“We had a great crowd both days, and today I saw people I didn’t see yesterday,” said Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sales director Paget Bennett. “People kept coming and buying horses.”

Those numbers all were down versus 2021, when 381 horses were sold, averaging $29,578, for a total of $11,269,400. The 2021 median was $20,000. That meant that the gross for the sale was off by 8.9%, while the average was down a shade over 10%. The median dropped 25%.

The buyback rate was steady at about 17%.

Notably, though the numbers were down versus 2021, they were stronger than prior years. In fact, this event’s gross was 12.5% above that of 2020, which itself was far higher than 2019 and previously.

“Last year was so good, and I think this year was still very solid,” Bennett said.

The sale’s supplemental catalog of late entries included a dozen horses who went through the ring, and five of them brought bids of $70,000 or more. That included two of the 23 hips that fetched winning bids of $100,000 or more.

“The supplement – there were some sparks that flew in that one,” Bennett said. “So that was good – it’s always encouraging.”

Munnings was the sale’s leading sire by dollar value. His five progeny to sell fetched a total of $468,000, good for an average of $93,600. The leader in average among stallions with two or more to sell was Uncle Mo, whose two offspring selling here averaged $195,000.

The sale’s leading sires by volume were mostly Mid-Atlantic stallions. Of the seven to have 10 or more hips sell, six were based in the region. Of that group, only two, Great Notion and Bourbon Courage, averaged more than $20,000.

Leading regional sire Great Notion had 13 sell for a grand total of $353,000. That was good for an average of $27,154. Twelve by Bourbon Courage sold, generating gross sales of $285,000 and an average of $23,750.

“I felt they might have been a little hard on [regional sires] this sale, but again, not taking away from them that they go on to the races and run,” Bennett said. “I just think people weren’t as on them as I’d like. I don’t know whether they feel that it’s safer with a Kentucky sire. I think some of the newer [regional] sires just haven’t taken hold yet.”

Maryland-breds accounted for 177 of the 386 hips to sell, generating gross sales of more than $4.6 million with an average of $26,120. While those numbers lagged last year, leading one market participant to describe himself as “very disappointed,” another claimed to have bid on “at least 10” Maryland-breds, with all exceeding the hoped-for price range.

Sixty-six Pennsylvania-breds sold, second most of any state. They generated more than $1.7 million in sales at an average price of $26,462. Additionally, 14 Virginia-breds sold for an average of $28,750; five West Virginia-breds brought an average of $41,600; and four New Jersey-breds averaged $34,000.

Monday’s topper, Hip 158, proved to be the two-day high with a winning bid of $320,000 from Legion Bloodstock as agent. Hip 158 is a Maryland-bred Uncle Mo filly out of the Singspiel mare Andina. Andina was a stakes winner, and all five of her offspring to race are winners, including a pair of graded or group stakes winners. She was consigned by Scott Mallory as agent for Determined Stud.

However, the next four highest sellers all came on Tuesday. Those included a Pennsylvania-bred Munnings colt; a pair of Maryland-breds, one a filly by More Than Ready and one a colt by Arrogate; and a Kentucky-bred Violence colt that, as Hip 522, was one of the very last horses through the ring.

The day’s tops sellers:

• Hip 294, a chestnut Munnings colt who brought a top bid of $200,000. Consigned by Becky Davis, Inc. as agent, the colt is out of the winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Frost Fire and is a half to the stakes winner Streetwithnoname. Summer Street signed the ticket
• The Maryland-bred Hip 287 is a filly by More Than Ready out of the Animal Kingdom filly Fluffhead. She’s from the female family of Breeders’ Cup winners Shared Account and Sharing. She was consigned by Scott Mallory as agent for Determined Stud and was purchased by Legion Bloodstock for $200,000.
• Hip 346, a Maryland-bred colt by Arrogate, brought a winning bid of $180,000 from Cash Is King LLC and LC Racing LLC. Consigned by Becky Davis, Inc. as agent, he is out of the Not for Love mare How My Heart Works and is a half-brother to the graded stakes-placed Monday Morning Qb, winner of the 2020 Maryland Million Classic.
• Hip 522 is a Kentucky-bred Violence colt who went for $170,000. Out of the Touch Gold mare Forbidden Kiss, he is a half-brother to eight winners, including a couple of stakes horses. He was consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services LLC as agent, and Cary Frommer signed the ticket.

A consignor “can bring a good horse to this market. You get rewarded, and it rang true again today,” Bennett said. “So it works: they know what the right horses are, and they are not afraid… People feel good about this marketplace.”

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