Fasig-Tipton Archives - Page 2 of 2

July 13, 2016July 13, 2016

Yearning For Yearlings

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The official start of the yearling sales season kicked off yesterday, 7/12/16, at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, KY. This sale came one day after the Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale. I was especially excited to attend day 2 because it marked the first time I part owned a Thoroughbred at an auction.

I was not on hand, due to my day job, for the horses of racing age sale. That sale was quite a success. Compared to last year, more horses were sold fetching a higher overall price, a higher average price and far fewer unsold horses. 72 horses sold versus 65 the prior year. The total sale brought in over $5 million dollars compared to less than $4 million in 2015. The average price per horse rose by over $8.5 thousand dollars. Finally, only 19 horses did not get sold this July, where as last year 31 did not sell. The sale topper was the 7-year-old mare, Storm Lucy at $575,000. Malibu Moon and War Front sired 5 Thoroughbreds each in that sale making them the top sires by numbers in the sale. Taylor Made Sales Agency was the top consignor.

The July Selected Yearling sale did not exceed 2015’s results. The number of horses sold declined, as did the total price as well as the average price while the number of horses that failed to meet the reserved price increased. The 2016 sale sold 183 Thoroughbreds versus 205 the year before. Last year’s sale made over $20 million dollars while this year brought just over $17.6. On average horses dropped from $97 thousand dollars to $86 thousand each. This year 110 horses were not sold versus only 83 the prior Summer sale. Seen above is the sales ring screen showing an Uncle Mo filly bringing in $250,000. A colt sired by Curlin, hip 222, was the sale topper at a price of $475,000.

Wearing hip 235, pictured above, is a horse that I part owned thru a pinhook partnership I bought into last Fall. He came in with a 4 way tie of top selling horses. This colt, sired by Graydar, brought a price of $200,000. He sold to Twin Creeks Racing Stable, LLC. I loved his unique coloring, best seen in the sunlight. I can not wait to see how well he does on the track later in life!

Hips 338 seen at top left was sired by Speightstown and sold for $350,000. On the right is hip 326, another horse sired by Curlin, who sold for just $90,000. He is in front of the walking ring screens as hip 324 by Stay Thirsty who sold for $260,000.

Touring the grounds a bit I saw some interesting reminders of the exciting sales graduates that Fasig-Tipton has sold before. On July 19, 1975 the Lexington location of this great auction company sold the amazing Seattle Slew for just $17,500. He went on to win the Triple Crown in 1977. He has a whole building complete with art named for him as seen above. Below, we see a reminder of American Pharaoh, our last Triple Crown winner. He was featured as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in New York in 2013 and bought back by his owner. This is where the next major yearling sale will take place on August 8 and 9th, The Saratoga Sale. My group has several horses in that auction so I will be following it closely.

I hope you all enjoy the yearling auctions. Check back with me weekly for more Thoroughbred news or adventures.

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July 9, 2016July 9, 2016

Who’s Who At Age 2

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So, Thoroughbred U, who’s who at age 2? Well, I would be rich if I knew for sure. I was fortunate to explore that question a bit last Saturday (7/2/16) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. I saw eleven races that day, two of which were stakes for 2-year-olds.

Race 7 was the 115th running of The Bashford Manor. This race is the 1st chance race for 2-year-old colts to compete in a graded stakes race. Classic Empire, wearing the red blanket above, and owned by John C. Oxley was the winner. I will definitely follow this horse. He is trained by Mark E. Casse and Julien Leparoux is his jockey. Classic Empire is sired by Pioneer of the Nile, the same sire as American Pharoah. Sambuca Classica by Cat Thief is the dam of Classic Empire. He won by 3/4 of a length, finishing 6 furlongs in a fast 1:09.39. Recruiting Ready finished 2nd and Tip Tap Tapizar was 3rd.

The 8th race, the 116th running of The Debutante, had a lot of similarities. This is the 1st opportunity 2-year-old fillies have at a graded stakes win. The same owner, jockey and trainer won as in the Bashford. Pretty City Dancer was the winner. She is a filly by Tapit and Carson City. Pretty City Dancer covered the 6 furlongs of dirt in 1:11.01. She is the lovely gray horse in the 2nd picture grouping on the right. Anna’s Bandit took 2nd place and Country Candy finished 3rd.

