By Jessica Martini
TIMONIUM, MD – The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, looking to build on a string of successful renewals, begins its two-day run in Timonium Monday morning with bidding slated to begin at 11 a.m.
Following a stakes-packed weekend of racing at nearby Pimlico, the sales barns were bustling Sunday morning at the Maryland State Fairgrounds and consignors were optimistic about strong trade Monday and Tuesday.
“It's been very active,” Cary Frommer confirmed. “There are a lot of people. My consignment has been booming, we've been very busy. And I hope that translates to buyers.”
This season's juvenile sales have featured a broader marketplace, but activity continues to be briskest at the top. Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. looks for that trend to continue at the Midlantic sale.
“The market will continue to gravitate to what they perceive to be quality,” Browning said. “There will be serious competition for what are perceived to be the top horses and I think there will be a solid marketplace below that, as well.”
Consignor J.J. Crupi agreed the market will always be strong for the most prized offerings.
“If you've got the right horse, it's always strong,” Crupi said. “No matter where you are. You could be at Cahokia Downs, if you have the right horse they will find it.”
The Midlantic sale has produced seven-figure transacations in each of the last four years and, as evidenced by the 2019 catalogue cover, boasts an increasingly impressive list of graduates.
“The sale has grown in both popularity and success in recent years,” Browning said. “Consignors have brought us better and better horses and, as a result, the graduates have peformed more successfully on the racetrack. I think consignors have confidence to bring a top quality horse here and buyers have the confidence to buy a quality horse here.”
Frommer agreed the success of the sale's graduates helps build momentum from year to year.
“The sale itself has gotten better and better every year,” she said. “It used to be kind of a B sale and now everybody is here and the horses are really good. The main thing is that really good horses are coming out of this sale every year–graded stakes horses and super runners. That's what brings new buyers around.”
Located in the heart of the Midlantic racing circuit, the auction traditionally attracts a diverse group of buyers.
“There is a bigger mix of buyers here than we get in a lot of places,” explained Ciaran Dunne, whose Wavertree Stables consignment boasts the sale's biggest update with a Tapit half-brother to Saturday's GI Preakness S. winner War of Will (War Front). “You can sell horses at any level here, from $5,000 to a million dollars. There are all kinds of buyers here. It's a really good clearing place.”
The juvenile sales season is starting to wind down and Frommer pointed to the Midlantic auction's later date as another positive for consignors.
“A lot of these horses, if they were in training for racing, would be, maybe not doing what they are doing as fast as they're doing it, but they would be up to doing this,” Frommer said. “It's not really pressing on them to get them ready for this sale. They round into this sale really nicely, I think.”
During last year's sale, 333 juveniles sold for $24,868,500 for an average of $74,680 and a median of $38,000. A colt by Medaglia d'Oro brought a sale-topping final bid of $1.2 million.
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