As shoppers made the rounds at the sales grounds on a brisk fall morning the Bluegrass Sunday, consignors were expecting to see some familiar trends during the upcoming four-session auction.

“It's going to be interesting to see where the level of quality is here,” said Legacy Bloodstock's Tommy Eastham. “I think [the market] is going to be really good for the horses that are perceived to be above that level and I think it's going to be more of the same for the horses that they perceive to be below that. I think it's going to be tougher on those horses.”

Despite the expected polarization of the market, consignors were pleased with the activity they were seeing around the sales barns.

“It's very refreshing to come into the parking lot early in the day and have it full up from all the way back here in the tents to the front fields,” said Stuart Morris. “I think the traffic, to me, seems to be on par. I'm not going to say it's extra, but it's definitely not weak. All of the faces that you usually see are here.”

For the second year in a row, the October sale set highwater marks for gross, average and median in 2022 with total of 1,100 yearling selling for $55,426,500, an average of $50,388 and a median of $25,000.

“Over the last couple of years, this has become a really strong sale,” said Hanzly Albina of Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services. “It used to definitely be a lower-end horse and now there are 1600 horses here. I think there are people who are pointing horses here who need a little more time and they are more comfortable waiting to sell their horses here because they know there will be money here for them, versus having to put horses in sales they feel they aren't ready for.”

Albina said his 23-horse consignment at the October sale included yearlings who had RNA'd at previous sales, as well as horses pointed specifically to the last yearling sale of the year.

“We have horses in here that have big pedigrees that we wanted to give more time to and we were comfortable waiting until October,” he explained.

The consignment includes a colt by Curlin (hip 691) out of Kateri (Indian Charlie) and a filly by Tapit out of My Bellamy (Bellamy Road) (hip 948) who were both catalogued for the Keeneland September Yearling sale, while a colt by Into Mischief out of Indy Punch (Pulling Punches) (hip 651) will be making his first sales appearance.

“She was offered at Keeneland in Book, but I think she got overlooked,” Albina said of the Tapit filly. “The Curlin was offered in September and I think he needed more time, too, but the Into Mischief we waited on him to mature a little more.”

Eastham said the October sale is a natural place to sell yearlings.

“It's a nice sale to prep a horse for,” he said. “They naturally mature into it. You don't have to push them as much. They keep them outside longer and put a little less pressure on them.

I think you see some of these upper-end buyers that were really active in earlier sales start holding some cash for this sale. Because a lot of good horses come out of this sale.”

Morris agreed the October's impressive list of graduates has attracted buyers' attention, but he also thinks the auction is helped by its position as the final yearlings sale of the season.

“I think a lot of buyers come here because it's the last stop,” Morris said. “So as sellers, we are a little more cautious–what might be considered realistic–and buyers are a little aggressive because they have to fill orders. I think that helps this sale just because of the calendar time that it's the last stop of the year. There are 1,600 head here and a bunch of stakes horses come out of this sale every year, so if you have a big budget of $500,000 or $600,000, you can find horses here for that money. If you've got $50,000 or $10,000 or $5,000, you can find horses. So I think that creates a big buyer base.”

Eastham observed that buyers have been particularly hard on vet issues at the earlier yearling auctions this fall, but he is hopeful the last auction of the season might have them reevaluating that position.

“At Keeneland [the buyers] were strict on vetting,” he said. “A chip that would normally cost you 20% was costing you 70%. Hopefully they will be a little more forgiving on some small, minor vetting issues because we are getting to the end of the year and we can get those horses sold.”

The October sale will be held Monday through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

The post Last Stop for Yearlings: Fasig-Tipton October Sale Starts Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services will consign a yearling by Constitution out of Light of a Star, who is a full-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Laura's Light, while Hidden Brook will consign stakes winner Maries Melody (Point of Entry), carrying her first foal by Ghostzapper.

The supplemented offerings also include Broadway Girls (Army Mule), recent winner of the Blue Norther S. who is expected to make her next start in the Jan. 28 GIII Las Virgenes S. at Santa Anita. The 3-year-old is consigned by Highgate Sales, agent.

