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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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Spotlight on the Night of the Stars: Bellafina and Donna Veloce

Separated by just one year in age, Bellafina (Quality Road -Akron Moon, by Malibu Moon) and Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo – Coin Broker {Ire}, by Montjeu {Ire}) were both $800,000 2-year-old purchases for owner-breeder Kaleem Shah. Both were brilliant juveniles on the racetrack, with one becoming a 'TDN Rising Star' on debut and the other winning a pair of Grade I contests at two, and they each went on to achieve further graded stakes success throughout their careers. Retired from racing after their 2020 campaigns, they now both have one foal already on their produce records and are in foal to Coolmore's multiple Grade I-winning young sire Tiz the Law.

In just a few weeks, Bellafina and Donna Veloce will be offered along with their first foals at the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. Their consignor Reiley McDonald of Eaton Sales is a firm believer that mares of this quality do not come around often.

“I've been doing this for 35 years and I can tell you that this is so exciting to me,” he said. “To be a part of it and sell mares like this really doesn't happen every day. My partner Ben McElroy was very instrumental in helping purchase these mares. You'll never see a horse that Ben has bought that is not stunningly beautiful and that is the case with these two mares.”

Kaleem Shah and his buying team landed both mares at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale. Bellafina sold for $800,00 in 2018 and the following year, Donna Veloce brought the same price after working the co-fastest breeze time in :9 4/5.

“It's rare in the Thoroughbred industry when a plan comes to fruition and is executed perfectly,” reflected Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning. “In back-to-back years, Kaleem and his team did that at the Gulfstream 2-Year-Old In Training Sale. Bellafina was one of the most brilliant performers that we had in the under-tack show that year and she looked beautiful on the end of a shank. Donna Veloce was another exceptional performer at the breeze show and back at the barn, she was a magnificent physical individual. Kaleem and his team accomplished what they set out to do, which was to buy the best fillies at the sale and achieve great success on the racetrack.”

Bellafina was the first of the pair to get her start with trainer Simon Callaghan. She broke her maiden at second asking in the GII Sorrento S., where the daughter of Quality Road bested the field by over four lengths, and she continued her win streak that year in the GI Del Mar Debutante S. and the GI Chandelier S.

Much of what made Bellafina such a juvenile success, McDonald said, was her outstanding physical.

“She was of good size as a 2-year-old,” he explained. “She was not a small, petite filly. She was a big filly with tons of speed. She had the hip and the shoulder to give her all the speed, but the leg and the length to carry her a distance. She won everywhere from six furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth.”

In 2019, Bellafina was the best of the West in her division, reeling off wins in the GII Santa Ynez S., GII Las Virgenes S. and GI Santa Anita Oaks, and later running a close second in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. At four, she claimed her seventh graded stakes score in the GIII Desert Stormer S. before retiring with over $1.6 million in earnings.

“I think what Bellafina had that set her apart was tactical speed,” McDonald said. “She had the ability to run fast, but also the ability to turn it off and on. That was Bellafina. She's also by a sire, Quality Road, that gives speed and heart to his racehorses. You put her pedigree together with that kind of physical and heart, that's what made her so special.”

Bellafina was bred to Uncle Mo and produced her first foal this year. That filly will sell as Hip 128 at the 'Night of the Stars' Sale while her dam will go through the ring later in the evening as Hip 264.

After that, Bellafina's former stablemate Donna Veloce will sell as Hip 281.

Donna Veloce joined the Callaghan barn in 2018 and turned heads soon after in her flashy debut at Santa Anita. The Uncle Mo filly took the lead early and looked the winner throughout, breaking away from the field in the stretch to win by over nine lengths.

“I remember watching that and thinking that this was not only a TDN Rising Star, this was a world-class rising star,” McDonald recalled. “The way she did it was like an older horse. I think we knew right then she was very special.”

Donna Veloce faced a tough task in her second start when she took on the best of her division in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, but she was impressive even in defeat when she fought to run second by a neck to British Idiom (Flashback). She was second in the GI Starlet S. to close out her juvenile season and then returned a winner at three in the GIII Santa Ysabel S.

Just as he described with Bellafina, McDonald said that Donna Veloce's physical strengths led to her achievements on the racetrack.

Donna Veloce against a Kentucky autumn backdrop | Sara Gordon

“She has a beautiful neck and shoulder set and plenty of length to carry that speed over a distance,” he explained. “She has a massive hip and quarter on her as well.”

McDonald described Donna Veloce's first foal, a filly by Justify, as a “magnificent foal.” That youngster will sell as Hip 159 at Fasig-Tipton.

He said he expects Donna Veloce, whose second and third dams are both Grade I winners, to draw interest from all types of buyers.

“She certainly hits our American market right between the eyes,” McDonald said. “She has the looks, the American pedigree, and she was a Classic distance horse. I think she has all the qualifications to be extremely attractive to buyers where there is dirt racing, but bred in any way you might wish, for turf racing as well. She has a ton of speed and that will be attractive to buyers all over the world.”

Both mares will be offered carrying foals by four-time Grade I winner Tiz the Law. Browning said he believes the son of Constitution has all the potential to be a leading sire once his foals hit the racetrack.

