Momentum Builds During Second F-T October Session

LEXINGTON, KY – The second session of Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky October Yearling sale started off somewhat slowly, but momentum built throughout the day and when the final numbers were tallied, they were more or less in line with the sale's stellar start Monday.

A total of 256 yearlings found new homes Tuesday for a gross of $9,530,200 and at an average of $37,227. The median price was $15,000, while the RNA rate was 22.9%. Through two days of the four-day sale, an even 500 horses have changed hands for $19,199,100. The cumulative average of $38,398 compares favorably to the $35,576 figure for the entirety of last year's auction, while the median remains at $15,000, as it was 12 months ago.

“It was a solid session today,” said Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning, Jr. “Statistically, it was a very good day again. There's certainly a legitimate marketplace out there. A significant majority of the horses are getting sold. It's not always where everyone would hope they would be, but there's certainly a market, literally ranging from $1,000 to several hundred thousand dollars. Competition certainly remains intense on the horses who are perceived to be upper quality, and less competition for the ones who they don't perceive to be of higher quality, but it was a fair marketplace. We're very encouraged with the results after two days and hopefully the next two days will continue the trends.”

The session topper was a $325,000 Nyquist filly (hip 703) purchased by agent David Meah on behalf of West Coast-based owner Calvin Nguyen. The chestnut was consigned by Gerry Dilger's Dromoland Farm and will eventually be trained by Richard Baltas.

Two-year-old pinhookers were active buyers Tuesday.

“We've always, traditionally, for 20-25 years worked very closely with 2-year-old consignors because the 2-year-old sales are a significant portion of what we do,” Browning said. “I think they're probably underestimated at times as to their importance to the overall yearling marketplace. They bid on a significant number of horses, and pinhookers are underbidders on a whole lot more horses than they're actually the buyers on, so they provide significant underpinnings to the marketplace.”

Selling starts again Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.

Meah Lands Nyquist Filly

Agent David Meah signed what he said was the second-highest ticket of his career Tuesday when stretching to $325,000 to acquire a session-topping filly from the first crop of Nyquist on behalf of owner Calvin Nguyen. The chestnut was consigned by Jerry Dilger's Dromoland Farm as hip 703.

A $185,000 RNA at Keeneland September, she had received a timely update in the interim from 2-year-old half-brother High Velocity (Quality Road), who took his Santa Anita debut Oct. 13 for Bob Baffert and Gary and Mary West.

“We loved this filly,” Meah said. “We only had two fillies on the list for the entire sale, and I only had the option to buy one. This was the one we loved, and the other one is on day four, so we had to press and we went strong there. It was a bit stronger than we anticipated paying, but it was the one we wanted to go home with. Thankfully, I had my client Calvin Nguyen on the phone. He's game. When he hears me say that I love one and there's only two in the entire sale that I love, he'll take a swing. Thankfully, he was available to be on the phone today, because I wouldn't have been able to go that far without him behind me.”

Nguyen and Meah headed into the sale with some momentum, after the Richard Baltas trainee Bodhicitta (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) (60,000gns at the Tattersalls Guineas HIT sale in May) broke her maiden Sunday at Santa Anita a few races before Proverb (Flatter) ($220,000 at Fasig-Tipton July) just missed in optional claiming company.

“We've had a lot of success together,” Meah said. “Sunday was a good day because we bought two for him [earlier this year]–one from here and one from England–and they both ran on Sunday. One won and one was second, so I think that helped us a little bit, too, having a little bit of recent success.”

Dell Ridge Farm's Des Ryan paid $280,000 for hip 703's GSP dam Ketel Twist (Dixie Union) at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. High Velocity, a future $350,000 yearling himself, was her first foal.

“Obviously, the update with the Baffert horse, High Velocity, makes it exciting,” Meah said. “Before she even makes it to the races she might be worth a lot more than we just paid for her. So, if Baffert's horse goes and does something big over the winter, which it looks like he can do, we could be in really good shape come next year. We're really excited.”

Meah, who has worked as both an exercise rider and assistant trainer, is particularly high on the progeny of GI Kentucky Derby and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Nyquist.

