Inaugural Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Sale Wednesday

ARCADIA, CA – With bidding at the inaugural Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale slated to begin in the track's paddock at 1 p.m. Wednesday, buyers began making the rounds at the temporary sales barns near Santa Anita's seven-furlong chute under a typical Southern California “June Gloom” sky Tuesday morning in Arcadia. Consignors expected a busy day of showing following Monday's heavily attended breeze show.

“We have a ton of traffic here at the barn already, so that's very encouraging to see this much action the day before the sale,” consignor Adrian Gonzalez said as he oversaw the action at his Checkmate Thoroughbreds barns Tuesday morning. “All our horses came out of the works in good order and the vetting is great. So I think we're going to have a pretty strong sale with the group of horses we have here.”

Andy Havens was seeing shoppers with purpose at the barn of his Havens Bloodstock consignment.

“I am really happy with the turnout of buyers,” Havens said. “We are really seeing a lot of interest and there are guys who are not just looking around. They want horses. I've got mostly California-breds here and I think they really like buying those. Del Mar is right around the corner and everybody likes to go there. So it's really been busy. After the preview [Monday] and today have been very busy. Fasig has done a great job, Fasig and Santa Anita both have put a lot of work into this and there have been some tough circumstances, too.”

When Fasig-Tipton announced last July that it was partnering with The Stronach Group to conduct auctions at Santa Anita, stepping in to fill a void left by the now-defunct Barretts, the company could not have envisioned the maelstrom that has engulfed the Arcadia track this winter, but Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. is convinced the move was the right one, not just for the sales company, but for the industry as a whole.

“Santa Anita really is a special place,” Browning said after the under-tack preview Monday. “As a racing fan, when I walk onto this ground, it kind of invigorates you–what a spectacular setting, what a historic setting. You look around and you see the mountains around the racetrack and the palm trees and the setting, there is no question that this can become a very important and valuable opportunity for 2-year-old sales and for sales in general. It's a great facility, there is a lot of enthusiasm for and interest in racing here. And let's face it, there is a lot of money in Southern California, that's just the reality. So in some ways it gives you the opportunity to bring the product to the marketplace where the buyers are, which theoretically ought to enhance the sales environment on a long-term basis.”

The inaugural Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita catalogue includes 169 juveniles, with 50 outs as of Tuesday afternoon. Browning admitted uncertainty around Santa Anita this past winter had an impact on the recruiting process, as many out-of-town consignors took a wait-and-see approach to the first edition of the auction.

“The recruiting process coming into this sale, frankly, could not have been more difficult,” Browning said. “I hope to goodness, from the industry's perspective, the industry doesn't face some of the obstacles that were in place during the prime recruiting time for the 2-year-old sale at Santa Anita in early summer. We all know the challenges, we all know the issues that Santa Anita has faced–and handled in the best possible manner.

He continued, “There were consignors who I think would have supported this sale who just weren't comfortable at the inaugural sale and in an environment and at a facility they weren't sure about that had a lot of questions in the late winter and early spring of 2019. It's my hope and belief that there will be some demonstrable bright spots on Wednesday which should give everyone a significant boost of confidence going forward into 2020 and beyond in California. This state, this track, this region is important to the whole North American industry from a racing standpoint, from a breeding standpoint, and from a fan standpoint. This is important. We made a commitment to come here for all the right reasons and we still believe long-term in Southern California, in Santa Anita and in the product here.”

One of the handful of out-of-town consignors is the Texas-based Lane Richardson, whose Richardson Bloodstock will offer a filly by Liam's Map during Wednesday's sale.

“For the first year, I think a bunch of people didn't come because they wanted to see how it goes,” Richardson said. “And I think it will go well. The track was safe and the horses came back good. I think it is very important to have a 2-year-old sale in Southern California–a bunch of our owners are out here and a bunch of racing is out here, we have the Breeders' Cup out here almost every year. So I think it's very important to have a sale out here. And with Fasig doing it, I think it's going to be first class because they always do everything first class. They take care of the horsemen, as well as the buyer.”

For locally based consignors like Gonzalez and Havens, having a 2-year-old sale is vital to the health of the state's breeding industry.

“I think this 2-year-old sale is going to drive our yearling market and without a strong yearling market, we're going to lose the broodmare pool,” Gonzalez said. “So I think this sale is really going to be the keystone sale–kind of a rising tide lifts all boats. I couldn't stress more the importance of this sale.”

Havens said the loss of a permanent home for sales in the region was a loss, but he is hopeful that Fasig-Tipton's presence will be a boost for the industry.

“I've been doing this for 40 years,” Havens said. “And the closing of Barretts was devastating. That facility was just wonderful–it was a dedicated sales facility and it was a terrific place to go to sell horses and without that, it's not easy for anybody. It's not easy for Fasig or Santa Anita to fit us in–they had to build this whole [temporary barn area]. I just hope that this turns out well because these guys are really trying hard. And we need it. It's absolutely necessary.

Havens continued, “I am a person who believes that the commercial business is essential to the breeding business and if you don't have it, you're really going to kick a hole in it. I represent people who mostly breed horses and the uncertainty of the market has already had an effect on what they've been doing. If this sale turns out well and the yearling sale turns out well, I think it will have a really positive influence. So I am really counting on this. If this turns out to be a decent sale, followed by the other one, I think it will give people out here a lot of confidence. That's what I'm hoping for.”

Gonzalez looks for a strong inaugural sale to attract a deeper bench of Florida consignors next year.

“The read I got from everybody out there was, obviously it is very expensive for them to come across the country and I think they wanted to see it first before they committed to coming,” he said. “I think, with the safe breeze show that we had and hopefully good sales results, I would expect to see those guys come back out here. Because they did very well at our California sales before. So I think it's just a matter of, a new thing is happening, let's see them do it once before we commit to doing it again.”