Mark E. Casse won the title of leading trainer at Churchill for the Spring meet. The night I attended was the last day of the meet. He has a barn at Churchill where my beloved Tepin lives! If you love Tepin check my site out for several good Tepin stories.

Not a 2-year-old but I threw in a picture of The Kelly’s Landing Overnight Stakes winner Alsvid just to complete my re-cap of my Churchill adventure.

Next week I’ll be visiting at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington, KY. Monday (7/11/16) will feature the July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale. The sale begins at 5 p.m. EST. There are over 100 entries and there has to be some big winners in the catalogue. This sale historically turns out graded stakes winners. Might this be where the next best 2 year-old is?

The following day is the July Selected Yearling Sale. This sale will be especially meaningful to me because it will mark the 1st time I’ve ever owned a horse at an auction. I bought into a pinhooking partnership last Fall and I’m excited to see how the 1st of my group’s 12 yearlings sells.

Thank you for following and look for my Fasig-Tipton story next week. If you are going to the auction, leave a comment.

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February 10, 2016February 10, 2016

Jaw Droppers and Sale Toppers

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At first I was pretty disappointed that I could not attend the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale. The sale was only two days, Monday and Tuesday, February 8 – 9, 2016 and I had to work. Instead, I was able to go out for nearly four hours the day prior to the sale kickoff and spend time visiting and photographing the Thoroughbreds. It was cool and dry, that Sunday I spent at the barns, which was the last of that weather. Winter Mixed is a great name because it not only describes the variety of available bloodstock but the term fits the rain, sleet and snow that fell throughout the sale. I don’t like cold and wet so I was happy to follow along on the live feed.

The Winter Mixed had 528 Thoroughbreds cataloged. Of these 341 sold at a total price of over $8.2 million dollars. The average hip sold for more than $24 thousand dollars. The sale offered broodmares, racing or broodmare prospects and short yearlings. Day 1 of the sale featured hips 1 thru 296 and day 2 featured the remaining hips. I learned something very interesting about the cataloging from this sale. When the catalog for an auction house is produced the horses are assigned their hip order based on an alphabetical listing of either their own registered name or, if they have yet to be named, the name of their dam. A letter is drawn at random to start numbering (hip 1) and then the numbers are assigned in alphabetical order thereafter. In a select sale the groupings can be made based on quality but not in a mixed sale such as this. That explains why at a select sale one might see the highest priced horses featured on a particular day but in a mixed sale, like this, it just so happened that day 2 had more sought after horses.

This sale had 14 horses sell for 6 figure prices. The sale topper was hip 426, Flashy American for $395,000. She is a pretty 7 year old gray/roan sired by Flashy Bull, her dam is Inn Between. Flashy American is pregnant by 2013 Kentucky Derby winner, Orb. 2016 will bring Orb’s 1st crop. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales and purchased by Blue Sky Stable. She may be bred to Tapit next. She was sold at Fasig-Tipton in the 2015 Kentucky Selected Fall Mixes Sale for $360,000 but the owner defaulted upon her offer. Funfair (hip 431) went for $350,000. Achiever’s Legacy (519) sold for $330,000 as did Stoweshoe (522, seen in the above promo poster). Maggie D’ Oro (55) was session 1’s topper at $210,000. Zundaq (296) and Dorothy’s Spirit (403, seen below on the top) each sold for $190,000. Kateri (18, seen below on the bottom) fetched $167,000. Bonnie Bear (338) and Darling Bird (389) both had a price of $150,000. Suzy Sage (228) followed at $130,000. Aunt Ellen (314) sold for $115,000. Finally Lady Zieg (28) and the yearling topper, a colt out of Bala and sired by Violence (318), each sold for $100,000.

Dorothy’s Spirit’s sire was the late and great Scat Daddy who passed away this past December of an apparent but unexpected heart attack at only 11 years old. 9 horses in this sale were Scat Daddy progeny and 7 sold. Another of his offspring is Lady Gayle (26, seen below). She sold for just $14,000. While there was quite a price range on his lineage there was a high demand for the mares pregnant with a Scat Daddy sired foal. Funfair, Maggie D’ Oro and Bonnie Bear, all toppers, are all in foal by Scat Daddy.

