By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis
The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of Selected Yearlings concluded Tuesday with a pair of seven-figure transactions led by a $1.45-million daughter of Medaglia d'Oro and figures off slightly from a year ago. Through two days of selling, 156 yearlings grossed $45,570,000. The average dipped 9.4% to $292,115 and the median fell 5% to $237,500. The cumulative buy-back rate was 23.2%. A year ago, 145 horses sold for $46,755,000, an average of $322,448 and a median of $250,000.
“I thought it was a very solid horse sale,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “Tonight felt really good. It's tough to quantify 'it felt really good,' but from start to finish tonight, it seemed like there was increased competition. We're always thrilled when you have a top, top end select sale with a 17.6% RNA rate. I think that is indicative of the strength and the depth of the buying bench in Saratoga.”
Browning continued, “It's a very similar marketplace to last year, but I do think there is a little less competition at the very top end of the market. The market is rational. There is plenty of buyer interest, but as a seller you better not be greedy.”
Consignors continued to remark on a fractured marketplace, with high demand for the top lots and less interest in middle-range horses.
“There is a real polarization in the market,” commented Gainesway's Michael Hernon. “If you've got a special horse in every way, there is obviously a very big price for that horse, but the pedigree must be there, the physical must be there, the animal must hold up to the repeated scrutiny pre-sale and then there is the all-important vet report, which plays a pivotal role. When you get that all together, you find yourself at the top of the market.”
Mandy Pope outlasted Spendthrift Farm's B. Wayne Hughes to land hip 191, a daughter of Darley's Medaglia d'Oro for a sale-topping $1.45 million. Also bringing seven figures, was hip 140, a son of Tapit who sold for $1.25 million to the partnership of Stonestreet Stables and M.V. Magnier of Coolmore. It was the second night in a row the two powerhouse operations teamed up to purchase a well-bred colt. During Monday's opening session, the partnership purchased a son of Pioneerof the Nile for $950,000.
“You continue to see the trend towards emerging and developing partnerships among the top buyers, which don't result in as spirited a bidding competition as we once experienced on the really expensive colts,” Browning commented. “From a business perspective, you can understand why farms are working together to acquire top stallion prospects to spread the risk a little bit. It makes business sense for them, but unfortunately it doesn't make for as good auction results statistically.”
Gainesway's Tapit, enjoying another standout year on the racetrack, dominated the list of top yearlings at the sale. In addition to the seven-figure colt, the gray stallion was represented by five of the sale's top 10 prices.
“If you're in the sales business, particularly in North America, you better make number one on your list Tapit and start from there,” Browning said. “Clearly he is the most commercially desirable stallion in the United States today, as evidenced by the results he continues to achieve on the racetrack. The good news is that it sure looks like there are some other kids in the pipeline that are also going to produce highly marketable and highly desirable horses across the board. And that's what really gives you the span and the breadth of the marketplace. It's an encouraging time from that perspective.”
POPE STRIKES AGAIN
A filly by Medaglia d'Oro, catalogued as Hip 191, sparked a fury of bidding half way through Tuesday's session between the powerhouse pair of Mandy Pope of Whisper Hill Farm and B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm. When Pope, who is known for the quality of her broodmare band, has her eye on a particular filly, it is hard to beat her and it was no surprise when she came out on top with a final bid of $1.45-million, which topped the two-day sale.
“I figured she was going to be around a million, so it was a little higher than I had hoped, but I figured if I wanted her I was going to have to go after her,” Pope remarked just after signing the ticket inside the pavilion.
The dark bay is out of the stakes-winning mare Whisper To Me (Thunder Gulch) and is a half-sister to MGSW Overheard (Macho Uno) and is bred on the same cross responsible for Medaglia d'Oro's recently retired MGISW Mshawish.
When asked what attracted her to the filly, a very happy Pope exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, everything! Everything! Todd [Quast] picked her out to begin with. He had seen her before I did, but she was the standout horse at the sale. She stands over a lot of ground. She has good conformation. As often as she was shown, she always had a forward walk, always had her ears up. You could always go up and pet her. She never pinned her ears. She always had so much class, an unbelievable amount of class. Medaglia d'Oro is hopefully going to have another one of those really special fillies!”
