FASIG-TIPTON 2YO SALE ENDS WITH GAINS
Frank Vespe- May 18, 2021
Brisk bidding at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic two-year-olds in training sale left local buyers lamenting the high cost of horses. But it put a smile on the face of Paget Bennett, sales director for the company’s Midlanitc office.
“It was unbelievable,” Bennett said after Monday’s opening session. “The pavilion was full of folks and the infield was full of cars… The consignors were here with top horses and people recognized that and battled for them and it made for a great day.”
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Unlike Monday, Tuesday didn’t have the fireworks of a seven-figure horse. What it did have, however, was a steady parade of six-figure purchases that generated higher average and median sales numbers than Monday’s session.
Tuesday saw 187 horses change hands – versus just 29 that did not find a new home – with an average sale of $95,537. That generated a total today of more than $17.8 million in sales
All told, the two-day event generated just shy of $33.7 million in sales. That’s 42.9% higher than last year’s total of nearly $23.6 million.
While last year’s event was hindered by pandemic-inspired uncertainty, plus a late June spot on the calendar separated from the Preakness, this year’s sale also compares favorably to 2019 and beyond. This year’s gross sales were 14.7% higher than those in 2019, and the average, $94,375, was up 4.7%.
This sale also featured a low buyback rate. In all, 357 of the 426 hips through the ring left with new owners, equating to a buyback rate of 16.2%, down from last year’s 19.2% and the prior year’s 23.3%.
Tuesday’s top seller was Hip 492, a Tapit filly out of the Grade 1 winner Gomo, by Uncle Mo. She breezed an eighth of a mile in 10 1/5 seconds.
The filly was consigned by De Meric Sales as agent, and she brought a top bid of $625,000 from Xtreme Racing Stables LLC.
The top Pennsylvania-bred to sell came on Monday, a Munnings colt who brought a winning bid of $460,000.
The sale’s top Maryland-bred sold Tuesday. That was Hip 417, a colt by new sire Gormley, a Grade 1-winning son of Malibu Moon whose oldest are two-year-olds. The colt, who is also Delaware certified, is out of the winning Medallist mare D D Renegade and is a half to the stakes-placed Jamaican Don. It’s also the family of 1991 Kentucky Oaks heroine Lite Light.
Consigned by Chris Seale’s Bird in Hand Stables, the colt worked an eighth in 10 2/5 seconds. The top bid, of $450,000, went to Mayberry Farm.
Only one West Virginia-bred went through the ring, a Strong Mandate filly who fetched a winning bid of $50,000. Of the five Virginia-breds to sell, the top was a Tiznow filly who went for $75,000.
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