‘We Will See’: Non-Traditional Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May Sale Tuesday

[Wandering Eyes]

TIMONIUM, MD – After a week of rainy days, it was a picture perfect morning and the buyers were out in force at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Monday, a day ahead of the reshuffled Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The auction had originally been scheduled over two sessions, but has been condensed into one day after several postponements to the under-tack preview.

“Today I am really positive about the action,” consignor David Scanlon said from his barn Monday morning. “I do think people will be in a little bit of a hurry to get their work done, but the activity has been really good. We started showing about a quarter to eight this morning and it's been very steady all day. If it continues for the day, I will be pretty positive about the sale.”

The under-tack preview for the auction, which started a day later than scheduled due to the heavy rain last week, was conducted over sloppy conditions Wednesday and half of Thursday, when additional rain caused a halt to action. When the preview resumed Sunday, it was billed as a gallop show without traditional timed workouts.

“Most of our horses went down there and they basically breezed, but it was more of a racehorse breeze, no whipping and driving,” said consignor Clovis Crane. “It was a controlled breeze, which is a breath of fresh air. I think the buyers are appreciative of it. And I also think the buyers are going to be rewarded two ways. They are going to be rewarded with a sounder horse after the sale and I think they are going to get a discounted price. Buyers should come in droves for something like this because it's not very often they have the pendulum swing in their favor. And the pendulum has definitely swung to the buyer's favor this time.”

Scanlon said after some anxious moments at the thought of not breezing horses, there were some positive things to take from the gallops Sunday.

“I think people were hesitant and some of the consignors were thinking they wanted to jump off a bridge,” Scanlon said. “But then after it all went down and everyone witnessed the visuals of it, there have been a lot of positive comments. As it went on, people got a little emboldened and breezed a little faster, but they all did it in hand. People weren't really driving the horses. So the horses looked like they did it within themselves. I think that is something we can really take forward from there. People said, 'I really saw the horse's natural stride and they weren't rushed off their feet and they weren't scrambling, it's nice.' So I actually think there are some things we can take away from this that are really positive.”

Tom McCrocklin | Fasig-Tipton

One consignor who did stick to the gallop-only plan Sunday was Tom McCrocklin.

“Saturday we were told there was damage to the base of the track on the inside,” McCrocklin said. “So at that point, Saturday afternoon [Fasig-Tipton president] Boyd [Browning] told us we would not be breezing on Sunday and that we would gallop. I interpreted that–and I probably should have asked for more information–was that we were going to gallop. So I galloped my horses. As the day went on, everybody was going faster and faster. And then at that point, it was a free for all. I was told by Boyd it was a gallop show, so I galloped. Other people chose to breeze. I don't have an issue with the people who wanted to breeze. It's their horse, it's their decision. But we galloped ours and we are going to see how it goes.”

Summing up the entirety of the preview, McCrocklin said, “So basically, you've got 40% of the catalogue that breezed in the slop and then you have 60% of the catalogue that went on a fast track yesterday. Some galloped, some two-minute licked and some breezed.”

From a catalogue of 586 lots, the number of withdrawn horses as of Monday afternoon was remaining steady at 138 despite all the changes to the sale's format.

“One thing that Fasig-Tipton did, they said if you went in Sunday's under-tack show, they will not charge you an RNA commission if you buy your horse back,” McCrocklin said. “So I don't think you're going to see all the scratches you normally would see on the horses who went yesterday. And you might even see some really odd looking RNA's because they are playing with house money. There is no commission to buy my horse back for $400,000. Normally it would cost me $20,000. Now it's a free roll.”

Representatives of prominent owner Mike Repole, who has been vocal in his concerns about the demand for speed at the 2-year-old under-tack shows, were on the sales grounds in Timonium Monday. Asked if Sunday's gallops could increase participation from buyers with similar concerns, McCrocklin said, “I don't know if it will attract new buyers, but I think maybe a few more skeptics will participate now, or a few more critics will participate now. But at the same time, I feel for people who have significant financial investment in a horse for months thinking they are going to breeze and they galloped. So it cuts both ways.”

David McKathan of Grassroots Training and Sales does not expect to see increased participation from that sector of the market.

“They like to tell you that,” McKathan of critics of the breeze shows. “But those guys that pretend they only want to see a horse gallop probably won't buy anything. I am sure Repole will buy one. He's got a point to make. He might even buy two. But I don't know who is going to buy all the rest of them. We will see.”

Dave Scanlon | Fasig-Tipton

Consignors do agree that the lack of official breeze and gallop-out times will force buyers to do more homework.

“I think you're really going to have to look at the horse, see how he is walking,” Scanlon said. “It's going to become a little bit of a shank contest and a judgement and then you've got to add in how you thought the horse moved. It's a little bit more homework for buyers. Which is OK. We buy them off a 10-foot walk [at the yearling sales]. They get to see them gallop.”

McCrocklin said, “I kind of have a bit of a smile on my face because now buyers are going to be forced to do what I do at yearling sales. You are going to have to dig a little deeper in your tool box to find the horse you want. You are not going to have all the metrics there in black and white.”

While the 2-year-old sales have become polarized with strong demand for the few horses at the very top and less demand for the rest of the offerings, the lack of black-and-white metrics may help to spread out the buyers, McCrocklin observed.

“Everybody always talks about how top heavy the 2-year-old sales are,” McCrocklin said. “Well, everyone has the same metrics, stride lengths, gallop-out times, breeze times. Guess what? That takes you to the same top horses. Without that, we will see what happens.”

McKathan concluded, “There are a lot of good horseman here. A lot of the guys here can read between the lines. They don't have to see the :10 1/2 and :10 flats to buy horses.”

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