by Amanda Duckworth
WinStar Farm sprang into action late to secure graded-stakes winner Rose to Gold (Friends Lake) for a sale-topping $450,000 during Monday's second and final session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale in Lexington.
“We were stretched to right where we wanted to be,” said WinStar President Elliott Walden. “We were hoping to get her for $350,000-$400,000.”
Rose to Gold (hip 614) was a supplemental entry into the catalogue and sold as a broodmare prospect. Racing for Kathleen Amaya and Raffaele Centofanti and trained by Salvatore Santoro, she won the 2012 GIII Delta Downs Princess S. and 2013 GIII Honeybee S. and GIII Fantasy S. She retired with earnings of $990,183.
It was Rose to Gold's second trip through the sales ring at Fasig-Tipton's winter sale. The chestnut was purchased by Alexandro Centofanti for $1,400 at this sale as a yearling in 2011.
Rose to Gold is out of Saucy (Tabasco Cat), a full-sister to multiple graded stakes placed Sun Cat.
“[Fasig-Tipton announcer] Terence [Collier] kind of stole my thunder because, if you look at her grandsires, you see Storm Cat, Mr. Prospector and Seattle Slew,” explained Walden. “And Spend a Buck is an influence for speed. That's what we were attracted to.”
Consigned by Hidden Brook, agent, the classy 5-year-old mare will be sent to WinStar's stalwart stallion Tiznow this year.
“I think she will fit well with Tiznow,” Walden explained. “He's worked really well with Mr. Prospector, and he works awesome with Seattle Slew. She has a lot of class. She is great physically and well balanced. He will give her the size that she needs, so I thought she would be a good fit for him.”
The two-day sale concluded Monday with figures down compared to 2014. Overall, 406 horses sold for $10,560,700, an average of $26,012 and a median of $12,000. Last year, the exact same number of horses sold for a total gross of $13,527,500 and an average of $33,319. The median was $16,000. A total of 21 horses sold for six figures this year, while 30 topped that mark in 2014.
“I thought it was pretty much as expected,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said at the close of business Monday. “It sounds like a broken record, but there is more demand than you anticipate for quality offerings and less demand than you anticipate for horses that the buyers don't perceive as having sufficient quality. It is the same trend we saw throughout 2014. It is tough to buy and tough to sale.”
One bright spot for the overall sale was the buyback rate, which declined slightly from 19.6% a year ago to 17.6% this year.
“The day I will be happy is when the buyback rate is zero, but it is a fair marketplace,” Browning concluded.
During Monday's session, 275 horses sold for $6,592,300, an average of $23,972 and a median of $11,000. In 2014, the second day of the sale saw 284 horses gross $9,052,400 and average $31,875. The median was $16,000.
Of Monday's sale-topping Rose to Gold, who entered the ring just two hips from the end as part of the supplemental catalogue, Browning said, “You could hear the chatter start immediately on her. She is really good looking. It wouldn't have mattered if she was hip 614 or hip 14, she was going to be in high demand. If we sold her on Wednesday as a one-horse consignment, she probably would have sold really well.”
Sunday's session topper, Gamay Noir (Harlan's Holiday), was the second-highest priced horse overall at the two-day auction, selling to Justin Casse for $375,000. Casse was bidding on behalf of an undisclosed partnership.
The highest-priced short yearling also went through the ring on Sunday when Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt bought an Into Mischief filly from Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent, for $180,000.
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