Leif Aaron | Horse Racing Free Tips

Minnesota Ready Tops Lothenbach Dispersal on Fasig-Tipton Digital

The Lothenbach dispersal of Horses of Racing Age on Fasig-Tipton Digital, run Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, closed with 66 horses selling for $4,840,000 with MSP Minnesota Ready (More Than Ready) leading all lots at a final price of $380,000, changing hands to Richard Colton Jr..

The first in the digital ring, Minnesota Ready was most recently seen Jan. 20 in the Duncan F. Kenner S. at the Fair Grounds, where he again ran third in a blanket finish with SW Sosua Summer (Summer Front) and MSW & MGSP Just Might (Justin Phillip) and wrapping his 2023 season before that Dec. 23 in the Richard R. Scherer Memorial S. behind those familiar foes.

The four others who went beyond the $300,000 mark include Dazzlin Dictator (American Pharoah), a two-time winner at Turfway Park, who went to Rodolphe Brisset, agent for Ann Harrison; Tickle Me Unclemo (Uncle Mo), a $350,000 KEESEP yearling, went to Robert Salome for $320,000; and Practically Dark (Practical Joke), recently second in a maiden special at the Fair Grounds, sold to C2 Racing Stable for $310,000.

Most notable of that group is GSW & GISP Happy American (Runhappy), who went as a racing prospect and sold to trainer Neil Pessin for $340,000. A frequent face in the graded ranks across the country, he won the GIII Louisiana S. in 2023 and ran third that summer in the GIII Blame and GI Stephen Foster S.. After uninspiring finishes in the a pair of graded efforts in Kentucky, he returned to the Big Easy and hit the board in the Tenacious S. to cap his season. He'd made his 2024 bow in the GIII Louisiana S. Jan. 20, finishing third in his title defense attempt.

In addition to the $4.84-million aggregate, the average was $73,333 while the median was $41,000 with 16 horses selling for $100,000 or more with Taylor Made Sales consigning. A total of 741 potential buyers from 46 states and seven countries registered to bid, placing a total of 3,047, and averaging 46 bids per offering.

“All I can say is, 'Wow,'” said Leif Aaron, Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales. “We have to thank the estate of Mr. Lothenbach for trusting us with this dispersal of racing stock. This is exactly what the digital platform was built for: horses and buyers from all over the country. These are phenomenal results.”

The dispersal of Lothenbach's breeding stock and yearlings will come during the Kentucky Winter Mix sale Feb. 5 to Feb. 6 with the catalogue available online.

Full results for the Lothenbach dispersal are available here.

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Fasig-Tipton Digital Lothenbach Dispersal Open for Bidding

Bidding for the Fasig-Tipton Digital sale of the Lothenbach Dispersal of Horses of Racing Age opened Monday afternoon and will begin closing at 2 p.m. ET Friday. The catalogue, which can be viewed here, includes 76 entries of horses of racing age. All are consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency and will be sold without reserve.

Robert Lothenbach, who passed away this past November, was one of North America's leading owners for nearly 30 years. His Lothenbach Stables amassed more than 800 wins and earnings of more than $30 million since 2000 and he was a top 10-ranked owner nationally in 2020 and 2022.

“Opportunities to purchase ready-to-run racing stock from a leading operation like Mr. Lothenbach's happen very rarely,” said Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron. “All of Mr. Lothenbach's horses have been in the hands of top-class horsemen, and buyers will find quality offerings that suit a variety of racing programs and conditions.”

Among the horses in the catalogue with recent updates are the 4-year-old Earl of Dassel (Cairo Prince), who broke his maiden at Fair Grounds last Thursday and Happy American (Runhappy), who finished third in the GIII Louisiana S. Jan. 20.

Horses are located at Fair Grounds Race Course and Delta Downs in Louisiana; Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Florida; Grace Full Oaks Training Center in Ocala, Florida; and in Kentucky at Skylight Training Center, Turfway Park, and Chesapeake Farm in Lexington.

All entries are accompanied by photos and walking videos, X-rays, Daily Racing Form past performances, Thoromanager past performances, Ragozin speed figures, and race replays.

To create an account or register to bid, visit digital.fasigtipton.com.

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Fasig-Tipton December Digital Sale ‘A Slam Dunk’ After Largest Offering Ever

With more than 700 users registered to bid and buyers in 27 states plus another three countries, the Fasig-Tipton's December Digital Sale closed Tuesday evening with 186 horses sold for $3,167,000 across a catalogue, which was the largest ever offered on the platform to-date, the auction company said in a release Wednesday.

The online sale featured broodmares, horses of racing age, broodmare prospects, yearlings, weanlings and a stallion share in and lifetime breeding right to first-crop sire Flameaway (Scat Daddy).

