‘We Are Ecstatic’: More Records Fall at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga

[Wandering Eyes]

A week on from the blockbuster Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, more records fell at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Monday when the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale concluded with highwater marks for gross, average and a record-tying median. During two sessions, 199 New York-bred yearlings sold for a $23,870,000. The average was $119,950–up 15.1% from a year ago, while the median remained constant at $85,000.

With 55 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 21.7%. It was 26.3% a year ago.

“This sale hit the quinella,” Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said. “The gross is up, the average is up, the median is up and the RNA rate is down. From every statistical category it was an improved sale. We are ecstatic.”

Marc Gunderson matched the highest bid from Sunday's opening session of the auction when going to $525,000 for a colt by Practical Joke from the Indian Creek consignment Monday. That bid equaled the figure for a filly by Early Voting purchased Sunday night by Sabby and Gargan Racing.

“I think there is a high demand for really nice horses, good physicals by proper stallions,” Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland said of the yearling market. “There is such a high demand for that. I don't think it matters what sale they are in, we are going to see those horses well received. And then there is that separation in the market for anything less than that when it starts to get a little thin.”

Reflecting on four record-setting days of sales in Saratoga, Browning said, “There was a fantasic marketplace. We had a really strong group of horses on the grounds for the New York-bred sale, as well as the main sale. That's what happens when you have quality horses. This New York-bred program is the best state-bred program certainly in the United States. There continues to be a concerted effort to improve it with the breeders and with NYRA and I think we have to give credit to the political arena which has supported Thoroughbred racing in the state of New York and it's thriving. That is reflected in these sales results today. There are lots of reason for optimism for New York and for Kentucky and in several areas of the United States. People are enthusiastic to own quality racehorses right now. And we are fortunate that we have the ability to offer that in Saratoga.”

'It's a Surprise': Practical Joke Colt Brings $525k

Marc Gunderson, bidding over the internet from overseas while on the phone with bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto on site in Saratoga, went to a co-sale topping $525,000 to acquire a colt by Practical Joke (hip 502) during Monday's session of the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. The yearling was consigned by Indian Creek on behalf of his breeder, Jeffrey Tucker's Stone Bridge Farm.

“When they are singled out like that and you identify them as in the top couple percentile in the sale, you have to be ready [to pay that],” Sallusto said. “When you look at what happened at the select sale, it was a pretty good foreshadowing for what was coming here for anything that measured up at that level.”

Of his exchange with Gunderson during the bidding, Sallusto said, “Marc doesn't need any encouragement. He understands the market. He is deeply invested in the industry.”

The colt was the first horse Indian Creek had offered for Stone Bridge.

“This is a horse that we always loved at the farm and it was really neat to see him come here and step up and really enjoy and thrive in the sales process,” said Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland. “[Tucker] sent weanlings down to us in the fall. Heidi [Fischer], who manages his farm, does an amazing job. So we just tried to keep everybody healthy and happy and here we are.”

The yearling is out of the unraced Cuello de Luna (Cherokee Run), who is a half-sister to Stone Bridge-bred stakes winner Neck of the Moon (More Than Ready).

“We knew he was a nice horse and well-prepped, but of course at that price, it's a surprise,” Tucker said when reached by phone. “We are excited. I can tell you my phone has rung several times already with people who have some connection to me and the horse.”

A longtime New York breeder, Tucker currently has five broodmares.

“I sold my farm in New York in 2001 and then leased back some of one of the properties on Clark Road in Ganesvoort,” Tucker said. “The lease is about to come to an end and I will send my mares to Rock Ridge. I keep what I think the market won't pay me a fair price for, but for the most part I sell.”

'Doesn't Get Better Than That': Street Sense Filly to Hudson River Farm

Ed Swyer of Hudson River Farm was recently honored for his contributions to steeplechasing and, while he was seated in front of noted steeplechase trainer Keri Brion after purchasing a filly by Street Sense (hip 522) for $400,000 Monday in Saratoga, it was bloodstock agent Alan Quartucci seated next to him who quickly quipped, “We are not making her a jumper.”

The yearling, bred by Thirty Year Farm and consigned by Paramount Sales, is out of Evening Primrose (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-sister to group winner Sizzling (Ire). The mare's first foal, Cosmic Candy Girl (Twirling Candy), was second on debut at Saratoga July 31.

“Ed loves turf and she is out of a Galileo mare,” Quartucci said.

“She is out of a great family. Her half by Twirling Candy ran a good second up here. And the filly looked the part. She's really nice.”

Swyer added, “She has a great pedigree. That was really the thing that got me interested to begin with. And then I looked at the horse. Everything checked out. I didn't expect to spend that much money.”

Asked if the filly's future potential as a broodmare was a factor in the purchase, Swyer said, “Absolutely. I prefer fillies. And a New York-bred. It doesn't get better than that.”