As for her future plans, Pope added, “[The plan is] a long racing career and then a long broodmare career. She will go back to Whisper Hill Farm in Ocala. We will break her this fall and winter and then she will go to GoldMark. When she is ready to go to the races, we will find her a trainer.”
Pope was active just one hip earlier when taking home another daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, Hip 189, for $550,000. Bred by WinStar Farm and consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, the bay is out of SW and GSP “TDN Rising Star” West Coast Swing (Gone West). Her second dam Dance Swiftly (Danzig), a full-sister to American and Canadian champion Dance Smartly, produced GSW “TDN Rising Star” Speightster (Speightstown) and SW Paiota Falls (Kris S.). Pope also signed the $225,000 ticket on Hip 118, a Curlin filly out of Peppy Rafaela (Bernardini), during Monday's session.
“We are picking out what we think are really nice horses,” Pope offered. “I bought the other Medaglia d'Oro [Hip 189]. I thought that was a reasonable price. I thought around $500,000. I bought a less expensive horse, a Curlin filly, for $225,000 and I thought that was a good price for her. She didn't have the pedigree of these other ones, but she again had a lot of class and was a lovely mover. I think I bought three very athletic fillies.” —@CDeBernardisTDN
Pin Oak Product Proves Popular…
Bred by Josephine Abercrombie's Pin Oak Stud, Hip 191 was consigned to the sale by Craig and Holly Bandoroff's Denali Stud. A thrilled Craig Bandoroff was the first to congratulate Pope following the sale.
“It's what you dream of,” remarked Bandoroff, who topped the 2006 Saratoga Sale with Mushka (f, Empire Maker–Sluice, $1.6 million). “You've got to have the horse. You've got to have two people that really want them. That's why you bring them to auction. She is bred by one of the greatest breeders, I think, in Josephine Abercrombie. She was raised in one of the best places by one of the best horsemen in the world, in my opinion, Clifford Barry. People know that and people respect that. It's blood and families people want to get in to and she was a queen.”
As for her popularity, Bandoroff added, “I've been doing this 25 years and I've never had a horse show as many times as she showed. She had something like 280 shows. It was unbelievable. I kept teasing that I've cut off scoping before, but I've never cut off showing before. I always tell people, especially up here, they've got to want to do it. When they come up here, a girl has to act like a woman and man has to act like a man. She was a queen from the first time I ever saw her and she was a queen up here. We are very grateful. She got a great home. It takes an underbidder. God bless Mr. Hughes.”
Though Bandoroff thought very highly of the filly, he admitted to being surprised at her price tag.
“You don't know [what they'll sell for],” he said. “You know the right people are on her, but you don't expect that. She had such a small reserve. It was a joke. You hope the stars align. They don't align very often, but this time they did. Those are two of the strongest [buyers] in the business right?”
Bandoroff echoed the sentiments of many other buyers and sellers in his observations of the market.
“We needed that,” the Kentucky-based horseman commented. “We came up here with a very good group of horses and it has been very tough to get the stars to align. I think people are bidding with restraint. I think the market is better tonight. We are getting horses sold at the lower end of the values where I have them, but you know, that [$1.45-million sale] made up for a lot of it.” —@CDeBernardisTDN
TAPIT COLT JUMP STARTS FASIG TUESDAY
The 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale had its first seven-figure sale early during Tuesday's second session when Stonestreet Farm's John Moynihan signed the ticket at $1.25 million for a son of Tapit. Like Monday's session-topping Pioneerof the Nile colt, this handsome gray yearling was consigned by Gainesway and will race for a Stonestreet/Coolmore partnership. Hip 140 is out of Rote (Tiznow) and is a full-brother to GII Gazelle S. runner-up Royal Obsession.
'TDN Rising Star' Royal Obsession herself was a million-dollar Saratoga yearling when she sold to Regis Farms in 2014. Stonestreet purchased the filly for $1.15 million when she sold as part of the Regis dispersal at the 2015 Keeneland November sale.
