The Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Selected 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale was the first casualty of COVID-19's havoc on the auction calendar, and as one of the market's first checkpoints when the juvenile season came back around in 2021, this particular renewal would reveal plenty about the state of the upper market.
That's a lot of weight to carry, but the auction's returns presented plenty of reasons for optimism, especially for sellers of juveniles by young sires.
Returns were down across the board, but not in the kind of way that should sound alarms. The most recent Gulfstream sale in 2019 was a record edition in nearly every measurable way, and pinhookers were buying into a different, less stable market in the fall of 2020 than they had been in previous yearling seasons, so there were plenty of valid causes.
What makes this slight decline palatable is the fact that Wednesday's sale still produced some of the best returns in the auction's history.
A total of 67 horses changed hands on Wednesday for revenues of $25,360,000, the second-highest gross since the sale moved to Gulfstream Park in 2015. The average sale price was $378,507 (third-highest since 2015), the median price was $300,000 (second-highest in that time span), and the buyback rate finished at 36 percent.
Where the sale saw its most drastic change was in its upper-middle market, similar to the squeeze seen at the higher-end yearling sales in 2020.
Three horses changed hands for $1 million or more on Wednesday, which was down from six in the record-setting 2019 edition, but it was equal with the 2018 sale. However, the 13 juveniles that sold for $500,000 or more was down from 20 in 2019 and 19 the year before that.
The top of the market at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale is often a playground for the most proven sires, but this year's edition turned that notion on its head.
Of the 11 horses to bring $550,000 or more, eight of them came from the first or second crops of their respective sires.
Leading the way was Hip 28, a second-crop Nyquist colt who sold to M.V. Magnier of the Coolmore partnership for $2.6 million.
The bay colt garnered plenty of attention following Monday's under-tack show after breezing an eighth of a mile in :9 4/5 seconds, giving him sole possession of the day's fastest time at the distance.
Consigned by Wavertree Stables, agent, the colt is the first foal out of the winning Smart Strike mare Spinning Wheel. The dam is a half-sister to classic-placed Ride On Curlin and stakes winner Space Mountain. His third dam is the Grade 1 winner Victory Ride.
Magnier, typically a big player at the Gulfstream sale, also secured Hip 67, an Uncle Mo colt, in partnership with West Bloodstock for $1.3 million for the day's third-highest price.
The full-brother to Grade 1 winner Dream Tree is out of the winning Afleet Alex mare Afleet Maggi, whose foals also include stakes-placed O'Maggi. Grade 1 winner Golden Ticket is in the colt's extended family, along with Grade 2 winner Academy Award.
Wavertree Stables also consigned this colt, who breezed an eighth in :10 seconds flat.
The sale's second-highest price came for Hip 181, a first-crop Gun Runner colt who went to Gary C. Young, agent, for $1.7 million.
The chestnut colt, named Needmore Guns, is the second foal out of the stakes-winning Flatter mare Needmore Flattery. He was consigned by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, agent, and he breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 seconds.
Gun Runner joins Triple Crown winner American Pharoah as the only two stallions to hammer down a seven-figure horse from their first crop at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale since the auction moved to Gulfstream Park in 2015.
Other first-year stallions to with horses sold at $550,000 or more included Practical Joke, American Freedom, and Arrogate. Darley's second-year duo of Nyquist and Frosted were also represented at that price level, with Nyquist having three sold in that range.
To view the auction's full results, click here.
The post Young Sires Reign At The Top Of Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
