‘Night of stars' at Fasig-Tipton November sale

Fasig-Tipton sold two of the most expensive young mares in its history at the 2017 edition of its Kentucky fall selected mixed sale. Songbird sold for $9.5 million, with fellow two-time Eclipse Award heroine Tepin just behind her at $8 million, those two fueling some of the best figures in the auction’s history.

Coming into 2018, it seemed impossible for the Fasig-Tipton November sale to match that performance – but, led by $7.5 million European champion Lady Aurelia, the sale improbably improved on an excellent outing, with record gross receipts, the fourth-highest average price in its history, and the second-highest median ever.

No pressure, Fasig-Tipton. No pressure, Midnight Bisou.

The annual single-session November auction billed as “the night of the stars” has no shortage of those as it prepares for this year’s renewal on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 5. The brightest in that firmament is multiple Grade 1 winner Midnight Bisou, who is undefeated on this season as she heads into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff a few days prior to being offered as a racing or broodmare prospect at Fasig-Tipton. Already the favorite to be voted this season’s Eclipse Award champion older female, she would place herself in the Horse of the Year conversation with a Distaff victory.

Other stars in the Fasig-Tipton catalog, which is continuing to accept supplemental entries, include Eclipse Award champion Shamrock Rose, Canadian Horse of the Year Wonder Gadot, and Chilean champion Wow Cat, who also is expected to contest the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Other Breeders’ Cup entrants cataloged are Bellafina (Filly and Mare Sprint), Belvoir Bay (Turf Sprint), Blue Prize (Distaff), Comical (Juvenile Fillies), Got Stormy (Mile), Heavenhasmynikki (Filly and Mare Sprint), La Force (Distaff), Mirth (Filly and Mare Turf), Secret Spice (Distaff), Selcourt (Filly and Mare Sprint), and Vasilika (Filly and Mare Turf).

“We have another outstanding catalog to present to buyers after the Breeders’ Cup,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said. “This sale has truly become an international event, and the quality and diversity among this year’s offerings should once again attract leading buyers from all corners of the globe.”

Prominent proven producers in this catalog include Diva Delite, the dam of Midnight Bisou; Baffled, the dam of Grade 1 winner and standout freshman sire Constitution and two other stakes horses; and Grade 3 winner America, whose yearling colt topped the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. Both Diva Delite and Baffled have been through this auction ring before, with Diva Delite fetching $750,000 last year and Baffled topping the 2016 edition of the November auction at $3.5 million. Diva Delite is among the mares at this sale being offered in foal to Triple Crown winner Justify, who stood his first season this year.

The Fasig-Tipton sale opens with a small, select group of weanlings before moving on to the higher-profile mares as twilight falls. The weanling market has become increasingly strong for these select youngsters in recent years. After a pair of weanlings each fetched $1 million at the 2017 edition of the sale, establishing a sale record in the category, a $1.9 million Pioneerof the Nile filly shattered the mark at last year’s renewal. This year’s weanlings include offerings from the respective first crops of Horse of the Year Gun Runner and fellow Eclipse Award champion and leading money-winner Arrogate.

Last year’s Fasig-Tipton November sale finished with 140 horses sold for gross receipts of $89,473,000, compared to 115 sold for $74,200,000 in 2017. The average price checked in at $639,093 last year, a small decline from $645,217 in 2017, while the median soared to $327,500 from $250,000.