I was pretty impressed to see the next two Thoroughbreds. It’s Elementary (11, seen below at left) won 1st place at Gulfstream Park last Friday 2/5/16. She was not sold. Crocus Hill (383, featured below on the right) came in 2nd at Tampa Bay 2/6/16. She is sired by Medaglia D’Oro and sold for just $30,000. I’m going to keep a lookout for these two to see if they race again soon.

Finally, who doesn’t love, love, love a baby? A few broodmares had their foals pre-sale but they still go thru the auction as a package deal. Tecnica (239) and her lovely Discreetly Mine foal were a joy to watch. They sold for just $14,000. That foal was already off and running. He gave his handler some trouble keeping up! Look at this adorable baby below.

I’m sure I would have loved the auction rain or shine, or sleet and snow. One thing I am sure of, I am still really glad I was blessed to see many of the Thoroughbreds before they changed hands and futures. I’m anxious to see how these grads perform at racing and breeding. Please, share my auction story and comment with your experiences at the sales. Check back in for next week’s story too.

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February 6, 2016February 6, 2016

High Flying, Adored

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I would certainly love to hop on a plane and head to some place warmer with live racing right now. Perhaps I would go to Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, maybe even Dubai? While I may be dreaming of a snowbird get away it is a busy time at Blue Grass Airport for arrivals too. This coming Monday and Tuesday, February 8 and 9, 2016, Fasig-Tipton will hold it’s Kentucky Winter Mixed sale here in Lexington, KY.

When you build an airport in the horse capital of the world you don’t just design any ordinary airport but rather it is a special airport worthy to handle the needs of regular passengers, world wide equestrians and of course, horses! The Army began using this airport in 1942 and by 1946 the airport went commercial. Blue Grass Airport sits right in the middle of horse country. Many flight patterns go directly over Keeneland race track which is across the street and nearby Calumet Farm. In 2008 the bronze equine sculptures featured in the 2 pictures above and 1 photo below were put on the grounds at the doors to the terminal. Gwen Reardon designed this paddock scene. She is the same artist that created the works at Thoroughbred Park, which I featured in an earlier story. The Kentucky Horse Park has a life sized piece of her art too. My favorite bronze is the piece below. It looks like James E. “Ted” Bassett III playing groom. He is a former chairmen of the board at Keeneland and former president of the Breeders’ Cup. I like to eat my breakfast with him at Keeneland’s track kitchen, on special occasions, and I read his biography from cover to cover. I have watched his story played over and again on KET (Kentucky Educational Television). I own his autographed book too!

Other lovely pieces of equine art are found inside and on the grounds of the airport. The floor of the terminal lobby has a concentric designed chart depicting the lineage of 800 Thoroughbreds over 300 years. There is also a nice stained glass piece depicting Big Lex created by John F. “Zig” Zeigler. Big Lex is a blue horse who is the mascot for the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is blue from grazing on Kentucky bluegrass. He can be seen all over Lexington, even on my refrigerator and my car.

One of my favorite works, at the airport, is the enormous trompe l’oeil mural painted by Eric Henn. It is painted on the retaining wall on the edge of the runway facing Keeneland. I have a print which I have yet to get framed seen below.

It is nice that all of this beauty is at the airport for the travelers. I hope as all the visitors make their way into Lexington this weekend to prepare for the Winter Mixed Sale they take time to appreciate the art. The sale has horses foaled in France, Great Britain, Ireland, Argentina, Ontario, Louisiana, Virginia, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Iowa, West Virginia, Indiana, Texas, California, New Jersey, Michigan, Minnesota and of course, Kentucky! H.E. Sutton Forwarding Company, also known as Tex Sutton or I prefer the name, Air Horse One, can help them ship here. They have a specially equipped Boeing 727-200 that holds 21 horses loaded 3 wide and 7 deep. The company’s symbol features Pegasus, a winged horse. The plane is labeled “First Class Equine Air Travel”. The individual stalls have seat belts and each horse is served hay and water. Human attendants accompany the horses in the aisles. The horses fly faced forward and the tallest horses are placed in the center stalls. See American Pharoah fly here: Air Horse One

