Machowsky embracing new role in changing California sale landscape

Weeks after he disbanded his Santa Anita-based training stable, Mike Machowsky has been fully engulfed in his new role as the California representative of the Fasig-Tipton sale company.

There is much to be done this spring.

Fasig-Tipton is scheduled to hold two sales at Santa Anita this year – a 2-year-olds in training sale on June 5 and a yearling sale on Sept. 25. The sales replace events held in past years by Barretts Sales, which ceased operations in 2018.

Machowsky, 53, has traveled to farms throughout California and around Ocala, Fla., in recent weeks, speaking to breeders and consignors about potential offerings for the Santa Anita 2-year-olds in training sale. His journey has taken him to places such as Harris Farms and Rancho San Miguel, and to the home bases of some prominent consignors in the state.

In coming weeks, Machowsky will be back on the road to visit California farms such as Tommy Town Thoroughbreds and attend 2-year-olds in training sales in Florida. Consignors from California and Florida are expected to dominate the Santa Anita sale, as they did in past years at Barretts events.

Those trips are designed to build the sale from its foundation. Barretts held 2-year-olds in training sales at its base in Pomona until recent years when the auctions were shifted to Del Mar. By bringing the sale to Santa Anita, Fasig-Tipton is accommodating owners and trainers vital to a successful auction. It will be very easy for buyers to examine prospects if they are stabled and training before the sale at the hub of Southern California racing in late spring.

“A lot of guys were positive about bringing horses down here,” Machowsky said of Santa Anita. “A lot of them like it here as a venue.”

For some buyers, based in California or on other circuits, the Santa Anita sale will be a last chance to buy a 2-year-old in training. The Fasig-Tipton California sale will be the second-to-last major event of the 2-year-old in training calendar, followed by the three-day June sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age conducted by the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. in Florida a week later.

The timing of the June sale could work to the advantage of the event. A juvenile who does not sell at a prominent auction in March or April could be offered again in June.

“If a horse gets a hiccup now, they have a spot to land,” Machowsky said.

The Fasig-Tipton sale at Santa Anita will be the latest California has had a 2-year-olds in training sale in decades. Barretts had two yearling sales for much of its existence, beginning in 1990 – a select sale held at various times from late February into March and an open sale held in May.

Last year, Barretts held one sale in April in which 75 horses were sold for $6,481,000, an average of $86,413, according to sale company records. In 2017, the Barretts select sale saw 45 horses sell for $150,600, while the May open sale had 47 horses sell for $43,170.

Those sales had catalogs ranging from 91 to 169 horses. Machowsky is hopeful the June sale this year can attract more.

“It would be good if we can get a couple hundred,” he said.