“We actually bought a couple of Nyquists [as weanlings] last year, and because we couldn't get as many as we wanted we bought a mare in foal to Nyquist,” he said. “We've been quite high on him. I used to work for [trainer] Doug [O'Neill], so I was around Nyquist a little bit. He was a lovely animal. I was fortunate enough to be around Goldencents and Nyquist when I worked for Doug, so I've been a fan of theirs. Maybe it's a bit sentimental, but I actually really do like the stallion, so we'll see.”

Into Mischief Colt to Casses

A $300,000 colt by top sire Into Mischief was purchased by agent Justin Casse and will be heading to his brother Mark for a longtime client of Team Casse. The Apr. 9 foal was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, Agent XXXIV as hip 698.

He is the first foal out of an unraced Tapit half-sister to 'TDN Rising Star' Shumoos (Distorted Humor), a Group 3 winner in England who made an eye-catching run for second in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint. His third dam is GI Spinaway S. heroine Strategic Maneuver (Cryptoclearance). Hip 698 was a $220,000 in utero purchase at the 2017 Keeneland November sale and was bred by Capital Bloodstock.

“I liked that it was an Into Mischief out of a Tapit mare,” Justin Casse said. “He stood over a lot of ground, walked well, seemed like a bargain relatively speaking. He had good stretch to him for an Into Mischief and the boys at Taylor Made thought a lot of him. I know that he was well thought of last month in September… I thought this was probably one of the top three animals here… He's got a bit more size to him. He's got some Tapit to him, but maybe a bit more hip than a normal Tapit. That might be the Into Mischief in him. I'd say he's pulling good attributes from both sides of the family.”

The colt appeared to be well on his way to a big sale last month at Keeneland September, but was a late withdrawal.

“It was just bad luck. We had the horse in Book 2 of September, and we had 16 scopes on him and it looked like was going to bring $600,000 to $800,000, but unfortunately he colicked the night before he was going to sell,” Taylor Made's Mark Taylor revealed. “We had to do surgery–it wasn't bad, we just had to untwist his intestine–they did it at Rood & Riddle. Recovery was normal, but you back up a month, a lot of buyers aren't here and then you've got a horse with a little blemish on him. This was a really nice horse. I give Justin Casse credit for stepping up. He was a really class horse. I thought he was one of the better Into Mischiefs I saw this year… It was bad luck for the group who owned him, but I think it'll turn out to probably be a really good buy by Justin.”

Pricey Pinhook Prospect for Vaccarezza

South Florida-based trainer, owner, breeder and restauranteur Carlo Vaccarezza brought a flashy group of pinhook prospects to the 2-year-old sales market earlier this year, and he added to his 2020 class Tuesday when acquiring a Street Sense colt (hip 647) for $290,000 from the Hunter Valley Farm draft. The bay is a half-brother to MGSW Irish Jasper (First Defence).

“I came to the sale to buy this horse,” Vaccarezza said. “I think he's a phenomenal individual. We're going to pinhook him and try to put him in the [Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream] sale. I hope he breezes well. He's one of the most outstanding horses we saw [at this sale]. We checked probably 85% of the horses on the grounds, and this horse really stood out.”

Vaccarezza works with Jim and Tori Gladwell of Top Line Sales. Among the juveniles Vaccarezza and Top Line sold this season was another son of Street Sense who cost $280,000 as a yearling and $500,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic. They also sold a $775,000 American Pharoah colt at Gulfstream.

“He was perfect,” Vaccarezza said when asked to describe hip 647 physically. “He vetted out really well, and not only that, he had perfect conformation. He was an outstanding individual.”

The colt was a $250,000 Keeneland November weanling.

“We're very happy,” said Hunter Valley's Adrian Regan. “We paid a lot of money for him as a foal last year. We had him entered at Keeneland [September], but he just didn't go down as well as we thought and he was scratched before the sale. Here, he showed himself like the horse he was. He had a lot of action at the barn, and we're very happy with the price. Even though we didn't make a fortune on the whole deal, that's the way it goes… That's the market–the market tells you what the horse is worth. Even with all the action he had, we were very realistic with the reserve and we're happy.”