And Stay Out (Exchange Rate), the dam of multiple stakes winner Coach (Commissioner), has also been added to the Winter sale. The 12-year-old mare, who will be offered in foal to Upstart, will be consigned by Candy Meadows Sales, agent.

The supplement also includes mares in foal to Bolt d'Oro, Frosted, McKinzie, Mitole, Munnings, Paynter, Speightstown, Take Charge Indy, and Tiz the Law.

Yearling sires represented include Bolt d'Oro, Constitution, Curlin, Frosted, Girvin, Goldencents, Hard Spun, and Maclean's Music.

These entries may now be viewed online and will be available in the equineline sales catalogue app. Print versions of the supplemental catalogue will be available on the sales grounds.

Fasig-Tipton will continue to accept approved supplemental entries through the end of the month.

The post 100 Supplements Added to Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Both yearlings are consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent.

Click here for the catalog page for the half-sister to Knicks Go, who is Hip 399B selling on Sept. 14. The filly is out of stakes winner Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker. Knicks Go has earned more than $5.3 million with victories led by the Whitney, Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1), and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland.

Click here for the catalog page for the colt by Empire Maker, who is Hip 199B and will sell on opening day, Sept. 13. He is out of Tacking, a daughter of Mizzen Mast, and from the family of multiple Grade 1 winner Paradise Woods, Grade/Group 3 winner Tajaaweed and successful stallions Mr. Greeley and champion and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Street Sense.

A total of 4,036 horses have been cataloged to the September Sale. Click here for the auction's enhanced online catalog, which will include walking videos of yearlings, comments from consignors about their yearlings and links to each consignor's website.

See theworldsyearlingsale.com for features about the importance of the September Sale and the success of sales graduates along with a Lexington destination guide presented by Keeneland and VisitLex with information about where to stay and eat while in town.

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The colt, catalogued as hip 199B will sell during the auction's first session Sept. 13. He is out of the unraced Tacking (Mizzen Mast), a half-sister to group winner Tajaaweed (Dynaformer) and to the dam of multiple Grade I winner Paradise Woods (Union Rags).

The filly, catalogued as 399B, will be offered during the auction's second session.

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Beloveda (Hip 328), a daughter of Ghostzapper in foal to Street Sense, topped the sale when sold for $510,000 from the consignment of Gainesway, agent.

A graded stakes placed winner herself, Beloveda is the dam of two winners from three to race, including stakes placed Mistress of Love (Scat Daddy). The chestnut mare is a half-sister to graded stakes winner and stakes producer Golden Mystery, as well as of All Saint's Day, whose six winners to date include stakes winners Holywell and Sinister Brew.

The sale's top racing/broodmare prospect was multiple stakes winner Saguaro Row (Hip 675), a six-year-old daughter of Union Rags.

The bay mare was purchased for $500,000 by Catherine Hudson, agent from the consignment of Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent. A two-time stakes winner and graded stakes placed runner, Saguaro Row earned $342,354 for owners Newtown Anner Stud Farm and Mark D. Breen and trainer Michael Stidham. She is a half-sister to stakes winner Pinnacle Peak out of a half-sister to champion filly and Grade 2 winner My Wandy's Girl.

Stakes winner Whoa Nellie (Hip 625) was the best-selling broodmare prospect, purchased by $450,000 by St Elias Stables from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Fox Hill Farms. A twice graded stakes-placed stakes winner, the daughter Orb won six times for owner Fox Hill Farms and trainer Larry Jones, with earnings of $353,830.

Other broodmare prospects sold for $400,000 or more include:

• Gold Standard (Hip 671), a multiple stakes placed winner by Medaglia d'Oro sold for $435,000 to Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings from the consignment of Gainesway, agent for Stonestreet and LNJ Foxwoods; and
• Fiftyshades Ofgreen (Hip 640), a stakes placed daughter of Bernardini, sold for $400,000 to St Elias Stables from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

The sale's top short yearling came in the form of a Nyquist colt (Hip 480) out of multiple Grade 2 placed winner Honey Chile. The chestnut colt was purchased for $170,000 by Machmer Hall from the consignment of Bill Reightler, agent. The West Virginia-foaled colt's second dam is multiple stakes winner Christmas Time, who also produced his dam's multiple stakes winning full brother Prince of Time.

