Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale looks to ride momentum

Every yearling sale owes its fate, at least in part, to the preceding 2-year-old sale season. This year’s Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale, in particular, is riding a wave from the juvenile sale season, which showcased the quality of state breeding programs and in which pinhookers investing in New York-breds were rewarded handsomely.

The most expensive 2-year-old sold in North America this year was a New York-bred Bernardini colt bred by Chester and Mary Broman, among the state’s perennial leading owners and breeders. Consigned by Sequel, as agent, the colt sold for $3.55 million to bloodstock agent Gary Young for Amr Zedan at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale in May. The colt’s price smashed the previous Midlantic record $1.8 million for eventual champion Gamine in 2019. According to Fasig-Tipton records, the colt also is the highest-priced New York-bred sold at public auction, the highest-priced horse sold at public auction in Maryland, and the highest-priced horse sold at public auction worldwide by Bernardini.

That record-shattering colt was one of two seven-figure New York-breds sold in the juvenile marketplace this season, with the other also bred by the Bromans and consigned by Sequel. An Into Mischief colt out of Grade 1 winner Artemis Agrotera brought $1 million from Spendthrift, in partnership with the BSW/Crow Colts Group, at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale.

While those two top-dollar colts were both sold by their breeders, several other pricey New York-breds this season were profitable pinhooks for their yearling buyers. A statebred Bolt d’Oro colt sold for $675,000 to Spendthrift and Frank Fletcher Racing at the Midlantic sale, more than seven times his Keeneland September yearling purchase price of $90,000 by Pike Racing. Also at the Midlantic sale, a Frosted filly brought $330,000 from West Point Thoroughbreds, easily more than double her $130,000 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred price tag to Scanlon Training and Sales. At the OBS April sale, Chad Schumer bought a $535,000 Goldencents colt who had been a $150,000 Keeneland September yearling to Quarter Pole Enterprises, and John Fort bought a $375,000 Army Mule colt who had been a $105,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling to Champion Equine.

Pinhookers will get a chance to restock – and end users will look to fill their racing stables to chase lucrative state incentives – at this year’s Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale. There are 283 yearlings cataloged for the auction, which begins with an evening session following the races at adjacent Saratoga Race Course on Sunday, Aug. 14. The second and final session begins at noon on Monday, Aug. 15.

“Over $60 million will be distributed in purse money, incentives, and awards for New York-breds this year,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. “In addition, there are new purse enhancements and incentives for the New York Stallion Stakes Series and New York-sired bonus programs that will go into effect next year. This is a very exciting time to own a New York-bred.”

The excitement of New York-bred racing will be on display the Friday prior to the sale, as Saratoga cards four $125,000 New York-bred stakes on the main track.

New York-breds also have been providing an advertisement for the program by succeeding in open company at this Saratoga meet. On the flat, Robin Sparkles won the Grade 3 Caress and City Man won the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple; Down Royal took the meet’s first major steeplechase, the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial. Preceding the sales, New York-bred Americanrevolution, already a Grade 1 winner, is expected to seek another top-level victory in the Whitney on Aug. 6.

“That’s some of the best promotion we ever could have wished for, Saratoga being a premier racing destination in the country,” said Najja Thompson, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders.

The momentum provided by the race meet is a stark contrast to two years ago, when Fasig-Tipton was unable to host the New York-bred sale in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic, and statebreds struggled to gain traction in other marketplaces. Last August, the auction made a triumphant return as, led by a $495,000 Uncle Mo filly, it posted a 6 percent gain in average and 17 percent gain in median from those respective figures in the 2019 edition. The buyback rate also improved significantly, checking in at a cumulative 22 percent, compared to 30 percent in 2019.

“We’d like to see that continued success and that trend go on,” Thompson said. “Looking through both catalogs [for the New York-bred sale as well as for New York-breds in the selected sale a week prior], they both seem strong. We’re very optimistic.”

The synergy between the ongoing race meet and an in-state sale for New York-breds is “impossible to duplicate,” said Allaire Ryan, director of sales for Lane’s End.

“The sale, the whole atmosphere that is Saratoga, and the whole prestige that comes with that race meet that goes on right across the street just really highlights that market,” Ryan said.

New York’s leading sires are well represented in the catalog for this year’s auction, with lots cataloged by dominant sire Freud (Sequel Stallions) and rising younger stars Central Banker (McMahon of Saratoga), Mission Impazible (Sequel Stallions), and War Dancer (Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions). There also are yearlings on offer from the final New York-sired crop by the late Laoban (formerly Sequel Stallions), who died last year after one season in Kentucky.

New York stallions with first-crop yearlings cataloged are multiple Grade 1-placed Solomini (McMahon of Saratoga) and record-setting multiple graded stakes winner Disco Partner (Rockridge Stud). Grade 1 winner Leofric (formerly Rockridge Stud) began his career in New York before moving to Kentucky.

Alongside New York’s leaders, many of the nation’s overall leading sires and exciting first-crop stallions will be represented in the catalog. Kentucky stallions with yearlings cataloged include the white-hot Gun Runner, successful sires such as Candy Ride, Distorted Humor, More Than Ready, Munnings, Not This Time, Speightstown, Tapit, and Uncle Mo, and late sires Bernardini, Kitten’s Joy, and Malibu Moon. Kentucky first-crop yearling sires represented include Grade 1 winners Audible, Catholic Boy, Mitole, Omaha Beach, Preservationist, Vino Rosso, World of Trouble, and Yoshida.

The wide cross section of stallions shows the commitment top breeders have made to the program, Ryan said.

“That’s a reflection of the strength of that marketplace,” Ryan said.