I’m pretty excited thinking about the horses that will be shipping in for the sale. There are 528 entries cataloged. Hips 1 thru 296 will show on Monday and 297 thru 528 will be featured on Tuesday. The sale starts at 11 a.m. EST each day. See the catalog here: Fasig Tipton KY Winter Mixed 2016. The sale will feature a nice variety including horses of racing age, in-foal mares, 1 or more mares with foals, short yearlings and broodmare prospects, some with graded stakes credentials. Hip 255 is Trojenna, a mare by Lawyer Ron with a brand new Mucho Macho Man filly, so cute! Fasig-Tipton held it’s Midlantic Winter Sale last month. In that sale a yearling colt by Curlin was the sale topper at a price of $76,000. The KY Winter Mixed sale has 4 horses sired by Curlin. These are Naked Watch (hip 98), Princess Rocket (136), Split It (213) and Charismata (362). There are 4 yearlings by Grade 1 winning, Graydar in the sale. I met him at Taylor Made Farm this summer, so handsome. Check out some of Graydar’s 1st crop; hips 140, 149, 274 and 454. Look how sweet Graydar is below.

I hope the KY Winter Mixed sale is a big success. I would love to watch this sale’s grads race or breed new champs in the future. I can’t attend myself, due to my job, so if you make it out please tell me all about it. Who do you think will fetch the best price?

Here’s a You Tube from one of my favorite movies, “Evita”. When I think about Air Horse One, I think of this song. I love dreaming about all of favorite horses high flying around the world and how they are truly adored!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7b_p00PiXE

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January 16, 2016January 16, 2016

Action At The Auction

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What a sweet week I had. I was able to go to Keeneland 4 times for the January Horses of All Ages Sale. It was a moving experience as always.

This sale featured hip numbers 1 thru 1796. Of these, 1,040 Thoroughbreds sold versus 948 for this same sale last year. I arrived the day prior to the sale and the grounds were bustling with horsemen, prospective buyers and of course, the horses we love so much. The sale ran from Monday 1/11 thru Friday 1/15/16. The 5 day session was a full day longer than the previous year. On opening day, the auction began with hip 3 after the first 2 horses, and several more were “out” for various reasons. Hip 3, seen above in the Keeneland sales pavilion, is Captive Melody. She was consigned by an agent for Claiborne Farm. At a price of $70,000 she didn’t really get sold. She is listed as “RNA”, reserve not attained. This was the case with several of the horses at the auction. Captive Melody is 13 years old. She was sired by Unbridled’s Song and she did race. Her earnings are over $117,000 and she is pregnant with Malibu Moon’s foal. I find her to be very pretty.

Many horses did fetch a good price. Hip 259 was Summer Solo. She is a 5 year old daughter of Arch, in foal by Ghostzapper. She was consigned by Denali Stud for the dispersal of Sarah J. Leigh’s estate. She was purchased by Payson Stud, Inc. Her half-sister, hip 260, is Summer Sweet. Sired by More Than Ready, this 2 year old filly was also sold by Denali to Payson. These beauties were sale toppers at $700,000 and $550,000 respectively.

Virginia Kraft Payson bought the above Arch filly, hip 230, from Denali as well. She fetched $450,000. Payson was this sale’s top buyer. In all, the sale grossed over $35 million dollars. It made $158,000 more than the 2015 January sale and should be considered a success.

The crowd released audible coos when hip 76, Grenobloise, entered with her 5 day old baby. What a doll! I heard from Taylor Made Sales Agency, the leading consignor with 92 horses sold, that several babies were born in the Keeneland stalls during the sale. Grenobloise and her baby were also RNA. They were consigned by Buckland Sales.

I couldn’t attend on Tuesday but on Wednesday I saw 4 of the top 5 sale prices for that session. Seen above are hip 828, a filly by More Than Ready for $95,000, hip 917, Ready For Romance for $240,000, hip 927, Rock Me Mama for $90,000 and 945, a colt sired by Shanghai Bobby for $105,000.

Prom Time, hip 1271 and a colt by Super Saver, 1314, were the two top prices on Thursday. Each can be seen above. Eaton Sales consigned Prom Time. She was sold to Warrendale Sales. The colt was consigned by Hidden Brook and sold to Calumet Farm.

The best thing about Thursday is that it was the first time I was warm enough to roam the grounds freely. I saw some nice short yearlings and some stallions too. That is one of the pleasures of this sale. It is such a mixed bag. This sale offers horses that have raced, that will race, great broodmare prospects, stallions, you name it! Not only are they all ages but they are all kinds of pretty too. I likes the grays, especially the ones that almost look white. See some of the lovelies below.

