Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June sale offers last chance for juveniles, Arrogate fillies

The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June 2-year-olds in training sale on Wednesday provides the final opportunity to purchase a horse during the formal juvenile sales season in North America. Perhaps most intriguingly long-term, it also provides the final opportunity to buy an unraced young horse by the late champion Arrogate at public auction, with his legacy continuing to grow.

Fasig-Tipton put this year’s Gulfstream sale, which the company traditionally held in March, on hiatus after the sale sold a smaller number of horses last year. In a counter move to that, the company added another breeze-up sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, where its May sale has continued to grow in success and prestige.

There are 99 juveniles in the catalog for Wednesday’s single-session sale. An under-tack preview show was to be conducted the day prior, Tuesday, on Timonium’s dirt track.

“This sale should prove advantageous for buyers as it is one of the few auctions in which they can evaluate a 2-year-old’s performance over a dirt surface,” said Paget Bennett, Fasig-Tipton Midlantic’s director of sales. “The late June date also allows buyers to send their purchases straight to the racetrack from the sale.”

Eclipse Award champion Arrogate, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this August in his first year of eligibility, died in June 2020 after developing an illness that led to neurological symptoms. His first foals hit the track after his death, and his first crop, to date, includes 2022 Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath, Grade 1 winner Fun to Dream, Grade 3 winner Petulante, and stakes winners Alittleloveandluck and Artorius. The stallion’s second crop is led by Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo, fellow Grade 1 winners And Tell Me Nolies and Cave Rock, and Grade 2 winner Affirmative Lady.

Arrogate has had two 2-year-old starters to date from his final crop of juveniles, with Saratoga Secret a three-length debut winner last Friday at Ellis, and Liberal Arts finishing third in a May maiden at Churchill Downs. Meanwhile, the stallion is averaging $440,556 from 18 final-crop 2-year-olds sold this season. His three seven-figure lots on the season include a $1 million filly who topped the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale when sold to Kerri Radcliffe.

Arrogate has two representatives in this June Midlantic sale, both still scheduled to sell as of Monday morning, and both looking to capitalize as solid pinhooks. The first filly through the ring is a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Ria Antonia, who in turn is the dam of Japanese Grade 2 winner Ria Amelia. This filly, consigned by Tom McCrocklin, as agent, was a $225,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Champion Equine.

Later comes a New York-bred Arrogate filly who is a half-sister to stakes-placed Harmon, from the extended family of champion Plugged Nickle, Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, and other standouts. The filly was a $170,000 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling purchase by Cary Frommer, then a $250,000 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March purchase by Mike Ryan; Frommer consigns her again here.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.