Record average for NY-bred sale

A spate of six-figure yearlings gave Fasig-Tipton a boost to the bottom line on Saturday and Sunday at the company's New York-bred preferred yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

A $230,000 colt by first-crop sire Hook and Ladder led a parade of 12 yearlings selling for $100,000 or more. They pushed the average price up 11 percent to a sale-record $52,421, the first time the auction average has risen above $50,000.

Buzz Chace, agent, purchased the sale-topping Hook and Ladder colt on behalf of Al Gold. Lakland North, agent, sold the colt. He is out of the In Excess winner Moneymakinmamma.

Lakland North also stands Hook and Ladder.

The two-day auction sold a total of 101 yearlings for a gross of $5,294,500. That was up 6 percent from last year's $4,975,500 for 105 lots. The record average this year was up 11 percent from 2005's $47,386. Despite that apparent strength, the median price fell 22 percent this season, from $45,000 to $35,000. Buy-backs were at 38 percent, but that was a marked improvement over last year's 43 percent.

Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga run was to end Tuesday with a new one-day auction, an open yearling sale, starting at 3 p.m.