elite sales | Horse Racing Free Tips

Stars Set to Shine at Fasig-Tipton November Sale

LEXINGTON, KY- The Fasig-Tipton November Sale, which has surpassed $100-million in gross the last two years, returns with another typically glitzy renewal Tuesday at Newtown Paddocks. Bidding on the first of 271 catalogued offerings begins at 2 p.m.

“We are very excited about the overall quality of the catalogue,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. “I think our in-foal mares are definitely stronger than they've been in the past and we have some exceptional younger horses that are going to be offered. It's a tremendous group of young racing and broodmare prospects. The quality is really, really deep and we are very fortunate about that.”

The one-session auction begins with a selection of 135 weanlings–down from the 181 weanlings catalogued to begin the sale in 2022.

“We actually made a conscious effort this year to tighten the weanlings,” Browning said. “That's why there are fewer weanlings in the catalogue this year. You've got to have a really quality horse to sell well in November. It's the sale of the year and you're competing against some really top pedigrees and physicals. And the last thing we want to do is put somebody in the wrong spot. So some of the horses who may have sold OK in the past on the weanling side of things, we are tightening the selection criteria and as a result, we have fewer weanlings. I think buyers are still going to love the quality of weanlings that they are going to find overall.”

The Breeders' Cup championship weekend at Santa Anita provided several updates to the Fasig-Tipton November catalogue, headed by champion Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), who won her second GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint Saturday. The 5-year-old mare will be offered Tuesday as hip 237 through the Elite consignment.

Also making the flight from Santa Anita to Lexington following a Breeders' Cup appearance, Canadian Horse of the Year Moira (Ghostzapper) will be offered as hip 156 after her third-place effort in the GI F/M Turf. She is consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.

The dams of a trio of Breeders' Cup runners-up will also be offered Tuesday evening, with Belle's Finale (Ghostzapper) selling as (hip 212) while carrying a full-sibling to GI Turf second-place finisher Up to the Mark (Not This Time). The mare's weanling colt by Maxfield follows her into the ring. Both are consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

Hoppa (Uncle Mo) will be offered through the Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa consignment as hip 257 while carrying a full-sibling to GI Juvenile runner-up Muth (Good Magic).

Vigui's Heart (Quality Road), dam of GI Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Valiant Force (Malibu Moon), and in foal to Vekoma, will be offered Tuesday as hip 198. Her weanling filly by Mitole sells as hip 72. Both are consigned by Mill Ridge Sales.

Elite sales will present Toni Tools (Roaring Fever), dam of GI Juvenile Fillies third-place finisher Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}) as hip 254, while Eaton Sales consigns a Tiz the Law weanling half-sister to GI Juvenile third-place finisher Locked (Gun Runner) as hip 15.

The glittering catalogue also features champions Nest (Curlin) (hip 163) and Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) (hip 200), as well as GI Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate) (hip 180), and Queen Caroline (Blame) (hip 171), the dam of champion Forte (Violence), carrying a foal from the first crop of champion Flightline.

“We are very, very optimistic and very excited about the catalogue this year,” Browning said.

While there has been some weakening at the lower strata of the market, demand has remained strong at the top. Browning expects that to remain true in the November sale's elite marketplace, but did offer a cautious reminder to sellers.

“I think there is some insulation, hopefully, in the segment of the market that the November sale serves,” Browning said. “I think it's going to be highly competitive, but I think we also need to be realistic as we look at the entire marketplace that the same trends that we saw at the yearling sales and 2-year-old sales are going to continue at the broodmare sales. You better have quality and if you don't have that top quality–if you have some holes in your produce or your covering date or your covering sire, you need to be very realistic as you approach setting your reserves and what your expectations are with regard to the overall marketplace in terms of broodmares. I think weanlings will be the same exact trend that we are seeing at the yearling sales–great, great competition for the ones that are deemed highly desirable and it will be a little weaker for those that don't 'make the mark.' So you're going to have to be realistic in setting your reserves and evaluating, do you sell this year or do you hold on until the yearling sales next year.”

The Fasig-Tipton November sale surpassed the $100-million mark in gross for the first time in 2021 when 149 lots sold for $103,699,000. In 2022, the auction saw 169 horses sell for $101,214,000.

