Increased Supply to be Met With Increased Demand at Timonium

Bolstered by noteworthy graduates on the track like champion Stellar Wind (Curlin) and last year's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss) and at the 2-year-old sales with some successful pinhooks, an expanded two-day renewal of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale begins Monday in Timonium, MD at 4:00 p.m. Fasig added a day to the sale to accommodate a catalogue of 513 after supplemental entries, compared to 368 some 12 months ago. That added supply appears likely to be met with significant demand, as the auction comes right on the heels of a Keeneland September sale that saw extremely strong trade but many buyers lamenting that they still had orders to fill once the dust had settled.

“We are cautiously optimistic in that we get a lot of repeat buyers at this sale who have had a lot of good luck in the past finding nice horses who have gone on to be success stories whether it be [pinhooking] at a 2-year-old sale or being an end user and racing them themselves,” said Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett. “We're confident that they'll be back, and I think we have a nice catalogue of horses on hand to show them again this year. We feel good about what we have to offer, as do the consignors–they're very excited.”

Last year's sale was topped by a $450,000 Curlin colt consigned by Becky Davis Inc., agent and scooped up by Chuck Zacney, who had acquired the aforementioned Cathryn Sophia here in 2014 for just $30,000. Zacney also purchased 2016's second-priciest lot, a $290,000 Uncle Mo filly consigned by Darby Dan Farm, agent.

The 2016 average was up 25.9% year-over-year to $24,017, while the median was unchanged at $10,000. Eleven youngsters broke the six-figure threshold, compared to just five the year before from a larger book.

Bennett noted that, with so many buyers still looking for yearlings, she expected more people to take the trip to Maryland than have in years past.

“I have to say that I've made some hotel reservations for people that I don't normally have to for this sale, so it's nice to have them on campus for our sale,” she said. “A lot of times they come for the 2-year-old sale, but they're not usually here as shoppers for this sale. This year, it's different, so we're excited to have them and hopefully they'll find horses who fit their programs.”

The buyers list at this sale tends to feature a good mix of end users and pinhookers, and resellers have done well shopping the auction in the past. Among those success stories was a $35,000 Friesan Fire colt picked up by Ocala horseman David Scanlon in 2015. Re-offered at the Fasig Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale the following May, the colt brought $850,000 from Crupi's New Castle Farm on behalf of St. Elias Stable. Handed over to Todd Pletcher and named Army Mule, the Pennsylvania-bred garnered the 'TDN Rising Star' distinction for a head-turning debut romp at Belmont in April.

The resurgence of racing in Maryland has also contributed to the influx of new buyers and sellers.

“I think in the past, this market has always been a good spot to find useful horses, but with the Maryland [racing] program taking off, I think people started to realize that they needed to take horses and bring consignments to Maryland,” Bennett said. “We have a lot of people who are coming with consignments for the first year, and that's nice to see… They're seeing the results, and knowing that it's a good sale, so why not be a part of it?”

Among those with drafts for the first time at this sale will be John and Susan Sykes's Woodford Thoroughbreds, which has eight consigned to the auction after selling two at Fasig July, four at Fasig Saratoga, four at the Fasig Turf Showcase and 32 at KEESEP.

“We've sold at the 2-year-old sale up there the past couple of years, and those horses have done well, and we see some buyers up there who we don't see in other markets,” said Woodford Vice President and General Manager Matt Lyons when asked what went into the decision to bring a consignment to the Midlantic yearling sale. “Our team was up there last year trying to buy yearlings to go to the 2-year-old sale and we thought it was a pretty good market and the nice individuals sold well, so when we sat down this year to decide where we were going to bring horses, we decided to bring a little draft up there and see how we do. I think we've got a couple nice ones, and we're going up there with the idea of selling some and possibly buying some as well.”

Of the Woodford offerings he is particularly excited about, Lyons said, “We've got a nice Bodemeister filly (hip 239) who's just a good, solid, nice filly; a Mineshaft colt (hip 374) who I think will be well received–he's strong, fast-looking; and we've got a Discreet Cat filly (hip 172) too who's a half to a couple of stakes winners. They're just all nice individuals who could work both for pinhookers and end-users. That's how we looked at it–will this horse work for either/or? We're not trying to pigeonhole them.”

Lyons too said he expects those who got shut out at September and other prior sales to resurface in the Old Line State.

“We've seen a real hunger for horses [at previous yearling sales], and we've talked to a lot of people who have said they're not even close to filling their orders, so we're hoping it carries on to the Midlantic sale,” he said. “We're looking forward to being there and hopefully it'll be a good sale on both the buying and selling side.”

He added, “What surprised me at the end of Book 6 [of the September sale] was how many people were still working the barns. That's not normal, really. The pinhookers were still working, there were still end users working in the morning on the last day before the sale started. That's encouraging, and people said, 'I've come here to buy six and have gotten two.' I would certainly hope with my sellers hat on that more people will come to Maryland than normally do–I'd almost expect it. Of course, there are still lots of horses to sell at OBS in their new slot in October, and then following that at Fasig-Tipton October, but I would expect to see some people coming to Maryland who normally wouldn't, especially seeing some of the successful pinhooks we've seen come out of there the last few years.”

After a shorter Monday afternoon session featuring the first 150 lots, the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Yearlings Sale will continue Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. with the remaining offerings. For the complete catalogue, live video and more, visit www.fasigtipton.com. —@BDiDonatoTDN