“He's a beautiful Tapit,” Moynihan said of the yearling. “He's a beautiful horse and we hope to have a lot of fun with him. We thought he was one of the two best horses in the sale. As Tapits go, he is one of the best ones I've ever seen.”
Moynihan said the two full-siblings do not share many similarities.
“He is completely different from Royal Obsession,” Moynihan explained. “She is big and lanky. This horse has a little more muscle. He's a little bit tighter and looks like he'll be early. I actually prefer him physically to her.”
Of the Stonestreet/Coolmore connection, Moynihan added, “We have always had partnerships. You get to spread your risk and you don't have as much exposure. If it works out to be great, it's great for everybody. And if it doesn't work out, and a lot of them don't, it lessens your exposure by half.”
Hip 140 was bred by Sheikh Abdullah Almaddah's Marbat. Almaddah purchased Rote, in foal to Distorted Humor, for $260,000 at the 2011 Keeneland November sale.
“We thought he was a seven-figure horse for sure and the stallion is on fire,” Gainesway's Michael Hernon said after the seven-figure transaction. “He is a big, rangy, well-grown May foal and he had a ton of action leading up to this, so we are delighted with the result. Stonestreet and Coolmore combined here to take him home and it is a great return for the breeder. He is a very good prospect for the stallion.”
Rote was bred back to Tapit this year. @JessMartiniTDN
ANOTHER TAPIT FOR CHINA HORSE CLUB
The China Horse Club's Michael Wallace went to $800,000 Tuesday evening to secure their third Tapit yearling of the sale Hip 164, a half-brother to MGISW Princess of Sylmar (Majestic Warrior). They picked up two other progeny of the country's leading sire during Monday's session, going to $750,000 for Hip 27, a half-brother to GSW Corfu (Malibu Moon); and $500,000 for Hip 108, a filly out of GSW New Normal (Forestry).
“There were things we saw gleams of that we liked,” Wallace said. “He has a good mind and handled the week well. He just didn't put a foot out of line and we are really happy to get him.”
Bred by Barronstown Stud, the gray colt is out the stakes-placed mare Storm Dixie (Catienus) and his half-sister Princess of Sylmar won four Grade Is, including the GI Kentucky Oaks, and earned $2,017,220 before selling to Shadai Farm at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November Sale for $3.1-million. Hunter Valley Farm, who consigned the colt to this sale, bought him for $500,000 as a weanling at the Keeneland November Sale.
“He's by a champion stallion and a half to a highly talented horse,” Wallace remarked out back beside the walking ring. “He is a colt we were really keen to get after. He's a powerful horse, good on the shank, handled [the sale] well. Hunter Valley had done a great job with him, so we are really happy to get a horse like him.”
As for future plans for the colt, Wallace said, “We will get him home and figure out what is next. We will get through September, break him and see how he gets on.” —@CDeBernardisTDN
SALLUSTO, ALBINA GET CAFFEINATED
Bloodstock agents Nick Sallusto and Hanzly Albina helped continue the string of top-selling yearlings by Tapit when signing for a filly by Gainesway's leading sire out of graded stakes winner Super Espresso (Medaglia d'Oro) at $750,000. The duo were acting for an undisclosed domestic client.“
She is royally bred, by the best stallion, arguably, in the world and she had the physical to match,” Albina explained after signing the ticket on hip 168, who was consigned by Bluewater Sales on behalf of breeder Bobby Flay.
Sallusto added, “If she wins a graded stakes, you can't put a value on her. That's the reason you buy a filly like this.”
Flay campaigned Super Espresso to a victory in the GIII Allaire du Pont Distaff S., a runner-up effort in the 2011 GI Ruffian H. and a third-place finish in the GI Ogden Phipps S. The mare's first foal, a filly by Tapit, sold for $1 million at the 2014 Keeneland September sale. Another Tapit filly RNA'd for $975,000 at last year's September sale.
“Super Espresso has had three Tapit fillies in a row and they all look exactly like the mother and the mother is a super model,” Flay said. “One after the other have looked fantastic. I have one on the track now, the 2-year-old. I sold the 3-year-old, kept the 2-year-old and now just sold the yearling. She's got a Bernardini filly on the ground and she is bred back to Bernardini.” @JessMartiniTDN
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