Last-out Jimmy Winkfield Stakes winner Hello Hot Rod (Hip 672) sold for $335,000 as the top racing and/or stallion prospect. The dark bay Maryland-bred colt by Mosler was purchased by George Sharp from the consignment of ELiTE, agent. Hello Hot Rod is a half-brother to five-time stakes winner Hello Beautiful, from the immediate family of Grade 2 winners Hello Liberty and Significant Form.

During the two-sale sale, 425 horses sold for a gross of $12,506,700, up 28 percent from $9,777,100 for 368 sold in 2020. The average was $29,428, an 11 percent increase over last year's average of $26,568. The median rose 18 percent from $8,500 in 2020 to $10,000 this year. The RNA rate fell 6 percent from last year to 18.9 percent.

Full results are available online.

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“I've always really liked this sale because of its timing,” said consignor Zach Madden, whose Buckland Sales brings a 13-horse consignment into the auction. “There is a little bit of an urgency, a little bit of a, 'Hey this is my last chance to pick up a mare to breed something this year.' I definitely think there is an urgency to get stuff done.”

Brendan Gallagher, whose Frankfort Park Farm has a 10-horse offering at the sale, agreed.

“It's the last opportunity to invest before the stud season for people that want to buy mares to breed to certain stallions and shareholders,” Gallagher said. “It's always been a decent sale for quality. So that's going to be the same old story.”

But consignors are still expecting to see the common polarization in the marketplace, with high demand for the perceived quality offerings and lesser demand at lower ends of the market.

“We have a mare in foal to Street Sense who will make money and we have a lovely Nyquist filly who will make money and then some of the rest of them might be just a bit more difficult,” Gallagher said. “But the good ones will sell well, which I suppose we can live with. The day when we have the good horses and we don't have trade, well then we're all in trouble. So that's the way it is and it's going to be the same.”

The Winter Mixed sale is the third major auction of the year, following the Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale and the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Winter Mixed Sale. Both of those previous sales proved there is still demand in the marketplace which has shown its resiliency as buyers and sellers  adjust to the new normal in the wake of the global pandemic.

“I would just say from looking at the other sales that the good individuals will still sell well,” said Ron Blake, whose Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services has 19 horses on offer at Fasig-Tipton this week. “I think there is probably less demand for horses that are not at that top level. Of course that's the way it's been for a while, but during the pandemic, I think it's even more stressed. If you make it into that top 10% or 20% of the horses, you can still get very good money, but if you fall below that, it can be a crap shoot depending on how far below that you fall. I think if you still have a good horse, there is plenty of money for it.”

Despite the swirling uncertainties caused by the ongoing pandemic, Madden and Gallagher both see reasons to be optimistic about the state of the market.

“I had friends and clients that sold at OBS, and obviously we were over at Keeneland in January, and the good news, I think, is you really didn't have that doom and gloom and people with their chins down,” Madden said. “It seemed like when we were first getting the sales back going, people were just wondering what was happening. But people know the reality now. So I feel like that whole doom-and-gloom aspect is out of it. And at the end of the day, most of us are eternal optimists. I do think people still want quality and they are very tough on vetting and all of that other stuff, but I just feel like the worst–knock on wood–is over. We are all battle tested now, so while we still have things to overcome, I think we can still see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

With Gulfstream Park and Sam Houston Race Park among the most recent tracks to announce record handle figures, Gallagher thinks demand for racehorses will only get higher.

“I know the number of foals being bred is reducing and I know that the margins for the breeders–the market for foals is down 27% or something since 2017 and that's a hard nut to crack–but in saying that, the handle at racecourses is going up–we had another record handle there last week with the [GIII] Holy Bull [S. at Gulfstream]. So racing as a sport stands out even a bit at the moment, so if the handle is going up it will have to turn around. And if you have a smaller market because the numbers are going down, I believe that it will come back. I honestly believe that. Demand will go up.”

He continued, “We sell a lot of foals, we'll foal 43 here this year, so for us with that 27% drop since 2017, that's a tough one for a farm like ours. If I was hearing that betting was going down or that people weren't interested in racing anymore, then it might be time to do something else. But at the moment, you have to be upbeat about it because I think it's got to come back.”