McPeek Gets on the 'Map'

Trainer Ken McPeek, bidding on behalf of a new and undisclosed client, went to $250,000 to acquire a filly by red-hot Liam's Map Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton. The daughter of SW and GSP Indian Burn (Indian Charlie) was consigned by Little's Bloodstock as hip 630 and bred by Carolyn Vogel.

“I thought she was the standout filly in today's session,” McPeek said. “We looked at her several times. It's a new client for me, and I'm really excited for them and us. It's a wonderful filly.”

While McPeek said his client did not wish to be identified, he did reveal that the buyer is not new to racing.

Liam's Map has been a highly coveted commodity of late after his son Basin took the GI Runhappy Hopeful S. and his 'TDN Rising Star' daughter Wicked Whisper ran away with the GI Frizette S.

“I bought another one in the summer before he got hot, and I think I got under the radar. Since then, they've jumped up,” McPeek said. “We had one at OBS that I watched who sold for a lot of money, and this filly checked all the boxes too.”

McPeek purchased a $75,000 colt on behalf of Herald Lerner at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale at Saratoga in August.

A $230,000 Liam's Map colt topped the OBS October yearling sale.

KatieRich Colt on Top Early

A son of Quality Road was the leader for the first part of the day at Fasig-Tipton October Tuesday after bringing $240,000. The KatieRich Farms-bred and -consigned colt sold to pinhooking entity Golf 19/20.

Hip 421 is a half-brother to sophomore Standard Deviation (Curlin), who was third in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity last season before annexing the Tale of the Cat S. and Jersey Derby this term. Standard Deviation was most recently third in the Oct. 5 GII Hill Prince S. for Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables.

“That was pretty much what we were expecting,” KatieRich's Larry Doyle said when asked about the price. “He's very well put together, but maybe a little small. I think he's going to be an excellent pinhook and/or racing prospect… He got a lot of activity: about 120 viewings, and seven or eight scopes. He was pretty popular.”

Standard Deviation was a $450,000 KEESEP yearling himself.

“He's pretty close [physically to Standard Deviation],” Doyle said. “He was a Curlin and a little small as well. The mare's small, but she's thrown off pretty nice, correct foals before.”

Doyle said he bought hip 421's winning dam False Impression (A.P. Indy) privately as a maiden mare for $150,000. She is out of GII Schuylerville S. winner Classic Elegance (Carson City) and her third dam produced the dam of GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Believe You Can.

“She was a really nice A.P. Indy mare,” Doyle said. “Again, a little small, but she had a nice page. I think [the colt] has one of the nicest pages here.”

KatieRich bought False Impression back for $60,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November sale carrying hip 421.

Another Medaglia d'Oro Sells Well

Medaglia d'Oro was responsible for each of the top three lots during Monday's first Fasig-Tipton October session, and another colt by the Darley stallion proved popular in the ring on Tuesday when 2-year-old consignor Niall Brennan went to $210,000 to acquire the May 31 foal. Hip 542 was consigned to the sale by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Agent XIII on behalf of breeder WinStar Farm.

“I liked him a lot–he's a Medaglia d'Oro and he looks like one,” Brennan said. “He's a late foal, he's almost a June foal, but he's got great shape to him and length. He's young looking, but I think he'll grow. He's got great energy and a great step to him. It's a young family. We'll give him time to grow into himself, but he looked like a horse who was worth taking a shot with.”

WinStar acquired hip 542's stakes-placed dam Grand Mere (Bob and John) for $300,000 carrying her first foal by Bodemeister at the 2014 Keeneland November sale. Second dam Petite Princess (Dayjur) was group-placed in Ireland and produced two more stakes horses, including MGSW Raylene (Tabasco Cat). Hip 542's third dam is GSW and GISP Classy Women (Relaunch), who in turn produced English MG1SW and highweight Ad Valorem (Danzig).

“I think the market's fair; I think it's selective,” Brennan said. “It's the last [yearling] sale of the year, and a lot of money has already been spent, so I think people are just being selective. The right ones are still selling well, but there are some good buys, I think. You always feel when you buy them you're making a good buy, but we always want to feel that way when we're selling them, too.”