Medaglia d'Oro seven-figure trio help F-T yearling sale sizzle

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It was Medaglia d'Oro's world, and everyone else was just living in it Tuesday night at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale.

A trio of yearlings by the Darley stallion broke the seven-figure ceiling, led by a $1.35-million colt, to push the auction across the finish line to a record renewal in an emotional run for Fasig-Tipton's team.

"It's humbling, it's invigorating, we're proud as hell," said Fasig-Tipton president and chief executive Boyd Browning, who was visibly emotional and fighting back tears as the auction company closed the first edition of the boutique auction since the passing of longtime company executive William E. Graves in May.

Monday night's opening session of the select sale, which featured a $1.2-million filly and a $1-million colt from the first crop of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, got the auction off to a solid start, with the average price rising 7 percent from the comparable opening session in 2017. That momentum continued into Tuesday night where, led by the trio of Medaglia d'Oro yearlings, the average price spiked 10 percent to $388,839, up from $352,716 in the comparable session a year prior, which concluded a sale featuring just a pair of seven-figure lots.

Bouyed by that robust top market, the 2018 sale completed its two-day run with 170 yearlings sold for record gross receipts of $62,794,000, a gain of 18 percent percent from 156 sold for $52,995,000 last year. The cumulative average price finished at $369,376, the boutique auction's second-highest all-time, and a gain of 9 percent from $339,712 last year. The previous record gross and the record average were both established in 2001, as the sale finished with receipts of $62,412,000 and an average of $385,259.

This year's median price, $300,000, matched the record established last year, and the buyback rate finished at a relatively steady 21 percent, compared to 20 percent last year.

Browning attributed the record results to the quality of the horses brought to the sale grounds by the consignors -- and, perhaps, to a little divine intervention.

"It doesn't happen without the trust and confidence of the best breeders, the best pinhookers, the best consignors in the world," Browning said. "The quality of horses that we had on the sale grounds this week was fantastic .... That doesn't happen without the support, the trust, and the confidence of the men and women who own those horses, who raise those horses, and consign those horses. It also doesn't happen without a tremendous team. I'm biased -- I think we've got the best team in the world at Fasig-Tipton, across the board. It's a collection of people who truly care about the business, about the company, about the people we sell for, and about each other."

Browning then took one of several pauses in the conversation, his voice breaking several times.

"We were obviously missing, in person, a key member of our team. But I think he was with us," Browning said. "He was with us throughout the selection process, putting the catalog together. We barely established the record, by like a couple hundred thousand. I don't know if you believe in divine intervention or not, but I'm not going to ask any questions."

The $1.35-million sale topper by Medaglia d'Oro was sold to a partnership including West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert Masiello, Chris Larsen, and Siena Farm. WinStar Farm, which bred the colt, could also potentially buy back in to the youngster for a piece in the partnership, according to Terry Finley of West Point, who said those discussions were still ongoing.

"He was so leggy and athletic-looking," Masiello said of the colt. "Obviously [Medaglia d'Oro] is unbelievable. He just looked like such an athlete. He's got the speed influence on the bottom, stamina on the top."

The Kentucky-bred colt, who was consigned as agent by Taylor Made Sales, is the first foal out of the stakes-winning Wildcat Heir mare Coco's Wildcat, whose own dam is a full sister to a pair of graded stakes winners and kin to two other stakes winners. It is the female family that produced Medaglia d'Oro's two-time Eclipse Award champion daughter Songbird.

Shortly afterward, Phoenix Thoroughbreds acquired a Medaglia d'Oro filly for $1.3 million, with trainer Steve Asmussen seated with Amer Abdulaziz, founder of the global racing and bloodstock investment group.

"She's a work of art," Asmussen, who trained Medaglia d'Oro's Hall of Fame daughter Rachel Alexandra, said. "She's a beautiful filly, and I don't think you're very likely to find another like her. A beautiful pedigree, as well as the physical to go with it."

The filly, bred in Kentucky by Joseph B. Murphy, is out of the stakes-placed Vindication mare Dawn Raid. Medaglia d'Oro's current stars on the track include dual Canadian classic winner Wonder Gadot who is also out of a Vindication mare.

Medaglia d'Oro stood for $150,000 in 2016, the year this season's yearling crop was conceived; he stood for $250,000 in 2018.

Dawn Raid is the dam of three winners from four starters, led by Exaggerator, winner of the 2016 Preakness Stakes, Haskell Invitational, and Santa Anita Derby. He won or placed in six other graded stakes, including a runner-up effort in the Kentucky Derby.

Dawn Raid is a half sister to Canadian champion Embur's Song, and is from the extended family of Grade 1 winner Island Sand.

"She had the residual value, she had the looks, she had the pedigree," Hunter Rankin of consignor Warrendale Sales said. "[Mediaglia d'Oro] was a great mating for [Dawn Raid]."

Earlier in the evening, Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stables was also looking to residual value as it broke the seven-figure threshold for the first time on the evening, going to $1 million for a Medaglia d'Oro filly.

"We liked the pedigree and liked her physically. She struck us all the way around," Roy Jackson said. "We always try and buy a couple of fillies each year [in hopes of] turning them into broodmares, and she fits the bill."

The filly is the first foal out of the winning Distorted Humor mare Veracity. Out of Grade 2 winner Yell, Veracity is a full sister to stakes winner Cheery and stakes-placed Shrill, and a half to Grade 1 placed Chide, from the extended family of Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero.

Cheery is the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Elate, one of several successful runners produced by crossing Medaglia d'Oro over Distorted Humor mares. Others bred on the cross include multiple Grade 1 winner New Money Honey and graded stakes winners Funny Proposition and Mrs McDougal.

This filly, bred in Kentucky by Fifth Avenue Bloodstock, was consigned by Indian Creek, agent.

Tuesday evening's top five prices were rounded out by a pair of $875,000 fillies -- one by perennial leading sire Tapit sold to Bobby Flay, and another from the first crop of American Pharoah sold to John Oxley.

For hip-by-hip sale results, click here.

-- additional reporting by Matt Hegarty and Dan Illman