Market continues to evolve in second year of Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June sale

The North American breeze-up sale season comes to an end with next week’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June sale of 2-year-olds in training, the second edition of a sale working to establish a foothold in a solid regional marketplace.

Fasig-Tipton’s two-day Midlantic sale in May, traditionally held the week after the Preakness Stakes at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, has steadily evolved from a sale that mainly serviced the nearby state marketplaces into a must-attend event regularly topped by seven-figure horses. The horses have lived up to that billing on the racetrack, with sale graduates including Eclipse Award champion Gamine and Kentucky Derby winner Mage among other Grade 1 winners in recent years.

Last year, the June sale was added to the calendar. The inaugural edition of the single-session sale traded 59 horses, including private sales, for gross receipts of $2,541,000, led by a $500,000 Kantharos filly. The sale posted an average price of $43,068 and median of $26,000, with a final buyback rate of 25 percent.

“I think it’s always difficult when you launch a new initiative to change people’s habits,” Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. said. “We’re all creatures of habit. Changing behavior does take some time. We’re optimistic we’ll have a good sale in June.”

The Midlantic June sale is set for Tuesday afternoon, and there are 79 juveniles in the catalog. An under-tack preview show will be held Monday. Buyers and consignors have frequently discussed the opportunity to breeze over the dirt track at Timonium as a factor that creates confidence in the Midlantic May marketplace, a feeling that could certainly carry over to the June sale.

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“We have good sire power, quality pedigrees, and a dirt surface for horses to breeze over,” said Paget Bennett, director of sales for Fasig-Tipton Midlantic. “The late June sale date is very advantageous for buyers as they can send their purchases straight to the racetrack from the sale.”

There are 29 Kentucky-bred juveniles in the sale’s catalog, and a number of regional programs are well represented. Those are led by 21 New York-bred juveniles, immediately prior to the Saratoga summer meet that features rich statebred purses and incentives. Juveniles bred in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia round out the catalog.

“We’re serving more regional markets within a three- or four-hour drive than any other sales venue,” Browning said. “We hope they will help provide some strength and support to the middle market.”

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