F-T Saratoga to sell 214 yearlings

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga select yearling sale opens Monday night with a larger catalog and a slight change to its calendar.

Fasig-Tipton shortened the auction from three days to two starting in 2005, holding the sale on Tuesday and Wednesday. This year the sale falls on Monday and Tuesday.

The auction, at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion, has a catalog of 214 horses, up from last year's 180. Among the first-crop sires with yearlings on offer this season are 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness hero Smarty Jones, 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2004 Dubai World Cup winner Pleasantly Perfect, 2004 sprint champion and Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Speightstown, and Grade 1 winners Congaree, Lion Heart, Medaglia d'Oro, Tapit, and The Cliff's Edge.

There are also yearlings by proven stallions such as A. P. Indy, Awesome Again, Distorted Humor, Storm Cat, and Unbridled's Song.

Last year's Saratoga select sale hit a $1.6 million high note when Ahmed Zayat purchased the Empire Maker filly now named Mushka. The two-day auction grossed $42,085,000 for 130 yearlings. It averaged $323,731 and posted a median price of $245,000. Gross and median increased 26 percent and 9 percent, respectively, while the average was off by two-tenths of a percent.

The 2007 auction sessions will begin each night at 7 p.m.