TIMONIUM, Md. - As the first horse of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale stepped into the ring, announcer Terence Collier prepared the crowd. "We had a great day yesterday, but we've got some truly lovely horses for you today," Collier said. A $1.2 million Medaglia d’Oro colt and a $925,000 Union Rags colt, both of whom had been among the stars of the pre-sale under-tack show, led the way during Tuesday’s second and final session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds here. The Tuesday session concluded an overall steady renewal that sported an improved median. The sale finished with 333 horses sold over two days for total gross receipts of $24,868,500, according to figures reported by the sale company shortly after the close of business Tuesday. The gross ticked down just 1 percent from a record renewal in 2017, when 330 horses brought $25,237,000. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales Four horses sold for half a million or more during this year's sale, compared to six last year. The average price finished at $74,680, declining 2 percent from $76,476 last year. The median was $38,000, rising 9 percent from $35,000 last year. “Consignors have gotten so confident in bringing those type of horses to this marketplace,” Fasig-Tipton Midlantic director of sales Paget Bennett said of the auction, which has now produced seven-figure horses in four consecutive years. “They love the racetrack, they love the area, the timing all works.” The buyback rate in a selective market finished at 23 percent, compared to 20 percent last year.  Tuesday's second session finished with 161 horses sold for $12,802,500, a drop of 7 percent from 168 sold for $13,699,500 in the comparable session last year. The average, $79,519, was a 2 percent drop from $81,545 in last year’s second session, while the median, $40,000, rose 19 percent from $33,500 at last year’s session. The buyback rate was 22 percent compared to 14 percent at the 2017 second session. While there were some year-to-year overall and session declines, Tuesday's session did show a marked improvement over Monday’s, which had an average of $70,151 and the median at $36,000. The sale's two highest-priced offerings came Tuesday, and pinhook consignor Cary Frommer felt the improved figures were a function of buyers feeling out the market and spending conservatively early to pace themselves. "I'm finding today's market good, but it was very tough yesterday," said Frommer, who negotiated multiple private sales Monday following horses' trips through the ring, and who had two horses sell for more than $300,000 on Tuesday. "I think it's like this every year here. The first day people are waiting; they don't want to spend all their money on the first day and not have anything left for the second day. Unless you have a really standout horse on the first day, you might get missed. So as they day went on and people weren't buying horses, they came back to the barn to see my RNAs." This year’s auction faced its share of logistical challenges, as the wet weather that settled in Baltimore last week forced the postponement of the final session of the under-tack preview from Thursday to Sunday. As a result, the start of both sale sessions was also pushed back from the morning to the afternoon, to allow buyers additional time to inspect horses. Fasig-Tipton’s Bennett said the Thursday preview was canceled because of concern over the condition of the racetrack. “Friday wasn’t going to be any better, and Saturday there’s [the Preakness],” Bennett said. “So Sunday was our best window, and the trackman knew that if the rain stopped by midnight, he knew what kind of track he would have for the consignors. “Everybody just had to be patient and just kind of regroup. We were all in it together.” The two sale leaders, who came just four horses apart toward the end of Tuesday's session, both worked during Sunday's final preview session and were among the standouts. The Union Rags colt, who sold for $925,000 to Michael Lund Peterson, breezed a furlong in a show-leading 10 seconds on the five-furlong dirt track. The $1.2-million Medaglia d'Oro colt, purchased by Dennis O'Neill on behalf of an undisclosed client from overseas, was one of two dozen horses that breezed in 10 1/5 seconds. Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan said that the breeze show being on dirt is attractive to buyers. "It's the last sale on the dirt, and there's still money here for the right horses," Ryan said. "You can really separate them out here. I think people have confidence buying off the dirt." The Medaglia d'Oro colt will fly to California on Wednesday to begin his race training with Doug O'Neill, the brother of Dennis. "We're looking for a Derby horse," Dennis O'Neill, who has scouted out Kentucky Derby winners I'll Have Another and Nyquist on behalf of Doug O'Neill client J. Paul Reddam. "We loved his breeze. It was really good, and he galloped out [great]. We were hoping not to go that high, but he did. We're really excited." The colt was consigned by Randy Hartley and Dean De Renzo, whose operation has, in recent years, focused on purchasing higher-end yearlings with the goal of turning them into profitable pinhooks. This colt was a $475,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale. Hartley and De Renzo also sold the Monday session topper, a $750,000 More Than Ready colt whom they purchased for $500,000 as a yearling. Last year, they sold Curlin's Honor, a $475,000 yearling, for a Fasig Midlantic record $1.5 million. Hartley said the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale is an ideal fit for the consignment company's business plan, because it allows expensive pinhooks more time to develop, and also allows them to work for buyers over a dirt surface. "For us to have a place to come later in the year and give these horses time to develop and stuff, it makes a big difference," Hartley said. "It's a lot of risk to spend that much on a yearling, and you worry about them from the time you get them home to the time you get them here." The commercial popularity of the Medaglia d’Oro colt’s family had already been ably demonstrated by dam Tapicat, who won the Grade 3 Florida Oaks and placed in two Grade 2 stakes. The Tapit mare, who had been a $725,000 yearling herself, sold for $2.2 million at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. Earlier in the year, she had produced this Medaglia d'Oro colt, bred by Three Chimneys Farm and Besilu Stables. Tapicat's dam is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Pohave. Her third dam is champion Track Robbery, whose foals include multiple graded stakes winner Train Robbery, dam of Breeders' Cup Classic winner and $3.9-million earner Cat Thief. The Union Rags colt, named Tangled Union, was offered by the consignment of agent Bobby Dodd, who said the colt's fast breeze was a "huge" factor on a track that typically produces slower times. "I'll take 10-and-2s all day long here," Dodd said. "10 and 1 is awesome. 10 flat with a gallop-out like he had, 20 and 3, that's unbelievable. And then we came back and got by the veterinarians, and the horse had a good physical. We are truly blessed." A New York-bred, Tangled Union is the second foal out of the winning Tale of the Cat mare Tanglewood Tale. Her first foal is the winning Big Thicket, a full brother to this colt. Tanglewood Tale's granddam is a full sister to champion sprinter Housebuster. Graded stakes winners appearing on the catalog page also include Be Gentle, Harvard Avenue, Nicole H, Quero Quero, and Something Extra.