Fasig-Tipton sale's average price has slight dip

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's preferred juvenile sale ended Tuesday in Timonium, Md., with mixed results, achieving a record median price of $34,500 but sustaining losses in gross receipts and average price.

A $575,000 Broken Vow colt at the final session topped the two-day auction on a final bid from Buzz Chace, agent. Chace purchased the colt on behalf of West Point Thoroughbreds and Lewis Lakin. The pair and a third partner, William H. Lawrence, recently sold an unspecified interest in their Grade 2-winning filly Dream Rush to Hill 'n' Dale Farm owner John Sikura.

Niall Brennan Stables sold the sale-topping colt, a bay son of the French Deputy mare French Grand offered as Hip No. 652. He had breezed a quarter-mile in 21.40 seconds at the auction's under-tack preview.

The two-day auction sold 350 horses for $19,498,700, down 18 percent from last year's record gross of $21,236,500. The 2007 average price of $55,711 fell 5 percent short of last year's record $57,396. The buy-back rate rose by just 1 percent and remained low for the 3-year-old market at 28 percent.

The previous sale record for median price was $31,500 at the 2005 sale. The 2007 auction's median price of $34,500 was up 15 percent from last year's $30,000.