$495,000 Uncle Mo filly tops first session of Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – New York-based breeders and consignors breathed a sigh of relief when the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale was able to return to the calendar in Saratoga Springs this year. The coronavirus pandemic canceled several sales in 2020, including this one, scattering the state's yearling crop to other states, where it found tough going.

The state's horsemen can now exhale again, after the sale found a vibrant marketplace upon its return. An Uncle Mo filly brought the hammer down at $495,000 to lead an opening session that posted an uptick in average and median figures Sunday night in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion.

Fasig-Tipton reported that 62 New York-bred yearlings changed hands during Sunday night's opener of the two-day sale for gross receipts of $6,497,500. When this sale was last held in 2019, the opening session grossed $5,972,500 from 66 yearlings sold.

Sunday night's average price was $104,798, and the median checked in at $80,000. Those would represent gains of 16 percent and 7 percent, respectively, from opening-session figures of $90,492 and $75,000 in 2019.

"Outstanding opening night," Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. "Thrilled to have the average over $100,000 tonight. . . . Hopefully, the strength will continue tomorrow. Bunch of nice horses again tomorrow."

Browning also was pleased with the buyback rate, which was 24 percent for the evening. It finished at 32 percent in the comparable session two years ago.

"Many, many years in the past, we've talked about a higher-than-average RNA rate, because there's so many opportunities for the owners and breeders of these horses to race, given the purse structure," he said. "The RNA rate tonight was certainly at an acceptable level."

The session-topping Uncle Mo filly will stay in the family for the Dream Maker Racing partnership, which is managed by Tom Gallo. The filly was bred in partnership by Gallo's wife, Mia Gallo, along with Mary Kopley, Michael Newton, and Elizabeth Weese. Tom Gallo consigned the filly to the Fasig-Tipton sale, as agent, and when she took her turn through the sale ring, he seized an opportunity to secure her for Dream Maker. The partnership, which has its horses with trainer Bill Mott, includes two of her co-breeders.

"We love the filly," Tom Gallo said. "We absolutely love her. I've loved her from the day she was born. We just set a price, and if she didn't bring the price, then we were just gonna race her ourselves."

The filly is out of the winning Distorted Humor mare Averymerrymoment, dam of six winners from as many starters, including stakes-placed Satisfy for Dream Maker. In addition to success with the family, Tom Gallo cited this filly's personality as a factor that made her a standout.

"If you went up to her and she didn't want to be nice, she'd come at you with her ears pinned – as a baby!" Gallo said. "And that's rare. I always liked that. Sometimes you've got to be like that to be competitive and win races. And I always loved her stride in the field. She would be in half gear, and they'd be keeping up with her. And suddenly, she would switch into high gear and leave everybody behind."

A filly from the first crop of Breeders' Cup Classic winner and Eclipse Award champion Accelerate fetched the second-highest price of the evening, selling for $335,000 to bloodstock agent David Ingordo. The filly, who was consigned as agent by St George Sales, is out of the winning Bernardini mare Delay of Game, whose first starter is a winner. Delay of Game is a half-sister to Grade 2-winning millionaire Stanford and to stakes winner Hedge Fund. It is the immediate family of champion and sire Johannesburg, and prominent sires Pulpit and Tale of the Cat are among the other graded stakes winners appearing on the catalog page.

Sunday night's opening session, held following the day's card at Saratoga Race Course, comprised a little less than one-third of the sales catalog. The remainder of the yearlings will be offered in a second and final session Monday, when the track is dark. The session begins at noon Eastern.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.