New Maryland stallions get first commercial test in Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December mixed sale

Maryland welcomed a solid class of new stallions to the state in 2018, and their resulting first weanlings born this year give them a home-base commercial test at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December mixed sale, set for Tuesday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 366 broodmares, weanlings, yearlings, and horses of racing age for Tuesday’s sale, including supplemental entries that grew the catalog from an initial 230 entries. The catalog includes a dispersal for Joseph Besecker, the nation’s seventh-leading owner by earnings, which will consist of more than 100 horses spread between the initial catalog and a horses of racing age supplement.

“This an exciting sale from a number of perspectives, including a strong nucleus of in-foal mares and good sire power among the weanlings,” Fasig-Tipton Midlantic director of sales Paget Bennett said. “The Besecker dispersal adds another level of quality to this year’s sale and should prove an attractive draw to prospective buyers.”

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Young stallions who entered stud in Maryland last year include Grade 1 winner Dortmund, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Dortmund, standing at Bonita Farm, is a son of dual classic winner Big Brown, who stands in New York and has become a leading sire in the region. Dortmund’s single weanling in the Fasig-Tipton catalog is a colt out of the winning Arch mare Drink On This.

Divining Rod, who stands at Country Life Farm, finished third in the Preakness to American Pharoah. Divining Rod, by leading sire Tapit and from the immediate female family of leading sire Kitten’s Joy, has three weanlings from his first crop in this catalog.

Other young Maryland stallions with first-crop weanlings in the catalog are graded stakes winners Blofeld, Kobe’s Back, and Madefromlucky, along with Alliance and Editorial, both less-accomplished on the track but well bred. Editorial is a half-brother to prominent young sire Uncle Mo, while Alliance is half to champion Tepin.

For the third year, Fasig-Tipton will offer a horses of racing age supplement, which adds additional luster to the catalog. The entrants in this portion of the sale include four-time stakes winner O Dionysus; Brucia La Terra, who was second to champion Jaywalk in last year’s Grade 1 Frizette Stakes; Lebda, who finished third in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes in September; and Admiral Lynch, third in the Grade 3 Chick Lang Stakes earlier this year.

O Dionysus and Brucia La Terra are both Maryland-breds and are among a number of regionally bred horses with stakes experience in the catalog, perhaps attracting buyers intending to race in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or Virginia.

“This is our third year offering a horses of racing age supplement, which has proven popular in our racing-rich Midlantic region,” Bennett said. “There are a number of exciting entries in here, particularly from the dispersal of Joseph Besecker. Racing stables looking to restock for 2020 will find tremendous opportunities here.”

The 2018 December Midlantic sale finished with 201 horses sold for $1,911,100 compared to 221 for $2,448,200 in 2017. The average price dropped 14 percent, to $9,503 from $11,078, while the median was steady at $5.000.