Fasig-Tipton October Brings Curtain Down on Yearling Sales Season

Fasig-Tipton, which hosted the opening event of the season with its July Selected Yearlings Sale, will bring the curtain down on the yearlings auction season with its four-day Kentucky October Yearlings Sale which begins Monday at the company's Newtown Paddocks. The sale continues through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

The 2021 October sale was a barnburner, setting new records for gross, average and median, and consignors are hoping this year's edition continues a string of strong results this season.

“The market has been very strong throughout the year,” said Zach Madden, who will be presenting 28 yearlings in his first October consignment as sole proprietor of Buckland Sales. “[Keeneland] September was insane. And we had one in Saratoga that went over really well. I think, with the foal crop being down a tick and the purse structure up, it seems like people are just really going after it this year. I came into the business when it was really tough, so I do remember those times, but I think it's going to keep clicking along and hopefully it spills over into the breeding stock sales and the foal market. It's been good timing for a first year being out on my own, too. I definitely don't take that for granted. Hopefully it keeps humming along.”

Hunter Simms of Warrendale Sales agreed with Madden's assessment of the 2022 yearling market.

“I think it will be a good sale based off of what we had in September,” Simms said. “That was a strong market. There was a lot of demand for horses throughout, all the way from the beginning of the sale to the end. Fasig-Tipton had their New York sale last Monday and all indications coming out of that were positive with people still wanting horses. So I do think at the end, it should be a good sale overall.”

The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale, which was held in the midst of a multi-day rain storm at the beginning of the month, suffered slight declines following a strong renewal in 2021.

“I think September was incredibly strong at Keeneland with a record-breaking sale,” said Carl McEntee of Ballysax Bloodstock. “I think the wind came out of the sails a little bit–I thought the Timonium sale was an average horse sale, to be quite frank, with the median and average down. People maybe didn't travel out of town because they knew they had 1600 yearlings right here in Lexington. Maybe they liked one or two up there and didn't want to get rained on for four days and then probably get outbid on the one you liked because you valued it at $75,000 and it brought $125,000, it just didn't make sense to people. I think they just said, 'Listen the weather is bad, we will stay in Kentucky.' But the New York sale they just had looked very strong again and the median was up. I know everyone is coming into town [for the October sale] and I think it's going to be a very spirited market.”

During last year's October sale, 1,153 yearlings sold for $52,607,500. The average of $45,672 was up 33.9% from 2020 and bettered the sales previous record figure of $37,955 set in 2019. The median of $25,000 was up 66.7% from 2020 and bettered the previous record of $18,500 set in 2014. With just 205 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was a sparkling 15.1%–the lowest since 2013.

The days of October yearlings coming into the sales ring with a disadvantage are over, Simms agreed.

“I think Fasig has worked very hard to change that stigma,” Simms said. “It used to be this was your last-stop shop. It still is, but it was kind of like re-tread horses that didn't get sold or horses that people deemed weren't commercially valuable, they'd just put them in October. Now you are seeing horses bring high six figures over the years, and that's kind of gotten this sale to take off.”

Recent graduates of the October sale include 2022 Grade I winners Taiba, Goodnight Olive, and Jack Christopher. Results like those are another reason buyers have added the October sale to their calendars, according to Madden.

“I can remember a time where October was kind of the red-headed stepchild to September,” Madden said. “I think they've done a great job in compiling enough horses to make it a must-stop for the majority of buyers. It started with [Fasig president] Boyd [Browning] and the guys over there being flexible and taking later entries. That I think has really sparked the sale being so big.

“And then their results [on the racetrack] have been crazy. We were fortunate enough to sell Taiba over there two years ago. That horse just needed a little time. For a consignor, if you don't have a super precocious horse or if there is an issue that needs time to resolve, it's an awesome sale. And people work this sale hard. They have circled it on the map and the results keep coming out. Year after year, there is just horse after horse where you say, 'Man that horse came out of there, too.'”

Bloodstock agent Jacob West, bidding on behalf of the power-partnership of Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola, made the highest bid at last year's October sale, going to $925,000 to acquire a colt by Street Sense. Donato Lanni was also in action at the top of the market for the stallion-making partnership of SF/Starlight/Madaket. Those high-end buyers are joined by pinhookers and end-users to make up the traditional October buying bench.

