By Jessica Martini
Fasig-Tipton will host the first juvenile auction of the season when the Florida 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale gets underway Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the Gulfstream Park paddock. The 2015 edition of the Florida sale produced several standouts on the racetrack, led by undefeated champion Nyquist (Uncle Mo), as well as Grade I winner Mor Spirit (Eskendereya) and graded stakes winners Annual Report (Harlan's Holiday) and Flexibility (Bluegrass Cat).
“It was remarkable success,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. said of the racetrack performance of last year's sales graduates. “It wasn't just Nyquist and nobody else. It was a really nice group of graduates.”
Browning admitted the 154 horses catalogued for this year's renewal of the sale have a tough act to follow.
“It's a really high bar to meet in terms of performance over the next 12 months, but this is a really good group of 2-year-olds in the stable area this year,” he said. “I am really optimistic–there are really good horses on the grounds.”
Browning wasn't the only one feeling optimistic as activity was frenetic at the sales barns on a brilliantly sunny day in South Florida Tuesday.
“We've been swamped,” smiled Dean De Renzo during a brief break in activity. “We haven't stopped since 7:30 this morning. It's a really good feeling when people put together their short lists and give me the list and it's my whole consignment. When the short list includes the whole consignment, that's a good feeling. I'm not sure I've ever had that.”
Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds consigns hip 26, a Malibu Moon filly who was one of 10 juveniles to share the fastest furlong time of :10 flat during Monday's under-tack preview of the Florida sale.
Steve Venosa of SGV Thoroughbreds agreed the strong results from 2015 have made the 2016 renewal of the auction a must-attend.
“A lot of good runners came out of this sale last year and I like the fact that we're having it at Gulfstream–it's a great venue to have a sale,” Venosa said. “It seems like it's being well-received. During the breeze show Monday, there seemed to be as many people there as at the races. So that is very encouraging. We have a solid group of horses and it seems like there are a lot of people here looking at them. Let's just hope Wednesday night they decide to raise their hands and buy them.”
As the juvenile sales season commences, consignors like Eddie Woods anticipate the recent trend of selectivity in the marketplace will continue.
“The top end will probably be fantastic if you are fortunate enough to be part of it,” Woods said Tuesday. “The top end will be very, very good, but as it drops off I'm not sure how it is going to be when we get into the bread and butter.”
Last year's sale saw 89 horses sell for a total of $20,095,500. The average was $225,792 and the median was $130,000. The top price of $1.4 million was paid for a son of the now-deceased Scat Daddy.
For the second year, Fasig-Tipton will team with Gulfstream Park to offer a $1-million bonus to any sale graduate who can return to win the 2017 GI Florida Derby.
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