Comparing the uncertainties of the 2020/2021 market to the crash of 2008 and its aftermath, Gallagher thinks the top of the market will remain strong.

“The difference from 12 years ago, with the market, the wealthy people took a real hammering,” he said. “I don't think that's happened with the pandemic this time, in general. Yes there is fear there, but it's not as if the bottom has fallen out of financial markets in the world. It hasn't. The top is still there.”

During the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale, 368 horses sold for $9,777,100. The average was $26,568 and the median was $8,500. The buy-back rate was 24.9%.

Twin Creeks Farm purchased the top-priced lot in 2020, going to $570,000 to acquire the broodmare prospect Remedy (Creative Cause), who was one of six to sell for $200,000 or more at the sale.

The post Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale Starts Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Catalogued as Hip 675, Saguaro Row will be offered as a racing/broodmare prospect by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent. A 4 3/4-length debut winner at two, she captured the Pumpkin Pie S. and the Interborough S. at four and five in open length victories and also finished second to GISW Spiced Perfection (Smiling Tiger) in the GIII Go For Wand H.

Most recently, she finished third–beaten just 1 1/2 lengths–in defense of her Interborough title at Aqueduct Jan. 18. The placing increased her earnings to $342,354.

The 6-year-old mare is a half-sister to juvenile stakes winner Pinnacle Peak (Yes It's True), and out of a half-sister to Puerto Rican champion My Wandy's Girl (Flower Alley).

Saguaro Row is now available for showing at Barn 11.

The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale will take place this Monday and Tuesday, February 8-9, in Lexington, Kentucky. Sessions begin daily at 10 a.m.

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Catalogued as hip 675, Saguaro Row will be offered as a racing/broodmare prospect by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent.  A 4 ¾-length debut winner at two, she captured the Pumpkin Pie Stakes and the Interborough Stakes at four and five in open length victories.  In total, she has six stakes wins or placings at three different racetracks, including a strong second to Grade 1 winner Spiced Perfection in the Go For Wand Handicap (G3).

Most recently, she finished third – beaten just 1 ¼ lengths – in defense of her Interborough Stakes title at Aqueduct on January 18.  The placing increased her earnings to $342,354.

By Classic winner Union Rags, Saguaro Row is a half-sister to juvenile stakes winner Pinnacle Peak, and out of a half-sister to champion My Wandy's Girl.

Saguaro Row is now available for showing at Barn 11.

The Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale will take place this Monday and Tuesday, February 8-9, in Lexington, Ky.  Sessions begin daily at 10 am.

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The logistics between racetracks, training centers, auctions, farms, and breeding sheds can give a person a lot of time behind the wheel, which leads to a lot of time listening to the radio.

In this edition of INQUIRY, we ask folks on the sales grounds what they're listening to while traveling from place to place with the question, “What is your favorite music for the road?”

Seth Gregory – Seth Gregory Bloodstock

“Country. I like a little bit of everything from old school guys like Hank Williams Sr. to '90s country, and some of the new stuff.”

Ron Blake – Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services

“I listen to Bachata music. It's a Latin dance originated in the Dominican Republic. I Bachata myself, it's a dance. I go to the Dominican Republic three or four times a year, and it makes me feel like I'm down there.”

Mike Recio – South Point Sales Agency

“R&B and hip hop. I like Drake, Tupac, and I've always been a Notorious B.I.G. fan from back in the day. It's good party music, it's got a good feel and beat, and that's what the kids are listening to.”

Joe McMahon – McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds

“'60s on 6 on Sirius Radio. All the great bands were in the '60s – There were the Beatles of course, and Elvis had some great songs in the '60s. Herman and the Hermits, Tommy James and the Shondells.”

Freddie Seitz – Brookdale Sales

“Wilco. I've liked them ever since I was 20 years old, and they come out with great music all the time.”

Chris Bernhard – Hidden Lake Farm

“Probably corny 1990s pop music. I usually listen to the news or something else, so I rarely listen to music, but if I had to pop a CD out of the case, it's probably something that's been sitting in there for 15 years.”

The post INQUIRY Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Favorite Road Music? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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