Fasig-Tipton sale hints at rebound

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's two-day December mixed sale in Timonium, Md., which opened Sunday with declines across the board and a $40,000 session-topper, nudged the market ceiling up Monday with a $62,000 the session-leader at 6 p.m.

That was Hip No. 334, a weanling Golden Missile colt out of the Wild Zone mare Precious Queenie. Thomas J. Gallo III, agent, sold the colt to David Wade, agent. The chestnut colt is a three-quarter-brother to the five-time winner Not on My Turf, a son of Stephen Got Even.

Sunday's opening session sold 133 horses for $782,800, a drop of 30 percent from last year's opener, when 171 horses sold. The 2007 average price of $5,886 was down 10 percent, and the $3,000 median was down 19 percent from last year's equivalent session. The buy-back rate rose this year, from 35 percent to 38 percent.