Numbers soar at Fasig-Tipton sale

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's one-day February winter mixed sale on Monday yielded substantially higher results across the board this year compared with last year.

The auction in Timonium, Md., sold 132 lots this year, up from the 107 in 2003, for a total of $1,303,000. That was almost three times as much as last year's $474,400 gross. The average price also went up this season, soaring from $4,434 last year to $9,871, and the median also leaped, rising from $3,000 to $5,000. The only negative note on the result sheet was the buy-back rate, which rose from 18 percent to 21 percent.

The top-selling lot at the 2004 auction was a $59,000 El Prado mare named Garden Dance.