Breeze Easy (GB) (Hip 310), a 4-year-old race filly, topped the sale when she went for $180,000 to Glenn Burrows from the consignment of St George Sales, agent. Fresh off an allowance win Friday at the Fair Grounds, Breeze Easy is a GSP daughter of Bated Breath (GB) and has earned just shy of $200,000 racing in England, Ireland and the United States. Out of the stakes winning Royal Academy mare Polar Circle, Breeze Easy is a half-sister to Group 2 placed and group stakes winner Artic Sound.

KBS went to $150,000 to secure the sale's second highest-priced offering, Googol Joke (Hip 32), a two-year-old son of Practical Joke consigned by Greenfield Farms, agent. A maiden winner last time out at the Fair Grounds, Googol Joke came into the sale with one win and one third from two career starts and earnings of $35,978.

Rounding out the top three prices of the sale was Sherif Ali (Hip 12), a two-year-old colt by American Pharoah, sold for $115,000 to Jonathan Green from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent. Sherif Ali broke his maiden on debut at Woodbine in October and came into the sale off a good second in allowance company over the same track and distance shortly after bidding opened on Thursday. The colt has a record of one win and one second from two lifetime starts and earnings of $29,628.

“This was a 'slam dunk' to close out the year. I'm very happy with the results,” said Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron. “The number of entries, registered bidders, and gross all exceeded previous records for our digital sales. We got the stallion share and lifetime breeding right done. We did in a week online what normally takes sales companies, stud farms, and buyers 60 days. I'm very proud of that and proud of our team at Fasig-Tipton.”

Commented first-time Digital seller Paul Manganaro, seller of Por Que No (Hip 309), in-foal to Constitution: “The flexibility and ease of the process was great, and my mare never had to leave her stall on the farm. I am still amazed that it took only five short days from the time I called Fasig to the time my mare sold. I see the many benefits that digital sales can have for both sellers and buyers and I will make sure digital sales are part of my plan going forward.”

The next Fasig-Tipton Digital Sale will be the February Digital Sale, which opens for bidding on Thursday, Feb. 15, and closes on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Nominations are now being accepted.

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Q&A With Fasig-Tipton Digital Sales Director Leif Aaron

With the largest Fasig-Tipton online auction to-date underway–counting just over 300 diverse entries in its catalogue–their December Digital Sale is making this one to remember before it closes next Tuesday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. ET.

Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron took time out of his busy day to discuss with the TDN the numbers, the expectations, comparisons with the physical sales and a whole lot more, as the offerings unfold through the holiday weekend.

TDN: It seems like every digital sale you are announcing a record number of entries! The sheer size of the December catalogue must be a positive? What does that say about the digital climate?

Leif Aaron: Buyers and sellers are becoming increasingly comfortable with the platform. It takes time to change people's buying habits, and obviously, digital sales are very different from a live auction. Digital is being embraced by more and more owners who are conscious of costs, stress on horses and the narrow buying base at the end of marathon auctions.

TDN: The share you are offering in Flameaway (Scat Daddy), do you envisage more and more stallion shares being traded this way? Is this a growing trend? How did this opportunity develop?

Leif Aaron: I think it's actually a case of history repeating itself, many readers will remember the days when Fasig-Tipton did stallion access. In the early 2000's, Fasig-Tipton was selling seasons, shares and options online. We are happy to try things for sellers, but mainly it depends on the stallion, stud farm and the market. Just like the digital auction it must make sense for everyone involved.

I've been begging farms to save me a couple very desirable seasons to auction in February Digital. That way when they have to say 'no' to multiple breeders, they can always offer the option of 'you can buy the last one' in February online. That hasn't gained any traction as of yet and I really am puzzled as to why.

As far as how the Flameaway season came about, Chance Timm contacted me and said I have a client with a share and a LBR in a leading first-crop sire, can we go on the website? Darby Dan was kind enough to oblige and here we are.

Leif Aaron | Fasig-Tipton

TDN: Did you expect to get so many broodmares, especially just after the physical sales? Digital sales run August, October etc., so the timing has to be right, correct?

Leif Aaron: We were confident we would have a lot of breeding stock. So far on the platform we have had most of our success with broodmares and racing stock. What was a surprise to us was the number of weanlings and yearlings that were entered for this sale.

We've had some success with young horses, so I think that part of the market is currently developing online. Time of year does have to make sense in general for certain types of horses–breeding stock etc.–to sell well, but racehorses can sell no matter the time of year.

TDN: Speaking of racehorses, online seems like a perfect place to trade them (which is a very liquid market at the moment due to high purses). Could you speak about that a little? Why are racehorses maybe more suited to the digital space?

Leif Aaron: I touched on this a little bit earlier, but racehorses are in huge demand right now because of record high purses. With a digital sale, the seller can keep the horse in the barn and continue with training, while the potential buyer gets to look at the horse and look at the vetting. They are getting a lot more information than they would through the claim box.

In general, the horse racing ownership community are traders. It only makes sense for us to have a platform for those owners and trainers to buy and sell.

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