Midlantic fall yearling sale topped by $270,000 Pennsylvania-bred Gun Runner colt

A colt from the first crop of Gun Runner sold for $270,000 as the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic fall yearling sale concluded on Tuesday night with a virtually even average price and an unchanged median, positive indicators in a yearling market that has been grappling with the coronavirus crisis.

Fasig-Tipton reported 379 yearlings sold over the two-day sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium for gross receipts of $9,161,200. The 2019 sale finished with 300 yearlings sold for $7,275,900, also in two sessions.

This year's sale had the benefit of following last Saturday's rescheduled Preakness Stakes at nearby Pimlico. That formula has proven successful for Fasig-Tipton with its traditional Midlantic 2-year-old sale in the spring, which often gets support from prominent horsemen who remain in town following the classic race.

Led by the Gun Runner colt, three horses sold for prices in excess of $200,000 at the sale, all in Tuesday's second and final session. That threshold was not achieved in 2019, as the sale topper last year fetched $190,000. With that strong activity at the top of the market, the sale's cumulative average price was $24,172, a change of less than half a percentage point from $24,253 in 2019. The median was steady at $14,000.

The buyback rate in a marketplace that has become even more polarized and selective in the wake of economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic also held relatively steady, another encouraging sign. The cumulative figure for the sale was 22 percent, compared to 21 percent in 2019.

The sale-topping colt, a son of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, was purchased by Lambe Bloodstock from the consignment of Becky Davis, as agent. In keeping with the Midlantic sale's role as a showcase for statebred programs, the colt is a Pennsylvania-bred and also Virginia- and Delaware-certified.

The colt is out of the Stormy Atlantic mare Stormy Tak, dam of three winners from five starters. Stormy Tak is out of the multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Lady Tak, whose family has been active recently.

Lady Tak is the dam of stakes winners A Shin Spartan and Melody Lady. The latter is the dam of this year's Grade 1-winning sprinter Volatile, as well as stakes winner Buy Sell Hold. Champion Capote and Grade 1 winner River Memories also appear on the catalog page.

The second and third highest-priced horses of the sale are both Maryland-breds. A $250,000 Flatter colt was purchased by Bell Gable Stable and a $240,000 Street Sense colt was a $240,000 purchase by West Bloodstock, on behalf of Repole Stables and St. Elias Stables.

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