I didn’t make it out yesterday but I see that it closed strong and the final horse was hip 1795, a gray or roan colt sired by Uncle Mo. Consigned by Brandywine Farm, this little guy sold to Eico Ventures for $80,000, the top price of the day.

I will have to wait until September 12th thru 24th to see the next Keeneland sale. It will feature yearlings. Fortunately, Fasig-Tipton has a Winter Mixed sale in Lexington February 8-9th. Perhaps, I can venture out then. Stay warm my friends and keep watching for my next post.

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November 13, 2015November 13, 2015

A November to Remember

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There truly is no rest for the weary. On the final day of last month we all watched in awe and disbelief as we finally got our Grand Slam, with American Pharoah winning the Breeders’ Cup following his Triple Crown victory. The very next day, in the same city, we kicked off with Fasig-Tipton’s one day November Sale and in the following day we moved right into Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock sale for 12 days. What a whirlwind!

On November 1, 2015 Fasig-Tipton sold 92 horses for over $43 million dollars combined. The top sale was Angela Renee. She is a grade 1 stakes winner who sold for $3 million dollars.

Today is the lucky Friday the 13th and the last day of this Keeneland sale. I got to attend on a few fine days and it was fantastic. I saw so many beautiful Thoroughbreds and met some nice, helpful people as well.

One of my favorite horses is so far the sales topper. She is Take Charge Brandi! I met her this summer at D. Wayne Lukas’ barn at Churchill. He was there to watch her at auction. See his picture from Keeneland’s October meet below. I was able to pet her pretty face, also seen below. She is a chestnut filly who was born in Kentucky on 2/7/2012. She has had 11 starts and is a multiple graded stakes winner. Take Charge Brandi took first place in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race in 2014 and won an Eclipse Award that same year for Champion 2 year old filly. She was purchased at the Keeneland 2013 September Yearling Sale by Willis Horton. She last raced in the Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in September where she did not finish. She has lived at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, KY since and she has now been purchased for this farm where she will be bred to Curlin. He raced in all 3 legs of the Triple Crown, improving with each race, coming in 3rd, 2nd and then 1st in 2007. He won the Breeders’ Cup Classic that same year. Curlin has 4 Eclipse awards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. His stud fee is $100,000. That is half as much as American Pharoah’s fee at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud. Hill ‘n’ Dale owns 20% of Curlin.

My other favorite trainer, Kellyn Gorder, was working with Cowboy Rhythm when he won at Keeneland on 10/18/15 by 3 and 1/2 lengths. Cowboy Rhythm is a 3 year old colt and he sold at Keeneland during session 9 for $335,000. He was sold by WinStar Racing to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. I was with Cowboy Rhythm in the paddock and winners circle the day he won at Keeneland. See the picture I took below.

That same session another horse I enjoy sold for $550,000. He is Donworth. Day 9 of this year’s November sale saw 16 horses go for 6 figures when last year there were no horses that sold in that price range on the 9th session. Donworth placed 2nd in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland this past April. His trainer was Graham Motion. He won his 1st and 4th career starts. He was sold in the Regis Farm dispersal by Three Chimneys Farm to Doug O’Neill. I went out to see Donworth in the barn before he went into auction. See him below.

By the close of day 11 yesterday, we could already call the sale a success. This year’s sale is a day longer than in 2014. The gross accumulation is 5.8% ahead of 2014 already. 2,735 horses have been sold versus 2,512 in 2014. The total for these sales is over $217 million dollars this year versus last year’s $205 million. I am excited to see what this day brings. It is always a good time at Keeneland. So pretty and so tasty too. Nom, nom, bread pudding! Thank you for reading and sharing!

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August 5, 2015

Saratoga’s Sweet Summer

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Saratoga is having a big summer! I won’t be able to make it there myself, but our regularly contributing handicapper friend did. He spent the end of the week and last weekend visiting and got us some great pictures. Saratoga is the place to be for Thoroughbred racing right now.

