Tapit tops the bill at opening session of Fasig-Tipton sale

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It was a night of dominance by perennial leading sire Tapit as the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale opened on Monday evening. A $1 million colt and a $950,000 filly by the Gainesway stallion went through the auction ring back-to-back as the first of two sessions of the boutique sale at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion closed with gains in average and median.

"He's a tremendous stallion," Gainesway's Michael Hernon said of Tapit, who recorded his 75th career graded stakes winner on Sunday when Kingly won the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar. "He continues to rewrite his own resume. He's a truly exceptional horse. We're just sort of living in his world."

Led by Tapit's high-ticket duo, a total of 61 yearlings sold during the boutique session for gross receipts of $22,775,000, with a buyback rate of 28 percent in a selective market. With fewer horses sold, that gross figure declined 21 percent from last year's opening session, with 83 horses sold and a buyback rate of 22 percent for revenues of $28,965,000.

The session's average price was $373,361, up 7 percent from $348,976 in last year's opener, and also tracking ahead of the cumulative figure of $369,376 for the 2018 sale. Monday night's median was $315,000, a gain of 5 percent from $300,000 in the corresponding opening session. The 2018 sale cumulative median also finished at $300,000.

"I thought we saw very competitive bidding throughout the evening," Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said. "A diverse group of buyers, a lot of strength, and a lot of diversity in that buying bench. Overall, I'm very pleased."

The $1 million Tapit colt, who has already been named Flightline, sold to West Point Thoroughbreds, with L.E.B. listed as agent, to lead the night.

“He’s by Tapit, so we like Tapit," West Point's Terry Finley said. "We thought he was a great physical, so we liked him.

“That’s what partners want," Finley added. "They want top-end horses and to take a shot at that brass ring, so to speak.”

The colt is the second foal out of the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, who won the Grade 3 Edgewood Stakes on the Churchill Downs turf as a 3-year-old, and later that spring finished a close second in the Grade 1 American Oaks on the Santa Anita turf. She had been multiple Grade 1-placed on dirt as a juvenile, finishing third in the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes at Belmont and second, beaten half-length by divisional champion Take Charge Brandi, in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes.

Feathered was purchased for $2.35 million by Summer Wind Farm at the 2016 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. At the time, the mare was carrying her first foal, a War Front filly now named Good On Paper. Summer Wind bred Feathered's Tapit colt, and sent him to Fasig-Tipton with Lane's End Farm consigning as agent.

“I know they had a lot of confidence in him," Finley said.

Feathered is out of the stakes-placed Dynaformer mare Receipt, whose dam, Finder's Fee, and granddam, Fantastic Find, are both Grade 1 winners. Fantastic Find is a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Dancing Spree and Grade 1 winner Furlough.

Immediately following that colt in the auction ring, a Tapit filly sold to Donato Lanni, as agent for the Heider Family Stables, for $950,000.

"This filly had great qualities," Hernon said of the filly, who was bred and consigned by Gainesway. "A beautiful filly, great class, she's very elegant, and a good mover."

The filly is out of the winning Seeking the Gold mare Pension, the dam of six winners from as many starters, including Grade 2 winner Annual Report, stakes winner Giant Payday, and stakes-placed Flores Island.

Pension, a full sister to graded stakes winner Happy Hunting, is out of Furlough, meaning she is from the same productive family as Feathered. In addition to the aforementioned Grade 1 winners, this is the extended family of Eclipse Award champion Heavenly Prize, Grade/Group 1 winners Bigger Picture, Dancing Forever, Dramatic Gold, Furia Azteca, Good Reward, King of Clubs, Oh What a Windfall, The Liberal Member, and Chilean champions Wapi, We Can Seek- and Weekend Trip.

The top of the leaderboard was dominated by proven sires as, behind Tapit's duo, the top prices were a $900,000 Medaglia d'Oro filly sold to bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe; a $750,000 Into Mischief filly, with Lanni signing as agent for Baoma Corp; and a $725,000 Curlin filly sold to Live Oak Plantation.

With the market tending toward proven stock, the evening's breakout success was Tapit's multiple Grade 1-winning son Frosted, a first-crop yearling sire who recorded the highest price from his class, and eighth-highest price of the session overall. A filly named Silver Strand, also from the Lane's End consignment, fetched $575,000 from bloodstock agent Mike Ryan. The filly is out of the Grade 2-winning Hennessy mare India, the dam of Group 1 winner Mozu Ascot and stakes winner Kareena. Frosted recorded a second high-ticket horse when Spendthrift Farm went to $500,000 for a Florida-bred colt by the stallion. The colt, consigned by Summerfield Sales, as agent, is out of the winning Saint Ballado mare Flirting With Fate, making him a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Dance With Fate and stakes-placed Pursuing Fate.

"He's a beautiful horse, highly talented," Hernon said of Frosted, who stands for Darley.

Tapit is beginning to emerge as a sire of sires, with his son Tapizar, standing at Gainesway, siring last year's Eclipse Award champion Monomoy Girl, and WinStar Farm's Constitution currently the leading freshman sire by earnings, with two graded stakes winners in his first crop.

"Now his sons are picking up the flag," Hernon said. "It's exciting times."

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale concludes with a second and final session Tuesday evening, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. While Browning said on Monday night that he was pleased to have gains in the session-to-session average and median figures for the opener, he cautioned that any true judgments of the market will have to wait until the conclusion of the sale. Yearling sale catalogs are arranged in alphabetical order by the dams' names, beginning with a random letter, so session-to-session fluctuations are possible, based upon the quality of horses on offer. However, Browning also indicated that he was pleased with the group set to sell on Tuesday.

"Very excited with another outstanding group of horses on deck for tomorrow night," Browning said. "You've got to look at the whole sale as a composite; there's going to be some fluctuations, some variations, from day to day. I think we'll have another very strong session tomorrow. We've gotten lots of positive feedback about the horses we still have to offer."

For hip-by-hip results from the first session, click here.

--additional reporting by Matt Hegarty