Fasig-Tipton winter mixed sale will wrap up mixed sale season
The last stop on the mixed portion of the auction calendar before switching over to the 2-year-olds in training season will come Monday at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale in Lexington, Ky.
The one-day sale will commence at 10 a.m. Eastern, with 337 horses cataloged to go through the ring. Fasig-Tipton Co. president Boyd Browning Jr. said the overall gains in the market during the mixed sale season are a good sign that it will finish strong Monday.
“We feel encouraged about the demand for quality offerings,” Browning said. “The January sales were pretty promising, and here in Lexington, the mixed sales in the fall were solid.”
The sale is headlined by its supplemental entries, including 39 offerings from Eugene Melnyk’s Winding Oaks Farm. Among the high-profile horses selling as part of the Melnyk supplement are Sealy Hill, the 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year, and Christie Village, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner and producer Take Charge Lady.
“It’s certainly a sale that no significant buyer should overlook this year,” Browning said. “The quality of horses is better than we’ve had in many, many years – thanks, in large part, to Winding Oaks’s select offerings.”
Last year’s winter mixed sale posted across-the-board gains, with 270 horses selling for total revenues of $4,601,800, a 63 percent gain from 2011. The average sale price rose 11 percent to $17,044, while the median price of $6,000 was a 5 percent increase from the previous year.
Brad Kelley’s Bluegrass Hall, now Calumet Farm, purchased sale-topper Fancy Prancer for $200,000 at the sale. The multiple-stakes-winning Bertrando mare was the dam of four stakes winners.
Even after the significant increases at last year’s sale, Browning said he expects Monday’s auction to surpass it.
“The catalog is stronger overall than it was last year,” he said. “The average price should increase.”
To watch live video of the sale, and to view the catalog and results, click here.
– additional reporting by Nicole Russo