“I believe that Tiz the Law is one of the most underrated stallions prospects that we've come across in my professional career,” he said. “He had the misfortune of being brilliant on the racetrack in 2020 during the COVID year. He won the GI Champagne S. by open lengths in 2019 and his resume that he put together in 2020 was truly remarkable. He had four consecutive graded stakes wins and his average margin of victory was greater than three lengths in each of those races.”

“Tiz the Law's pedigree is very intriguing as well,” Browning continued. “He's by Constitution, who we're seeing emerge as one of the top stallions in North America. Interestingly, Tiz the Law is out of a graded stakes-winning mare on turf and she comes from the family of Favorite Trick, who was named Horse of the Year as a 2-year-old, so you get this great combination of precocity and stamina, turf influences and dirt influences. It's a really unique package.”

“Tiz the Law is a beautiful horse and I think he has every chance to make it in a big way,” McDonald echoed before adding that he is eager to get both mares out in front of buyers. “They're incredible mares, both extremely good 2-year-olds, and I think that when we put them in front of the public, that's when they will sell themselves.”

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Tapwrit Colt Dazzles In ‘TDN Rising Star’ Debut

Sent away at a well-backed 7-2 in arguably the toughest and deepest 2-year-old maiden of the fall meet at Keeneland Friday afternoon, Spendthrift Farm and Frank Fletcher Racing Operation's Victory Formation (c, 2, Tapwrit–Smart N Soft, by Smart Strike) led past every pole to become the 10th individual winner and the first 'TDN Rising Star' for his Gainesway-based freshman sire (by Tapit).

Hustled away from gate three by Luis Saez, Victory Formation headed off his rivals as the field linked up with the track proper and got the opening quarter in a solid :23.03 while chased to his inside by favored Communication Memo (Bolt d'Oro) and by Release Mccraken (McCraken) deeper out. Galloping in hand on the turn, the athletic bay pinched a break when asked to lengthen entering the stretch and kicked readily clear through the final eighth of a mile to take it by a space. Release Mccraken was second ahead of Communication Memo.

Weyhill Road (Quality Road), the well-related $1.6-million Keeneland September graduate, was headstrong and checked in traffic down the backstretch, came with an inside run on the turn and flattened out a bit in the final furlong to finish fourth in an effort that can certainly be built upon. Baseline Beater (Flatter) was bothered badly by Schoolmaster (Ger) (Helmet {Aus}) soon after the break, but closed his final quarter in a race-fastest :24.65 to check in a promising fifth.

Gainesway, who stands Classic winner Tapwrit alongside his own extraordinary sire, purchased the winner's dam for $140,000 in foal to Uncle Mo at the 2015 Keeneland November Sale and elected to retain the mare when offered carrying the colt that would become Victory Formation on a bid of $47,000 at KEENOV in 2019.

Victory Formation found his way back into the Keeneland sales pavilion 12 months later, hammering to Black Cat Stable for $100,000, the priciest of 18 foals by Tapwrit to sell in 2020. Resold to Gina Fennell for $150,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton July Sale, the Mar. 3 foal fetched $340,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale after breezing a quarter-mile in :21 2/5 (see below).

A half-brother to recent GI Rodeo Drive S. third Bellamore (Empire Maker, $184,840), Victory Formation is a grandson of late James Tafel's GSW Softly, while the deeper female family includes GSW/MGISP Til Forbid (Temperence Hill) and her Grade III-winning daughter Scoop (Gone West). Smart N Soft is the dam of a yearling Karakontie (Jpn) filly that was purchased by RGS Enterprises for $130,000 at last month's Keeneland September Sale and a weanling filly by Practical Joke. She was most recently covered by Raging Bull (Fr).

7th-Keeneland, $99,588, Msw, 10-21, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:17.94, ft, 4 3/4 lengths.
VICTORY FORMATION, c, 2, by Tapwrit
1st Dam: Smart N Soft, by Smart Strike
2nd Dam: Softly, by Binalong
3rd Dam: Coragil, by Metfield
Sales history: $100,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV; $150,000 Ylg '21 FTKJUL; $340,000 2yo '22 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $56,575.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Spendthrift Farm LLC & Frank Fletcher Racing Operations Inc; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd (KY); T-Brad H Cox.

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Bell’s The One to Skip Breeders’ Cup, Now Prepares for Night of the Stars Sale

A few weeks before Bell's The One (Majesticperfection – Street Mate, by Street Cry {Ire}) made her career debut, her trainer Neil Pessin set aside a few dollars to place a wager on the promising juvenile. But in the days leading up to the race, he started to rethink the idea.

Every morning as Bell's The One went out to gallop, the juvenile would stop in the middle of the track, somewhere around the sixteenth pole, and refuse to move. Pessin would have to take to the track, red-faced with frustration, to lead her off to the barn.

He cut down his bet considerably the morning of her debut only to watch a few hours later as she won with ease at Arlington, paying $67.80 to win.

That was the last time Pessin had anything less than full confidence going into a race with Bell's The One. Four years since that first career victory, Bell's The One is now a five-time graded stakes winner with over $2 million in earnings and has collected stakes wins in each of her five seasons on the racetrack.