“You are getting pinhookers and end-users,” Simms said of the buying bench. “I know [trainer] Kenny McPeek is a big fan of this sale, Jacob West was over there shopping a lot, St. Elias was shopping and Donato was shopping. You get a lot of these guys who are continually at the top of the sheets still shopping for horses. With the purses being good and the foal crop decreasing, the demand is still there, so there aren't that many opportunities coming. Supply and demand is going to make those prices jump. And those guys still need horses to finish out their buying for the year.”

In addition to the high-end buyers, October also attracts a strong middle market, according to McEntee.

“It's been a vibrant sale these last two or three years, big horses in there bringing $700,000 or $800,000, so I think it's a very reputable sale,” McEntee said. “We always used to say Timonium was a trainer's sale because there are so many racetracks around there. The reality is, so is the October sale. Trainers are in town, especially with the Breeders' Cup, everyone is in town. You have trainers that come in from regional markets–Canada or West Coast, East Coast or Ohio, Indiana and Illinois–all of these guys are coming in. So I do think it's a trainer's sale and I do think horses that perhaps weren't quite the Book 4 Keeneland horse, but were still a nice horse, I think there is a real strong market for them at October. Obviously, there are some top-class horses there, too, but those solid Book 4 horses who are true racehorses, with good X-rays, good scopes, good substance and size, that sort of fit pinhookers and racehorse buyers, I think those horses really have a good home in this sale.”

There are 1,594 yearlings catalogued for the four-day October sale. Hips 1-398 will go through the ring during Monday's first session of the auction and will be followed by hips 399-796 Tuesday; hips 797-1194 Wednesday; and hips 1195-1594 Thursday.

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Toast To Vino Rosso Presented By Spendthrift Farm: First Weanlings Break Ground At Fasig-Tipton November

After stealing the show at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed sale with a pair of six-figure offerings, the first weanlings by Spendthrift Farm's champion Vino Rosso will take center stage on Tuesday at the elite Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Vino Rosso has five weanlings cataloged for this year's Fasig-Tipton November sale, tied for the second most among first-year stallions.

We caught up with a couple of Vino Rosso's debut yearlings at Fasig-Tipton to find out more about their backgrounds and discuss them with their consignors.

Hip 106 – Colt out of Silk Road, by Giant's Causeway

Hip 106, a first-crop Vino Rosso colt out of Silk Road, at the Fasig-Tipton November sale.

Dam Silk Road has gotten off to a fast start as a broodmare, producing two winners from three foals to race, including the Grade 3-placed Seve's Road.

Silk Road is herself a sibling to three other black type producers, including the Grade 1 winner Summer Colony. The page includes a strong Japanese influence in the form of champion Still In Love and seven-figure earner Shonan Rise. Panamanian Horse of the Year Smart D N A is also in the extended family.

The colt was bred in Texas by Paul Pruett, who purchased the dam pregnant with this colt at last year's Keeneland November sale.

“The one we have here is exceptional,” said Jay Goodwin of consignor Eaton Sales. “He's got a great body, and a lot of leg and some stretch, but he still looks fast, a lot like his father looks. He's just what you'd be thinking to get and hoping to get. I'm glad we've got this one, and I think he'll be one of the best ones in the sale.”

Hip 114 – Colt out of Storm Raven, by Bodemeister

The second foal out of Storm Raven, who was a winner at age two.

The page under this colt is filled with black type. Stakes-winning second dam Crystal Current has produced three stakes-placed runners, including Grade 3-placed Crystal Glacier.

His third and fourth dams are both Grade 1 winners, with third dam Dream Supreme producing Grade 1 winner Majestic Warrior and Grade 3 winner Evolutionist. The colt's fourth dam is the Grade 1 winner Spinning Round, who is the pivot point for runners including Argentine Derby winner Kung Fu Mambo and Argentine Group 1 winner Sweet Sorrel.

The colt was bred in Ohio by Smokin C LLC.

“He's a really nice colt, very well balanced,” said Carl McEntee of consignor Ballysax Bloodstock. “He's got plenty of leg underneath him. The mare is good-sized herself, and a winner at two. He's obviously from a very good family. He covers the ground very nicely, he's got a good step and good stride to him. He's a very mentally sound horse, and we're delighted for the owner that he has him.”

