Fasig-Tipton November Remains Stable

After the dust had settled following a blitzkrieg of selling at the 2014 renewal of the Fasig-Tipton November sale Monday in Lexington, a total of 108 horses had sold for a gross of $63,678,000, with 23 lots exceeding the $1-million mark. 
“Overall, it was a very solid and strong November Sale tonight,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. said at the close of business Monday night. “It was a very, very diverse group of buyers, very widespread both at the top-end and upper-end of the marketplace.” 

The 2014 sales average of $589,611 was up 3% from a year ago, while the median fell 20% to $200,000. There were 24 seven-figure lots in 2013. 

“It was a very similar marketplace to what we saw last year, and I think it was everybody’s expectations coming into this sale that we would see a similar marketplace to last year. You’ve got to be gratified, we sold 23 horses for over $1 million, 12 brought $2 million or more. So we had a wonderful catalogue of horses, great support from our consignors and owners who entrusted some of the most valuable horses in the world with us for this sale, and, all in all, we’re very pleased with the results.” 

Three broodmares sold for $3 million or over, led by sales-topper Princess of Sylmar (Majestic Warrior). Last year’s GI Kentucky Oaks winner will head to Japan after being bought by Shadai Farm for $3.1 million. 

The 12 horses who brought $2 million or more–up from seven a year ago–were purchased by 10 different entities. 
With 44 horses reported not sold, the sale’s buy-back rate was 29%. There were several high-priced buy-backs, including 2012 GI Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can (Proud Citizen), who RNA’d for $4.9 million. 

Of the high-profile RNAs, Browning said, “I think there were some emotional connections with those horses, and there were options available. Some of the sellers weren’t in any kind of distress or need to sell–they have options. I would think you’ll certainly see a couple of the high-priced buybacks compete in Grade I company in 2015. If you’re the seller, you have the ability to set your price and say, ‘These are my expectations.’ And if they don’t get met, they have a viable plan B. A couple of the RNAs, I can promise you, we’ll be recruiting for the 2015 November sale, and hopefully we can convert them into cash at that point in time.”