Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale Wednesday

HALLANDALE, FL – The juvenile auction season kicks off Wednesday afternoon with the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale which gets underway at 4 p.m. in the Hallandale track's picturesque paddock. A catalogue of 162 2-year-olds had been reduced by 43 scratches as of Tuesday afternoon and

Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. is expecting the buzzword for Wednesday's sale to be “quality” as the Thoroughbred auction scene continues its trend of polarized, all-or-nothing, demand.

“There is going to be tremendous demand for the horses that the buyers perceive to be the quality offerings,” Browning said. “It will be tough on some of the other ones. But there are a lot of nice horses on the sales grounds. And there are a lot of really good buyers on the grounds.”

A day after a well-attended under-tack show Monday, activity at the sales barns was frenetic Tuesday.

“I have never worked so hard in such a short period,” admitted consignor Cary Frommer in a rare break from showing on a gloriously sunny day in South Florida. “At one point we had six shows going on at one time and that's over my head.”

Nick DeMeric agreed the large number of shoppers at the sales grounds was heartening.

“We all seem to be busy in the barns–which is always a positive and makes us feel good,” DeMeric said. “There is nothing worse than having your crew all dressed to the nines and having nothing to do. So the activity is a very positive sign.”

On his expectations for the sale, DeMeric added, “I am sure it will be wonderful in places and hopefully it will have a little more depth to it than what we've seen in recent years, but we are cautiously optimistic and we are taking a positive view.”

On his hopes for a broader middle market, DeMeric explained, “I think the sale company has done a good job of bringing a good cross-section of horses here, certainly the top is very strong. There is definitely something for everyone here and I think the message is getting out that you don't have to have half a million dollars to play here, you can buy some very nice horses in the $150,000 range and even less–the history books are proving that to be true. If that message filters through to the general horse buying public, this sale should go from strength to strength.”

Frommer, who sold a

$1-million colt by Uncle Mo at last year's Gulfstream sale, admitted she and her partners tailored their approach to the yearling sales to the increasingly discriminating demands of buyers.

“We played a lot more and bought a much more select yearling last year because we recognize that's the trend, people want the best,” she said. “I feel like we bought the best our money could buy and stretched farther money-wise than we ever have before. Now we'll find out if it was worth it.”

The approach already seems vindicated by the reaction of potential bidders.

“I have a middle market horse or two here and I don't know how we'll fare there,” she admitted. “They are absolutely zoned in on my standouts.”

Consignor Clovis Crane found reason for optimism ahead of Wednesday's sale.

“All of the major players are here and it looks like there are plenty of buyers, so I am hopeful,” Crane said Tuesday. “There is a lot of excitement–there is a bit of a buzz. A lot of times sales feel flat and you can feel it coming, but there is a little bit of a buzz with this one.”

Crane will offer four juveniles at the Gulfstream sale and will be looking for buyers interested in more than just the top-tier horses.

“I am the middle-market guy,” Crane smiled. “I am not the guy who is giving hundreds of thousands of dollars for my horses. I'm trying to buy a real good athlete. I might not have the pedigree that some people do, but I try to buy a good athlete and bring it to market sound and healthy and ready to go. I think my horses have performed well enough. I didn't have any :10 flats, but they all made good videos, they were all professional and they were ready to do everything they did and they came back well. I've done all I can do, my horses have done all they can do, so now it's just a matter of whether the buyers are here. My horses are sound and ready to sell, so I am optimistic.”

This will be the third year that Gulfstream Park has hosted Fasig-Tipton's boutique juvenile auction, which produced subsequent GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist (Uncle Mo) in its first edition in Hallandale in 2015. The location and facility continue to draw high marks.

“Miami has that little bit of magic to it that you can't recreate elsewhere,” DeMeric confirmed. “And with Mr. [Frank] Stronach's fabulous facility here at Gulfstream, it does provide a wonderful backdrop for what we are doing.”

Browning agreed the sale, after stops at Palm Meadows and Adena Springs South, has found a fitting home in South Florida

“It takes a while to establish the consistency, the familiarity and the comfort,” Browning said. “It's hard to characterize those intangibles, but I think the buyers really love watching horses breeze Monday and train in advance of the under-tack show over a track that they are familiar with–it's a lovely facility. And I think there will be a really strong buyer bench here for Wednesday.”

Frommer said she has noticed that the sale continues to attract a wider audience each year.

“Last year, I saw people I didn't see the first year and this year I think there are even more people coming,” she confirmed.

During last year's Gulfstream sale, four horses sold for

$1 million or more, including the $1.8-million sale-topping colt by Tapit. In all, 66 juveniles sold at the 2016 auction for a total of $21,590,000 and an average of $327,121. The median was $250,000. Of the 96 horses offered, 30 failed to sell for a buy-back rate of 31.3%.