By Jessica Martini
TIMONIUM, MD – Buyers were out in force at the Maryland State Fairgrounds on a balmy Sunday morning in Timonium, a day ahead of the start of the two-session Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Trainer Chad Summers, a day removed from his first GI Preakness Stakes victory with Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map), was busy on the sales grounds. Also making the trek an hour so north after saddling horses in Saturday's Preakness at Laurel were conditioners Steve Asmussen, Danny Gargan, and Dallas Stewart, as well as the Legion Bloodstock team which was represented by fourth-place finisher Ocelli.
Trainer Bob Baffert was on hand, as was his longtime client Michael Lund Petersen, whose acquisitions at the Timonium auction include champion Gamine (Into Mischief).
Consignors and buyers are navigating through Fasig-Tipton's new under-tack preview format, with the sales company not publishing official times for works during the two-day show held last Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I think everybody is taking a slightly different approach, but at the end of the day you still get to see the athletic horses you want to see,” Tristan deMeric said outside the deMeric Sales barn Sunday morning. “They have to separate themselves a little bit back at the barn, as well as what they did on the track and how they move. It's very similar, but [buyers] are all approaching it a little different without the actual published time.”
Joe Pickerell said buyers shopping at his Pick View consignment seemed to have figured out a system with the new format.
“They seem to have a pretty good handle on it,” he said. “I think everybody has tack show notes, whether it's clockers notes or just video notes. But everybody seems to have a list when they show up. It's very similar with traditional clockings.
It feels like everybody is going through the business the same way as usual. It's business as usual.”
Action at the barns has been more spread out this year after the under-tack preview was shortened to two days to avoid rainy weather on its originally scheduled Thursday session.
“The last three days have been busy enough, but there hasn't been a ton of traffic on the sales grounds,” deMeric said. “But we are seeing enough people this morning. We are lucky we have a nice group of horses and we are looking forward to seeing how they are received in the sales ring.”
Jorge Villagomez said activity at his JVC Training and Sales consignment has been brisk.
“On day one, Thursday, we were busy showing and we stayed like that and today it's the same thing,” Villagomez said. “It's been non-stop.”
Villagomez said the untimed works meant less pressure for consignors.
“Everybody has been positive [about the new format],” Villagomez said. “I felt no pressure breezing my horses. We didn't ask them for their lives. We let them do what they would do on their own and they performed well. This is the first time I felt no pressure going up there with my horses.”
Asked how he thought buyers would respond come sales time, Villagomez said, ” It's going to be interesting. We don't know what to expect right now. We have to wait until the sale gets started and hope for the best. That's all we can do.”
DeMeric said he was excited to see how the sale would unfold in the wake of the untimed preview.
“We don't have a great line on what's going to happen,” he said. “But we are going to be reasonable with our reserves and just see what the market says the horses are worth. We have a lot of nice horses that we believe in and hopefully the market receives them well.”
Overall, Pickerell said he expects to see a familiar trend when selling gets started Monday morning.
“I think the market is strong for the good horses and that's going to continue,” he said. “It's more of the same from the past few years.”
Last year's Midlantic May sale, plagued by rainy weather, was conducted in one continuous session and despite the conditions, produced its highest ever gross, average, and median. A total of 326 horses grossed $44,192,500 for an average of $135,560 and a median of $60,000. The auction produced four million-dollar juveniles, led by a $1.1-million daughter of Girvin.
Back to its traditional two-day format this year, the Midlantic May sale will be held Monday and Tuesday with each session beginning at 11 a.m.
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