New buyers spice up Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A diverse buying bench at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga became even more dynamic with the addition of some new faces to the ranks of those buying high-ticket horses, including Randy and Jenny Boyd of Tennessee, who struck at $2.6 million for a Gun Runner filly out of Grade 1 winner Paradise Woods.
“We love this horse. We’re excited about her,” said Randy Boyd, president of the University of Tennessee.
The Boyds began dabbling in racing by purchasing a horse privately from consignor Billy Love through bloodstock agent Brittany Linton last year.
“It was something new that we could do [together] at our age,” Jenny Boyd said. “We know nothing about it.”
That filly, Tennessee Belle, was second in a Saratoga maiden race July 26, and the Boyds deepened their investment this summer, with Love and Linton the agents on this latest purchase.
Meanwhile, Kjell Andersen, a longtime owner of Standardbreds, purchased his first Thoroughbred when going to $1.4 million for a Not This Time half-brother to Grade 1 winner Union Strike and Grade 2 winner Handsome Mike.
Andersen’s interest in Thoroughbreds grew after watching the recent Netflix series “Race for the Crown,” and he reached out to featured trainer Kenny McPeek.
“This is unbelievable,” said Andersen, a resident of Switzerland who said he is considering buying a farm in Kentucky. “We saw this horse, he looked fantastic, and we decided to go for it. It’s something we wanted to go into for a long time, and we kind of thought this year it’s gonna be the year.”
Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said that the addition of new buyers and the spread of high-ticket horses among a number of buyers are positive signs for the marketplace.
“Someone told me before the sale that [the market] reminded them of the 1980s, it’s so good,” Browning said. “And I said, ‘Wait a second, it’s got no resemblance to the 1980s.’ The 1980s were dominated by basically two or three buying groups, and when you are dominated by two or three buying groups, there is a fragility with that and that fragility came to fruition. Today, there is a broad base of both consignors and buyers, and it makes for a much, much healthier industry.”
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