Fresh off the heels of a solid yearling sale in California, and with an upcoming stop in New York in a couple weeks, the team at Fasig-Tipton shifts its focus this week to Maryland, where it will hold its two-day Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale in Timonium Monday and Tuesday.
Monday's session will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET and features a catalogue of 124 head. The remainder of the 412-horse catalogue will be offered on Tuesday beginning at 11:00 a.m.
Last year's catalogue was somewhat larger at 526, grossing $10,266,400 at an average of $26,597 (down 10.1% from $29,578 in 2021) and median of $15,000 (down 25% year-over-year from $20,000). The 2022 buyback rate was a relatively low 17% and in line with what it was 12 months earlier.
“Everyone has choices as to where they want to market their yearlings, so that certainly plays into it,” Fasig's Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said when asked about the smaller catalogue. “We do have a supplement of 20 horses. I think a lot of horses got sold as weanlings and a lot of the end users bought weanlings to race.”
She continued, “A lot of the programs [are strong]–Virginia has become really popular–and some people probably have some uncertainties with the market. If they know that the market is very strong at the top, some might feel that they aren't in that top percentile, and they have the ability to take them to the races, a lot of them are choosing to do that instead.”
The 2022 sale topper was a $320,000 Maryland-bred Uncle Mo filly (hip 158) purchased by Legion Bloodstock, agent from the consignment of Scott Mallory, agent for Matt Dorman's Determined Stud. The same buyers and sellers were also responsible for one of the co-second-toppers at $200,000.
Maryland and Pennsylvania-breds by popular Kentucky stallions dominated the top of the market last year, and this year's catalogue features plenty of sire power as well, with the likes of highly coveted established sires such as Good Magic, Gun Runner, Munnings, Nyquist and Twirling Candy represented; youngsters by each of the top seven 2023 freshman sires on offer; and yearlings from the first crops of many of the most popular first-season stallions, including one by that group's decided standout, Authentic, available.
“We have a lot of popular sires that people are looking for to either take to the races or pinhook,” Bennett said. “I think we have the sires, and from what I'm hearing from a lot of people, we have good physicals. Some people have said, 'This is a stronger consignment for me this year than it was last year,' and last year they had a good, strong consignment. So, we're hopeful that buyers will perceive these offerings the same way and, hopefully, come Monday and Tuesday, we'll have some good competition.”
Bennett also noted that there have been plenty of significant updates to the catalogue.
The seemingly ever-present phenomenon of market polarization will presumably remain relevant in Maryland, but Bennett notes that one strength of the Midlantic market is its diversity
“I don't think there's going to be anything different this year than from years past,” she said. “We're just fortunate that our marketplace can feed to so many different racing jurisdictions and avenues. We have lots of people who come to buy horses to pinhook to the 2-year-old sales next year–a lot come to Maryland to bring horses back to the May sale, which has been very popular and works well–and they've had a lot of successes that way. We also have horses who might work better for folks who run in the different [nearby] areas, be it Pennsylvania, New York; smaller outfits taking shots. Some of the horses might not be in some peoples' minds as commercially appealing, but that's not to say those horses can't run as well as a high-dollar one. You just really never know what's going to happen.”
With past sale graduates like 2022 GI Spinaway S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Leave No Trace (Outwork), purchased the prior year for just $40,000, there figure to be plenty of buyers from throughout the Midlantic region and beyond taking their shots Monday and Tuesday.
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