Those sparkling results don't come without some added pressure, according to Browning.

“You go through it year after year–one of the good things and one of the bad things is, 'What do we do for an encore?'” Browning said. “It's always a nerve-wracking apprehensive sale because there are a lot of expectations and there is a lot of pressure that we put on ourselves and that the owners expect us to deliver. It's a great opportunity and a great responsibility. Hopefully we will be sitting here on Tuesday night having a glass of champagne and celebrating another remarkable November sale.”

The post Stars Set to Shine at Fasig-Tipton November Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Incredibly Positive’ Vibe: Keeneland September Sale Starts Monday

LEXINGTON, KY – The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which produced gangbuster results in 2022, returns for its 2023 renewal Monday in Lexington. Perennially a bellwether of the industry's sales market, the 12-day auction opens with a pair of elite Book 1 sessions beginning at 1 p.m. and, with the Keeneland barns awash with activity Sunday, both sales officials and consignors were heading into the sale with plenty of optimism.

“The traffic has been incredibly positive,” said Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. “There are quite a few buyers here. It's probably as positive as I've seen it since pre-COVID. The feedback that we are getting is that it's a very good group of horses. The buyers are very satisfied. The sellers are very positive about the feedback they are getting on the stock they have here overall. So, in general, I am cautiously optimistic.”

Standing outside his Candy Meadows Sales consignment at Barn 11, Matt Lyons smiled when asked about his expectations for the week.

“I suppose we are eternally hopeful as consignors, aren't we?” Lyons said. “Traffic has been pretty good so far. And we are seeing all of the main players and the main syndicates that people are expecting to see. There are quite a few groups from Japan, it looks like, on the grounds and they are looking hard. So we are hopeful.”

The 2023 Keeneland September sale has a tough act to follow. Last year's auction surpassed $400-million in gross sales for the first time in its history, while also setting records for average and median for the second year in a row. A year ago 2,847 yearlings grossed $405,495,700–to better the previous record set in 2006–for an average of $142,429 and a median of $70,000.

“The market has been good, we've had a bull run for the last 15 years, so I don't expect any dramatic changes,” said Brad Weisbord, whose Elite Sales makes its Keeneland September debut this week. “The colts groups seems to have their money together, so they will probably be the high end. The middle market has struggled for a couple of years. The pinhookers have been strong. They made money the last couple of years–which is nice to see–so I don't expect many changes. But we will know at the end of the sale. This sale determines what the yearling market is throughout the whole year, so at the end of this marathon we will really understand how the market is.”

While Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin and his late brother Sheikh Hamdan dominated the top of the Keeneland September market for many years, the decreased participation of those two Dubai-based entities in the last three years has been largely filled by American-based partnerships focused mainly on purchasing colts with Classic potential.

Leading the way in the last two years was the team of Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola, who purchased 31 yearlings for $12,840,000 in 2022. Repole is expected once again to be on site during the first four days of the Keeneland sale as his agent Jacob West and advisor Eddie Rosen were on the grounds Sunday. Chasing them for the leading buyer title last year was the stallion-making partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, as well as BSW/Crow Colts Group.

The Keeneland September sale annually attracts buyers from around the world and the buying bench's international flavor should be strong in the coming week, according to Lacy.

“We have been very pleased with the support we have been getting from the international market and especially Japan,” Lacy said. “We have had more Japanese visitors this week and they are staying longer. I think they are finding that we have certain sire lines and pedigrees that have worked internationally for them. We are becoming more affordable and very relevant for their program.”

Among the Japanese shoppers on the sales grounds Sunday was Hideyuki Mori, whose five yearling purchases a year ago were led by a $1.2-million son of Curlin.

The international buying bench is also strengthened by new overseas opportunities like the Goffs Dubai Breeze-Up Sale, which was topped this past March by a son of Gun Runner who sold for $583,520 after bringing $160,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“The Dubai sale that Goffs run in the spring every year has proven to be a very profitable endeavor for a lot of the pinhookers from Europe coming over here to source stock,” Lacy said. “That has really been a great addition to the diversity of what people are looking for.”

