Fasig-Tipton results mixed

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's Eastern fall yearling sale ended Wednesday with mixed results on a smaller number of horses sold this year than in 2006.

The three-day auction at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md., closed with 574 yearlings sold for $13,331,400, down 9 percent from last year, when 658 horses sold. The average price benefited from the smaller number of sales, rising 5 percent from $22,159 last year to $23,225 this season. But the median fell 13 percent, from $11,500 to $10,000.

Consignors who put their horses in the auction ring seemed largely unfazed by the declines, as the overall buy-back rate also fell from 32 percent in 2006 to 25 percent this year.

The sale topper was a $325,000 Stormy Atlantic-Princess Birdeye filly that Jay Em Ess Stable bought from the Welker Sales agency.

"Overall, it was a very good sale," Fasig-Tipton's chief operating officer, Boyd Browning, said, adding that the dip in median was "not dramatic."

"There was a legitimate market for horses worth $15,000 to $20,000," he said, "as well as for horses worth $150,000 to $200,000."

Wednesday's final session sold 205 horses for $4,451,500, down 8 percent from last year's gross for 212 horses. The session average of $21,715 was down 5 percent, and the $9,500 median marked a decrease of 17 percent.

Wednesday's session-topper was a $200,000 colt by Malibu Moon out of Blue Sky Princess, a stakes winner and Grade 2-placed runner by Conquistador Cielo. Bill Reightler consigned the chestnut colt on behalf of Huntingfields. Charles Bassford was the buyer.