Saratoga Race Course was established in 1864 in Saratoga Springs, New York. It had its first race over 150 years ago. Today, 8/5, the city of Saratoga Springs will celebrate its Centennial. The city was founded in 1915. The Saratoga Sales, put on at Fasig-Tipton, will take place in Saratoga Springs on August 10th and 11th. This Saratoga race course meet started on July 24th, with live racing, and will remain open through September 7th. Above we see a welcoming sign and the backyard where Saratoga’s sweet summer is savoured. The race course motto is, “Health, history and horses”. The racetrack is located on 350 acres of land. The main track is 1 and 1/8th mile. The turf track is 1 mile in length. Other smaller courses are located throughout. In the many stables, there are over 1,800 stalls. The facility can hold about 70 thousand fans but the record attendance has exceeded that. The largest one day handle was over 10 million dollars. That was on Travers Day in 2003 which brings us to yesterday’s big news. American Pharoah’s next race will be the grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 29th!

AmericanPharoah just won his 8th straight graded Stakes race while at Monmouth Park in New Jersey this past weekend. He easily beat out Keen Ice in the grade 1 William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes on Sunday, 8/2. Keen Ice riden by Kent Desormeoux and trained by Dale Romans put in a great effort. Keen Ice was 7th in the KY Derby and 3rd in the Belmont is showing improvement. That race gave the park a record crowd of over 60 thousand fans. Meanwhile, over 3 million viewers tuned in to television to watch the live race on NBC. The plan is to race American Pharoah in the Breeders Cup in October at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see where he goes next, in the meantime. For now, we know he made it safely back to Del Mar in California and he will make his Saratoga debut later this month in the Travers.

Back in Saratoga last week, Thursday was a bit wet and the live racing that day included the John Morrissey won by Moonlight Song with Jose Ortiz riding. Friday Saturday and Sunday featured some big races too but those weren’t limited to just the horses. There were several activities to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund and one of those events was a jockey foot race. Above, see a photo of the gates being loaded for a soggy Thursday race and a shot of the jockeys running.

When the fans weren’t watching PDJF events or Thoroughbred racing they could check the Walk of Fame. Above we see a display for Angel Cordero, Jr. and D. Wayne Lukas. Cordero was born May 8, 1942 in Puerto Rico. He had over 7 thousand career wins as a jockey. He won 3 Kentucky Derby races, 2 Preakness Stakes, 1 Belmont Stakes and 4 Breeders’ Cup races in addition to many other graded stakes. He has 3 Eclipse Awards, he is a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, he was the leading rider at Saratoga for 13 years and he was the jockey for Triple Crown winning Seattle Slew when Cordero had his best ride ever in the 1978 Marlboro Cup Handicap. I have had a lot of good things to say about D. Wayne Lukas before and I met him in June and covered that in my post Birthday, Breezing, Betting and Backside. I also met several of his horses that day too. One was Hillbilly Style who ran 2nd in a claiming race at Saratoga this weekend. Lukas also took the stage in the finale of the jockey karaoke fundraiser for the PDJF this weekend. He will have another entry in at Saratoga on 8/7 in a maiden special weight allowance optional claiming race. Lukas is a top trainer and top class in my book.

So, what about those big races at Saratoga last weekend? Well, Texas Red beat out Frosted in the grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes seen in the two pics above. Texas Red was riden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by the jockey’s brother. He is looking like a fine runner and has placed in multiple graded stakes including a win in the Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2014 and ranked 16th in earnings that year. Frosted, sired by Tapit, a descendant of Secretariat, riden by Joel Rosario and trained by Kiaren McLaughlin has a fine racing history as well with a win in the grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes, 4th in the KY Derby and 2nd in the Belmont Stakes. Not pictured, but I must mention, Rachel’s Valentina’s win in the Maiden Special Weight at Saratoga too. I am excited about this Todd Pletcher trained and Joel Velazquez riden daughter of Rachel Alexandra. Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose and Haskell in 2009. She was an amazing runner in her day. I hope her little girl does as well. Her sire, Bernardini swept the Preakness, Jim Dandy and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2006 with a 2nd place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year too. Another big filly win at Saratoga this past weekend went to Stopchargingmaria over Untapable in the grade 3 Shuvee Handicap. Stopchargingmaria won the Black-Eyed Susan, Alabama Stakes and the Coaching Club of American Oaks last year. Untapable has an Eclipse Award and a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff as well as a win in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose. That was quite a showdown of great fillies.