“Every time I lead her over, I expect her to win,” Pessin said. “If she gets beat, it's either human error or…well, usually it's human error. If she gets to run her race and she shows up, which she does most of the time, she's hard to beat. She gives you 110% every time. I'm as confident as anybody in the race when I put her bridle on.”

While Bell's the One was originally slated to run in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Pessin and her connections made the decision on Tuesday to skip the championship meet.

“She had a minor setback that will prevent us from running,” her trainer said. “I've always said that if she's not 100%, we're not going. She could be 95% or 99%, but we're not taking that chance with her. It's just a timing thing. If we had three more weeks we would probably be able to run, but she has done right by me for five years so I've got to do right by her for this race. But she earned her right to be there. ”

While Bell's The One won't make it to the Breeders' Cup starting gate, she will be in the spotlight in a few weeks for the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale. Until then, she will remain at Pessin's barn at Churchill Downs.

“She's still in light training,” Pessin explained. “We want to keep her in her same routine. She'll train just to keep her looking good. She's doing great. She is six going on seven and she's getting better every year.”

Bell's The One, who is easily the most accomplished horse in Pessin's training career, has been a fixture at the conditioner's barn at Churchill Downs over the years. While the 6-year-old mare grew out of most of the obstinate tendencies she had as a juvenile, Pessin said that there has never been a question of who ruled the stable.

“Oh, she is the queen,” he said. “She tells us what to do. She tells me how to train her and when to run her. She probably gets, at minimum, 50 mints a day. But that's lowballing.”

Pessin picked out Bell's The One for Bob Lothenbach's Lothenbach Stables at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton July Sale. Drawn to the Bret Jones-bred filly for her athleticism and cat-like walk, they brought home the daughter of Majesticperfection for $155,000.

“We thought it was a pretty good deal at the time, but she turned out to be even more athletic than she was as a yearling,” Pessin said. “She has always shown ability from the first day we worked her.”

Undefeated in three starts including a stakes win at two and the winner of the GII Raven Run S. at three, Bell's The One got her signature victory at four with a photo-finish win over GISW Serengeti Empress (Alternation) in the 2020 GI Derby City Distaff S. on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

The achievement marked not only the first Grade I win for Bell's the One, but also for her trainer, who runs a boutique stable of about 15 horses.

“Winning that race was extremely satisfying not so much for me, but for her,” Pessin said. “I don't really care about all that stuff. I don't care if I get an award or get patted on the back. I care about the horses. When she won, it was satisfying for me because it just proved how much quality she has and how good of a mare she is.”

Bell's The One added two more graded scores to her resume at five in the GII Honorable Miss H. at Saratoga and the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. This year, the 6-year-old ran second in the GI Madison S. and most recently won two lucrative stakes contests at Churchill Downs.

While the Bell's The One fan club has grown over the years, Pessin said that two of the mare's biggest admirers have been her jockey Corey Lanerie, who has been aboard for all but a handful of her 27 career starts, and her owner Bob Lothenbach.

“I can't tell you how great Bob has been to train for,” Pessin said. “He doesn't interfere with what we do on the day to day or the races we pick. He just loves the sport and he is a wonderful owner. He cares about the horses, too.”

When Bell's The One returns to Fasig-Tipton, the site where her story began back in 2017, for the 'Night of the Stars' Sale, she will sell as Hip 267 with Taylor Made Sales.

While the millionaire's outstanding race record speaks for itself, Fasig-Tipton's Boyd Browning said that the mare's pedigree will hold equal appeal for buyers. Her dam Street Mate (Street Cry {Ire}) was bred by successful owner-breeder Edward Evans and her produce record boasts six winners from as many to race including recent GIII Knickerbocker S. victor King Cause (Creative Cause).

“I think that Bell's The One really is a unique pedigree,” Browning said. “It's truly a reflection of the breeding program that was so important to Ned Evans. She typifies the type of horse that Ned wanted to breed-Grade I horse, durable, consistent and with heart.”

“Bell's The One has all the ingredients to be a successful producer,” he continued. “She tries hard every time. She's got pedigree. She's got heart. She's got the speed, but she also has the class in her pedigree that will allow her decedents to carry that speed a distance. She's just a tremendous prospect that will likely produce terrific racehorses for the next generation.”

While she will soon become an important addition to someone's broodmare band, Bell's The One will be sorely missed back at the Pessin barn and her empty stall overlooking Longfield Avenue at Churchill Down will not go unnoticed.

“When Bell leaves the barn, there will be a huge hole,” Pessin admitted. “It won't be a hole that will be filled. It'll just be a void for a while. I'll miss just walking down the barn and playing with her and giving her mints. I'll miss leading her over there, knowing you're going to win the race. It's a special feeling, just having her here.”

Pessin may be soon parting with the most accomplished horse he has ever trained for now, but there is one thing he is sure of.

“I'll go see her wherever she goes,” he said. “Whatever farm she's at, I'll be there. If she goes to Japan, I'm going to Japan. They'll just have to get ready for me to come over. And if she throws off the athleticism that she has to her foals, I think she'll be a great broodmare.”

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