Lacy continued, “We have Australians here, I think we will have a lot of South Americans here and people from all over the world. From the Middle East, we have buyers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Dubai. We've put a lot of work travelling around the world over the last couple of years to reach out to our clients at every stage and provide a level of customer service that they would expect anywhere else. Those efforts have started to pay off as we start to look at the diversity through the sales grounds and the excitement about the quality of stock that the U.S. is producing, which is really encouraging.”

Shadwell Farm, which had long been one of the leading buyers at the Keeneland September sale before the death of its founder Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum in 2021, made four purchases last year and could be a resurgent presence at this year's auction. Sheikha Hissa, now at the helm of her late father's operation, was at the Keeneland sales grounds Sunday.

“Sheikha Hissa came for Malathaat's race in the Doubledogdare S. last year,” Lacy said. “So she got the experience of coming here. She very much wants to have the same experience that her dad did, so we've been working diligently so that we have the same people working with her as worked with her dad.”

Keeneland has settled into a format for its September sale, which for the third year features Book 1 sessions Monday and Tuesday with 383 yearlings, followed by Book 2 sessions Wednesday and Thursday with 728 yearlings a before a dark day Friday.

“[This format] allows the higher-end buyers to be able to look at these horses in a relaxed manner without being rushed and also have the opportunity to go and look at Book 2 horses before the first horse walks through the ring,” Lacy explained. “So there is good idea of what the quality is out there. We put a lot of effort into making sure we have good physicals up front that have pedigree, that have commercial appeal, knowing what the marketplace is looking for.”

He continued, “I see this year people are in a more relaxed mode and they are able to give these horses the consideration that they deserve and I think they feel comfortable with that.”

Following its Book 1 and 2 sections, Keeneland will hope for demand to continue into what has seemed to be a weakening middle market.

“I think, looking at the yearling sales that have already happened this year, you have to be positive that [demand] will carry through to at least the middle of the sale,” Lacy said. “I think it could carry through right to the end.”

After buying in a bullish yearling sale a year ago, pinhookers faced a tougher market to sell in this spring, but Weisbord expects they will still be a strong presence at Keeneland.

“Listen, that's their business,” Weisbord said. “They buy yearlings to sell 2-year-olds. So I expect them to be strong from $75,000 to $275,000. After that, it becomes a very difficult pinhook, but I think that market for them will still be strong.”

The Keeneland September Book 1 sessions Monday and Tuesday will begin at 1 p.m. Book 2 sessions Wednesday and Thursday begin at 11 a.m. Following Friday's dark day, the auction continues through Sept. 23 with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

The post ‘Incredibly Positive’ Vibe: Keeneland September Sale Starts Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Elite to Enter Yearling Consignment Business

Elite Sales, the Thoroughbred consignment business of Liz Crow and Bradley Weisbord, will begin selling yearlings in 2023, adding to their existing business of breeding and racing stock, according to the pair.

“Elite Sales launched in 2017 with the goal of being the number-one consignor of horses of racing age and broodmares/broodmare prospects,” said Weisbord. “With six years under our belts, we have experienced a wide range of success including selling 21 off-the-track broodmare or racing prospects for $1 million or more.”

The addition of yearlings to their lineup is the latest news from Elite, who sold their first two weanlings at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, including a Gun Runner filly for $675,000. They also were represented with a consignment at Tattersalls December for the first time in 2022.

“Since launching Elite, our team has enjoyed building relationships with the most prominent buyers and sellers of bloodstock around the world. We believe that these relationships along with our boutique model, top client support, and ambitious marketing have led to our success,” Weisbord said, “The move into yearlings has been long-planned. Liz and I have some of our own homebreds we will sell, we will sell for our existing clients, and we hope to add some large breeding farms into the mix.”

Elite has hired Beth Bayer, the former director of sales for Woodford Thoroughbreds, who has 20 years of experience in the industry, to run the day-to-day consignment, leaving Liz Crow free to continue her scrutiny of yearlings on the sales grounds.

“Liz is one of the leading agents purchasing yearlings each year and we feel her knowledge of the market along with her great eye will be a huge asset to our clients. She will be available for farm inspections as we lead into yearling prep and sales time. We also feel that since our team sees every single horse on the sales grounds at every single yearling sale, she will have a great understanding of where yearlings most appropriately fit in each catalogue and sale.”

