Expectations were high for the 2017 edition of the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale after the grounds saw relentless activity during Friday’s first full day of showing, and the results made good on that potential, posting records in gross, average, and median, and the auction’s highest-priced offering of all-time – a $500,000 Cairo Prince colt
The first session of the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale took an extra half-hour to get started, after severe weather delayed the races at adjacent Saratoga Race Course and the start of the sale was pushed back accordingly. But the positive returns of the session were worth the wait, led by a $350,000 City Zip colt.
The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale has been important for Craig and Holly Bandoroff even before the founding of Denali Stud in 1990.
The following are horses to watch at the Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale, based on their pedigrees and the past auction performance of notable family members. Physical conformation, veterinarian records, and late pedigree updates were not taken into consideration.
After declines in key categories in 2016, the Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale on Tuesday at Pleasanton has a smaller look. In 2016, there were 240 horses in the catalog. This year, there were 151 as of Wednesday.
A handful of New York-breds went through the auction ring against ‘open company' at the elite Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale – and acquitted themselves well.
Renowned for its homebred program, Juddmonte Farm has been playing the auction game in recent years as well, and the outfit was among the most active buyers at the recently concluded Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale.
Bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe's name has been showing up at the top of buyer lists with greater frequency in 2017, and she made one her biggest splashes yet in the U.S. market on Tuesday when she secured an Orb colt for $1 million. The seven-figure pricetag made him the co-saletopper at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale.
One of the pedigree highlights of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale was a half-brother to Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit who sold to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for $250,000. Ryan was unfazed the colt's conformation shortcoming.
The economic challenges of selling a yearling produced on Tapit's $300,000 stud fee became apparent as the stallion's first yearlings conceived at that price point came to auction at this week's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale.