Eatons in a New York State of Mind

John Eaton and his wife Kathy got outbid at the select sale last week, but the Montana breeder was determined not to leave empty handed Monday at Saratoga, ultimately going to $390,000 to acquire a filly by Constitution (hip 408) from the Eaton Sales consignment.

“I got outbid on a Gun Runner filly in the select sale and I decided I wasn't going to get outbid today,” Eaton said. “So it could have gotten more expensive, but it didn't, so I am happy. Now we have enough money to buy a broodmare in November.”

Hip 408 | Fasig-Tipton

The yearling is the first foal out of Too Sexy (Quality Road), a stakes winner who was trained by the late Christophe Clement, and was co-bred by Kathleen Burke Schweizer and Daniel J. Burke's Longford Farm and Clement Stable. Longford Farm purchased the mare for $450,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton November sale.

“Physically she was nice, mentally she was very good,” Eaton said of the yearling's appeal. “Everybody I talked to knew she was brought up [at Longford] and they bred her really well. I thought it was a wide open young family. Even the second dam [Cake Baby {Stormy Atlantic}] is a young mare. I think she is a 2013 and has been bred well.”

Cake Baby, in foal to Quality Road, sold at the same 2022 auction as her daughter and went for $750,000 to Blanford Bloodstock.

Eaton, who was co-owner with First Row Partners of two-time champion Goodnight Olive and co-bred last year's champion sprinter Straight No Chaser (Speightster) with Steve Laymon, admitted he made his purchase Monday with an eye to the filly's future after the racetrack.

“She will become a broodmare for us,” he said. “That's always an option when I am buying, I am looking for that. I only have three mares [in Kentucky at Hidden Brook]. But I want to build it up. So this is a start.”

Eaton said his plan is to sell colts out of his broodmares, while retaining fillies. But with four straight colts, Straight No Chaser's dam Margarita Friday (Johannesburg) hasn't gotten the memo.

“Margarita Friday is in foal to Gun Runner,” he said. “Unfortunately, a colt. We have four colts in a row. We pretty much sell the colts and we need her to have a filly.”

Monday's New York-bred purchase falls in line with another purchase the couple made recently.

“We just bought a home in New York, so we will be here in the summers,” Eaton said. “We live in Montana. It's a long drive, so when we get here, we are going to stay for a few months. We want New York-breds. I am thinking of sending one of our mares here to foal.”

As for a trainer for the yearling, Eaton said, “[Trainer] Miguel Clement came over–he had the dam–and they still own 25% of the mare. So that is certainly an option. Obviously they do a great job and he's had a great meet so far. Our racing partnership–First Row Partners–all of our horses are with Chad Brown. But this is outside of that partnership. I will leave it open, don't know if she will be dirt or turf, that will a little bit make a decision for us.”

Eaton said he was done shopping following his lone purchase of the auction, but before heading out, he said, “The greatest part about the horse business is you have hope. Sometimes in life, you don't have hope. But you have hope when you come and buy a horse. Most of the time, it doesn't work out, but you never know.”

Hip 403 | Fasig-Tipton

A Sales Success Generations in the Making

When trainer Chad Brown made a final bid of $370,000 to acquire a filly by Nyquist (hip 403) on behalf of Klaravich Stables Monday at Fasig-Tipton, cries of excitement and congratulations went up from near the back walking ring. Breeder Ned Williams and partners Mike Matese and Jack Murray have developed four generations of the filly's family and were recording their biggest sales success to date.

“We usually do race, but occasionally we sell,” Williams said. “But Nyquist has been so hot. My partners, Mike Matese and Jack Murray, and I decided that she was almost too nice for us to keep. So we thought we would try her in the sale.”

Of expectations Monday, Williams said, “I don't even know. We just were hoping that she would sell well and go to a nice barn. And we are honored that Klaravich and Chad Brown bought her. We know that she will be well taken care of. We own the mare and it's a family that we've had for four generations and we worked on this family. So the family means a lot to us.”

The yearling is the second foal out of stakes-placed Three Hawk (Violence), who in turn is a daughter of graded winner Maddalena (Good and Tough). Maddalena is the dam of graded winner Bern Identity (Bernstein), as well as the multiple stakes-placed Battle of Evermore (Scat Daddy).

“We were up here when he was running,” Matese recalled of Battle of Evermore with a laugh. “He won, but I had shorts on, so I couldn't go in the winner's circle. My wife was in the winner's circle and we have that photo of Battle of Evermore, so we have a long history with that family.”

For consignor Chris Shelli of Fort Christopher's Thoroughbreds, Monday's result was the completion of a well-developed plan.

“Ned Williams has been an amazing client for a long time,” Shelli said. “And Stuart Morris and I had a plan for that horse literally before we bred her. Our plan was to foal her in New York, raise her in Kentucky and come back up here and sell her. Luckily for us and the owners, that plan came to fruition. It happens once in a while.”

Three Hawk, one of just two mares owned by the partners, produced a filly by Honest Mischief this year and was bred back to Gunite.

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