Fasig-Tipton July would be the first sale the company will target, followed by Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, Keeneland September, and Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings.

Weisbord said he would continue to handle client and buyer relationships on and off the sales grounds. Katelyn Jackson, Samantha Bussanich and Jake Memolo will remain with Elite as well, and that the company would continue to be run as a boutique consignment operation.

In its six-year history, Elite has sold over $135 million in horses, averaging over $295,000 per horse. Those sales include Monomoy Girl for Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables, who brought $9.5 million at Fasig-Tipton November 2020; and Paris Lights for WinStar Farm, who topped the 2021 Keeneland November Sale at $3.1 million.

“Elite Sales has done an outstanding job in the mixed sale and horses-of-racing-age marketplace and I'm sure that they will do an excellent job as they enter the yearling sales marketplace,” said Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning. “They have an excellent group of people on their team and Beth Bayer has great knowledge and will be a valuable addition.”

“It's always good to welcome consignors that have great connections like they do,” said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales, Tony Lacy. “They've done a wonderful job over the past few years with their mixed sales business, and it's a natural evolution for them to move into the yearling market.”

The post Elite to Enter Yearling Consignment Business appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

GISW Pinehurst Sells on Fasig Digital, to Stand at Walmac

Last year's GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity S. winner Pinehurst (Twirling Candy–Giant Win, by Giant's Causeway) has been retired from racing and will stand the 2023 breeding season at Gary Broad's Walmac Farm after being acquired in partnership with Kiki and Louise Courtelis's Town and Country Farms Nov. 22 in a Fasig-Tipton Digital 'Flash Sale.' The price, a record for a digital sales price in the U.S., was undisclosed, according to Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales.

“Tom Ryan [of SF Bloodstock] called us on Wednesday of last week and we were able to open the sale up the very next day, which showed the versatility of the website and how quickly we could get everything going,” said Aaron.

Aaron said Pinehurst appealed to both owners and breeders worldwide and, as the sale progressed, they had interested parties particularly in the Middle East and the U.S. He said Fasig-Tipton had over 1,000 people log onto the website during the sale with registered bidders from all over the world. Aaron said there were a total of 41 individual bids on the horse.

“He was already a Grade I winner and a beautiful specimen,” said Aaron, “so not only did the horse really fit some races, particularly in the Middle East, but there were also a lot of breeders who were looking at him as a stallion. We had interested parties from all over the world with people from all different backgrounds interested in the horse.

“Basically, what we tried to do was make it as beneficial for the buyers and sellers as we possibly could,” said Aaron. “What we have done more than anything is show just how liquid horses can be and how we can turn on a dime to provide an experience for the buyers and sellers that is equivalent to the experience they can expect at a live auction.”

In addition to winning the Del Mar Futurity, Pinehurst also won the G3 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Derby in Saudi Arabia and was second in the GII San Vicente S. Trained by both Bob Baffert and John Terranova, Pinehurst's current race record stands at 7-3-1-0 with earnings of more than $1.2 million. His ownership group consisted of the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay A. Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, Golconda Stable, and Siena Farm. Bred on a similar cross to superstar stallion Gun Runner, Pinehurst was consigned to Fasig-Tipton by Elite, agent, as a racing or stallion prospect.

“There were 41 bids on the horse,” said Elite's Brad Weisbord. “This is a big sale for us, because we haven't sold many horses digitally. It was a great opportunity provided by SF Bloodstock and their partners to sell a young horse, a GI winner, who had some great credentials, and to their credit, they utilized this platform in a perfect way. This platform really hasn't taken off in America in the way it has in other places yet. But when utilized for high-end stock like this, I think it does have a lot of life. I think that one of the reasons it hasn't taken off is that there hasn't been enough high-end stock put online. But yesterday, we saw that when you do have quality and when you do time it right, you can get a great result. We're grateful that the SF team gave us the product to bring to the marketplace. They have been big supporters of ours with their racehorses, not just here, but throughout the year.”

A stud fee for Pinehurst will be announced at a later date.

The post GISW Pinehurst Sells on Fasig Digital, to Stand at Walmac appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post