Central Banker excels with first crop at Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale

Central Banker entered New York’s stallion ranks with plenty of buzz and took a step toward making good on all the talk with a strong performance from his debut crop at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale.

A 7-year-old son of Speightstown, Central Banker had a sale-topping 12 yearlings sell for a combined $689,000, the fourth-highest gross among the auction’s sires and the most for a New York resident. He stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for $7,500.

While Central Banker stood out by bulk numbers, the true franking of his appeal came in his average sale price of $58,167. The figure placed him third among resident New York sires, trailing only perennial state leader Freud and Kentucky transplant Big Brown.

“It’s hard for a New York stallion to hold a good average at this sale,” said Joe McMahon, owner of McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds. “I was a little concerned having that many of them in his initial sale, but he held his own.”

Leading the way among Central Banker’s yearlings was a colt out of the Desert Warrior mare Enniskillen who sold to Alex and Jo Ann Lieblong for $110,000, the sale’s fourth-most-expensive New York-sired offering.

“They’ve got great shoulders and toplines, good hips,” McMahon said. “Some of them are a little leggier than others. The leggier ones sold better at this sale, but across the board, people liked them.”

Central Banker is unique for a commercial breeding program in that he was purchased at public auction as a stallion prospect, going to McMahon for $400,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.

The public purchase price was a wrinkle most non-regional operations do not have to face when marketing an acquisition, but McMahon said the high visibility helped generate interest in the horse for syndication. McMahon said the farm sold 25 shares in Central Banker, most of which were purchased by Kentucky breeders.

“He’s gotten big books,” McMahon said. “He’s bred 300 mares in his first three years, so he’s got a lot of foals, and if they come out running, we’ll be in good shape.”