sell them as a package. It's less stress [on the animals]. And then you can let somebody else decide when they want to wean or what they want to.”Last month, Fasig-Tipton's May Digital Sale sold 70 of 76 head offered, grossing over $2.2 million. According to Aaron, the growing digital market works hand-in-hand with Fasig's traditional bricks-and-mortar auctions.“Our clearance rate was over 90, which is really unheard of for any auction of any size,” said Aaron of last month's digital sale. “We're thrilled with how [Digital sales] are going and we're thrilled to be able to offer this to our customers. We also have the brick-and-mortar sale also for horses of racing age. So it's just nice for us to be constantly working throughout the year.”While the marketplace for selling horses continues to shift with the times, the core principle remains the same.“Our goal has always been to serve the market,” said Aaron. “The fact that the market's here now, buyers have confidence, sellers have confidence. That's the most important thing.” The post ‘Our Goal Has Always Been to Serve the Market’: Fasig-Tipton Kicks off Robust June Digital Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.