Fasig-Tipton Digital Flash Sale | Horse Racing Free Tips

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.

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When Dazzlingdominika (Ghostzapper) won a May 13 maiden special weight race at Churchill her connections were ready to pounce. The 2-year-old filly had become a hot commodity and they wanted to cash in. In year's past that would have meant selling her privately or waiting for the next horses of racing age sale on the calendar.

Instead, she will be sold Thursday by Fasig-Tipton in a one-horse digital, “flash sale,” a new means of selling horses that promises to make it easier for those looking to move horses fast.

“This seems like a good way to do it,” said Taylor Made's Frank Taylor, who heads the Ready Made Racing LLC ownership group. “It's a good way to get people focused on a horse and sell them when they're marketable and hot. Everyone wants to buy something that just won and everybody wants to buy a Kentucky bred. Hopefully, we can get people focused on this.”

Dazzlingdominika is trained by Will Walden, the son of WinStar CEO and President Elliott Walden. Will Walden got off to a late start to his training career because he had been dealing with substance abuse issues. When his life started to turn a corner last summer and he felt it was time for him to begin training, he felt like he needed something to distinguish himself at the start.

He came up with the idea of buying relatively inexpensive yearlings and running them in maiden races restricted to horses that sold for less than a certain amount at the sales. Dazzlingdominika was bought at Keeneland September for $30,000. The race she won at Churchill, which was her second career start, was restricted to horses that sold or RNA'd for $45,000 or less in the their most recent auction. Should they win one of those maiden races or show signs of promise they would be sold. It was a new take on pinhooking, selling yearling buys not at the 2-year-old sales but after they had distinguished themselves in races for 2-year-olds. Taylor came on board as his principal owner and formed Ready Made Racing.

“We came up with a game plan six, seven months ago,” Walden said. “In order for Ready Made to do this again next year we have to sell these horses in order to raise money to go the sales again. This has been the plan all along. We aren't selling the ones we don't like and keeping the ones we like. Everything in my stable is for sale. That was target goal when I came up with this idea back in August and we mean to see it through.

“Hopefully, I'd like to get to a place some day where the stable gets to recruit 2-year-olds we can race through their careers. Starting out training, we have to take an edge where we can get one. And this was an idea that sounded appetizing to the guys. We wanted to try something new, a different way of pinhooking horses.”

Before pop-up or flash sales came to be, selling Dazzlingdominika would have been a lot harder to pull off. The best way to do so may have been a private sale. That would have required Walden and Taylor to get the word out that the filly was for sale and then field phone calls from prospective buyers.

“Why just take individual phone calls and bat a number back and forth when you can let all the potential buyers bat it out in the ring?” Walden said.

It is not Taylor's first experience with a flash sale. In Fasig-Tipton's first ever flash sale, Taylor sold Sweet Tea (Into Mischief) for $320,000. The broodmare prospect had been owned by late Rick Porter.

“When we sold Sweet Tea it was a big success,” Taylor said. “We're trying it again with this filly. She won impressively and came back well. She's ready to move forward.”

In the case of Dazzlingdominika, prospective buyers will not only have to look at her race record, but project what she might do going forward. Walden believes that her future is bright.

“Personally, I don't train super aggressively,” he said. “I want to sell these horses with their best days in front of them and not behind them. Just like any seller would want, I want these horses to go on and have careers outside of this barn and go on win more races. We've done the bare minimum with her, without running them too unfit or running them unprepared or run in place where they could get injured. We had her ready but haven't tapped into the real meat of the horse.”

The bidding on Dazzlingdominika began Monday. At deadline for this story, the bidding was up to $70,000. The sale closes 2 p.m. (EDT) Thursday.

Taylor said that his team has been working behind the scenes to let as many people as possible know that a nice prospect is about to be sold through the digital sales ring.

“Some people think in a sale like this you don't need an agent,” he said. “Actually, you need an agent more than you would in a normal sale. You can't just throw it out there and say here it is. We have a team calling trainers and buyers, calling people who like to buy these kinds of horses. We've been dialing for dollars all day. We're getting a lot of responses and there's already been a lot of active bidding.”

It's anyone's guess so far as what she will sell for, but whatever it is, it will no doubt represent a healthy profit for her original investors. She cost just $30,000 at the sales, has earned $53,720 on the racetrack and will no doubt sell for six figures.

“This gives you a chance to market a horse when the timing is at the very best,” Taylor said.

With this filly, Walden's plan has worked perfectly, thanks, in large part, to a new way of selling horses.

The post ‘Flash Sale’ a Perfect Opportunity for Ready Made Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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