I wish to extend thanks to our friend and tipster with the photos. I hope someone wants to share some info on the Saratoga Sale and other fine races ahead. Tapit has yearlings for sale with hips 24, 34, 51, 70, 160, 177, and 182. The Tapit filly at Fasig-Tipton’s July Sale brought in the most money. I hope you all enjoyed this peek at Saratoga as much as I did. Have a great week!

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July 10, 2015July 10, 2015

Super Summer Sale

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Yesterday, 7/9/15, I took some time off to catch Fasig-Tipton’s “The July Sale” which was followed by the “Summer Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale” live at their Lexington, KY location. It was a great time and I am looking forward to watching the future of these Thoroughbreds play out on the race tracks!

Fasig-Tipton is a premier Thoroughbred auction company with its Lexington location being established in 1972. The July Sale is the first United States Yearling sale of 2015. Hips 1 through 332 and 401 through 524 were featured in the barns, walking ring and sales pavilion. I came 2 hours early to walk the barns. It was a beautiful, cooler summer morning and fortunately dry to start, though we did get some sprinkles throughout the day. The horses were gorgeous and the grass appeared to be a real treat. Yum, fresh Kentucky Bluegrass! I watched as the horses were brushed and shown to some eager perspective buyers. Then I made a hasty dash to a bar stool, within the entrance to the sales pavilion. I was seated right off the walking ring, to see the sale that started at 10 am. I stayed there until nearly 3 pm watching the horses and people as I enjoyed a nice salad. I am fortunate to have made many great connections and I encountered several of these wonderful horse enthusiast throughout the day.

One of my first such connections of the day stopped by to ask me if I watched the show, “Mad Men”. I do not but I was curious as to why he would ask and he told me that Hip 6 had an interesting back story. His dam is Her Smile. She is a graded stakes winner and showed in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in 2011. The more interesting fact is that while she is now owned by Frank Stronach, breeder and owner of horses and of prominent racetracks and Adena Springs Farms, Her Smile has been owned by both Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and horse owner, and Bill Backer, ad executive and creator of the Coca-Cola ad jingle, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” used in a 1971 commercial and as the finale of television show “Mad Men” that ended in May 2015. Her hip #6 colt sold for $280,000 to De Meric Stables.

The rest of my day was full of more exciting stories and people but don’t forget, the focus was those magnificent horses. I was still there to see hip #152, a colt of Scat Daddy, sell for $385,000. Scat Daddy had sired 4 horses listed in the auction. One of those fillies, #220, was marked out but his other filly, #281, sold for $300,000 and his other colt, #105, sold for $110,000. #152 has Starbourne for his mare. Scat Daddy, who stands at Ashford Stud, currently has sired 10 stakes winners including El Kabeir winner of 2014 and 2015 multiple graded stakes.

In all The July Sale ended late but was a success. 205 yearlings were sold for a total of $20,005,000. The sale had 7 yearlings go for $300,000 or more each. 18 others sold for $200,000 or better. The average price was over $97,000 and the median was over $77,000, with both of those figures being up from the previous year, while the buy back rate went down, at 29%. #317 brought in the biggest price at $500,000. She is a filly by sire, Tapit and French Dip, her mare. Bred at Gainesway Farm, she sold to agent Steven Young. Tapit currently stands at Gainesway. He is the leading 2014 and 2015 sire. This filly was the only Tapit yearling at auction. His other offspring include 12 stakes winners. One of these is Frosted, 4th in this year’s Kentucky Derby and 2nd in the 2015 Belmont Stakes.

Before, I had to rush back to work I made a trip out with a friend to see one of the Taylor Made Sales Agency barns. I Saw some nice horses for the later sale there. #421 Mizzen Moon went on to sell for $57,000 and # 503 Seely Rose brought in $40,000.

I was long gone by the time the “Summer Sale Horses of Racing Age Sale” began. Somewhere around 9 pm, the last horse to go through the auction brought in the biggest money. The victor was #524, Temper Mint Patty, for $350,000. In this sale 65 horse sold for $3,996,000. The average price was $61,477 and the median was $48,000. Last year 109 horses were sold with a superior average but a lesser median.

The next Fasig-Tipton Sale is “The Saratoga Sale” in August. I won’t be able to make the trip to New York so please, share with me if you attend. Our 2015 and 12th Triple Crown winner, American Pharoah, was offered as hip #85 in the 2013 Saratoga Sale. You could buy the next winner or at least take a chance. Happy shopping!

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