F-T Midlantic sees gains across the board

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old auction ended Monday night with gains across the board after trimming the auction from last year's two session's to one.

The auction in Timonium, Md., sold 273 horses, out of 405 originally cataloged, for a gross of $13,099,500. That was up 23 percent from last year's gross for 253 juveniles. Average price also increased, rising 14 percent from last year's figure of $42,099 to $47,984. And median gained eight percent, climbing from $25,000 to $27,000.

The buy-back rate was a very low 13 percent and fell from last year's figure of 21 percent.

Stonestreet Stables principals Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke paid the sale-topping price of $650,000 for a Medaglia d'Oro filly. Medaglia d'Oro also is the sire of Stonestreet's 2009 Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra.

The price was the second-highest price ever at the sale, behind last year's $850,000 bid for the Tapit colt Trappe Shot. Steve Young, agent, placed that bid for the colt, who was then named Tashop and now races for Mill House.

The Medaglia d'Oro filly is the first foal out of stakes winner Chit Chat Pam, by Valid Expectations. The late Edmund Gann bred the bay filly, and the Eisaman Equine agency consigned her on behalf of the Gann estate. Cataloged as Hip No. 69, the filly was one of five juveniles to work an eighth of a mile in 10.20 seconds at last week's under-tack preview.

Bidding opened at $300,000 and quickly escalated from there for the filly.

She is from the family of Grade 1 winner Strategic Mission.

The second-highest price at the session at that time, for a Tapit colt out of the Cherokee Run mare Prall Street, was the $450,000 that agent Steve Young, buyer of the record-priced sale-topper in 2009, purchased. Eddie Woods, acting as agent for Graves and Lynch, consigned the gray or roan colt.