Vino Rosso, a 6-year-old son of Curlin, stands at Spendthrift Farm for an advertised fee of $25,000.

Vino Rosso won six of 15 starts and earned $4,803,125 on the racetrack. In addition to his signature Breeders' Cup Classic score, the stallion picked up victories in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes, and the G2 Wood Memorial Stakes.

The post Toast To Vino Rosso Presented By Spendthrift Farm: First Weanlings Break Ground At Fasig-Tipton November appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Letters to the Editor: Carl McEntee

Good Morning,

It's not often that I feel compelled to write, but in this case the sensitivity and poise by which Chris McGrath addressed the passing of Sheihk Hamdan was truly skillful. The world of horse racing, and for that matter, breeding, has been dealt a huge blow with the passing of both Sheikh Hamdan and Prince Khalid.

As Chris so poignantly mentioned, we have taken for granted the impact both men had on our industry on a global scale, and the thought of a world in which racing will no longer enjoy the support of both is tenuous at best. Of course, I am now situated in America and have been for the past 20 years. My brother Phillip, however, trains in Newmarket and has done so since my father's passing in 1998. British racing has been the bastion of our industry since its inception. It is there I fell in love with the sport.

However, as discussed by many over the past several years, the program in the UK is somewhat a house of cards. Since the arrival of Sheikh Mohammed, Sheikh Hamdan and Prince Khalid Abdullah, the sport has been supported by foreign investment for the past 40 years. Foreign investment that cared solely for the success of the horses and did not require the financial support from purse money, which, as we all are well aware in the UK, is awful at best, and ludicrous at worst. The continuation of the “Sport Of Kings” could not be more accurate or unnerving.

The denial of a tote monopoly in the late 70's almost certainly is to blame, with the bookmakers continually reaping the rewards of the second largest gambling market in the UK, and up until now, showing little concern for reinvestment in the form of purse money. How? Why?

Indeed both fair and valid questions and one that must be addressed immediately as “The House of Cards” has been dealt a cold and relentless wind over the last 12 months. It would be foolish to believe that racing will remain unaffected by the loss of two of its biggest supporters. For the average or small trainer, with owners that are already feeling the pressure from the affects of Covid on their primary businesses, yards are shrinking and an exodus of trainers has already begun. How can one expect an owner to pay training fees when the ROI is non existent, when they are not truly independently wealthy.

Even though I have long since emigrated, my heart still remains within European racing. I watch intently every day and am sadden by the fact that in most cases the winner's purse is less than 1500 pounds. That doesn't even cover a month's worth of training fees, let alone a year.

“The wise man built his house upon the rocks”….. The sport I love has its foundation on the sand in more ways than one. The tide is coming in and the foundation is under severe pressure, and without action from the governing body soon will be swept away.

It is my hope that this situation resolves, but to continue with the same reckless abandon and expecting that the status quo will remain the same is truly unwise.

Carl McEntee

Ballysax Bloodstock

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INQUIRY Presented By Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders And Owners Association: Most Impressive Debut Victory?

A first impression can go a long way.

In Thoroughbred racing, a strong debut victory can be the springboard into stakes competition that can last for the rest of a horse's career, and potentially into the breeding shed. The sport is built on catching lightning in a bottle, and when the world sees what it thinks is a flash, it can be potentially life-changing.

On this edition of INQUIRY, we ask the folks on the sales grounds to recall a rookie sensation with the question, “What is the most impressive debut win you've ever seen?”

Chris Knehr – WinStar Farm

“The one that sticks out is probably Maclean's Music. That was a freakish performance.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carl McEntee – Ballysax Bloodstock

“Maclean's Music. That first out of his, running the 106 Beyer was insane. That was something special.”

 

 

 

Scott Mallory – Mallory Farm

“A filly named Promise Me More. She was entered in a stakes race for her very first race, and she ended up winning by five when she trailed the field the whole time. That was pretty impressive, and it gave me my first win as a breeder.”

 

 

 

Tom Hinkle – Hinkle Farms

“Back in the early '80s, we owned a filly named Romper, and she won here at Keeneland. It was the first race we won at Keeneland, and she won by 15 lengths in 1:09 and change.”

 

 

 

 

Marc McLean – Crestwood Farm

“We bred Xtra Heat, so to us, that was a big deal when she won her first start.”

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