Solid Opener to Fasig October

LEXINGTON, Ky – With a colt by Curlin bringing top price of $350,000, the Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearling Sale opened its three-day run in Lexington Monday with solid figures largely in line with 2015 results.

A total of 246 yearlings sold for $8,306,400, with the average of $33,766 up 2.9% from last year's opening session and just off the 2015 four-day cumulative average of $34,390. The median fell 15% to $12,750.

During last year's opening session, 204 yearlings sold for $6,694,300 for an average of $32,815 and a median of $15,000.

“It was a very solid start to the sale,” commented Fasig-Tipton's President Boyd Browning, Jr. “The numbers are pretty consistent from last year. There was significant competition on what were perceived to be the better offerings. Probably the most encouraging sign was there was bidding and activity at the lower levels, even in the less than $10,000 range, there was commerce that was conducted today and it was probably more encouraging than we've seen in the last few years.”

The buy-back rate was 27.9%, down from 35% a year ago, which Browning said was another sign of increased competition across all levels of offerings.

“I think the buy-back rate was a reflection of increased activity at the lower end, which probably had a little bit of an adverse effect on the average and the median, because we were probably getting a few more of the less expensive horses sold. But at the end of the day, we're trying to get as many horses sold as we can. And we thought it was a fair marketplace throughout the day.”

Joe Minor's JSM Equine paid Monday's highest price, going to $350,000 for hip 293, a colt by Curlin consigned by VanMeter-Gentry Sales. The yearling was one of 21 to sell for $100,000 or more Monday. The top price at last year's opener was $340,000, one of 15 to bring six figures during the session.

Consignor Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales thought Monday's results were a continuation of the trend of a polarized and highly selective market.

“I think if you've got a good horse, there is plenty of money here,” Taylor said. “The ones on the lower end, just like we've been seeing at all the sales this year, it's very hard to get them moved and you have to be very conservative on your reserves. But ones with quality, if they have clean x-rays and scopes, and the conformation, they are going to sell. And if you throw in a little pedigree, they are going to bring more than what you expected.”

The October sale continues Tuesday and Wednesday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

Curlin Colt On Top

A colt by Curlin, who failed to find a new home when RNA'ing for $275,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, got the job done when selling to Joe Minor's JSM Equine for $350,000 during Monday's first session of the October Sale.

“Justin [Casse], Ciaran [Dunne] and I saw him up in Saratoga and we liked him there,” Minor said. “We didn't bid on him then and we liked him even better today. I think he's a stunning horse. He certainly looks the part and I think he will make a great 2-year-old at [Dunne's] Wavertree. He'll be resold next year, and hopefully resold really well.”

Consigned by VanMeter-Gentry Sales, hip 293 was bred by Mike Schmeling's Fox-Straus, which purchased his dam Party Chatter (Pleasant Colony) for $80,000 at the 2006 Keeneland November sale. The yearling is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner and graded stakes placed Rock Candy (Mineshaft).

“He was just a really nice horse,” consignor Tom VanMeter said. “He was a nice horse in Saratoga, but he had a few little issues that we took care of and we're happy that he sold really well and went to a really good home.”

The Curlin colt will have company on the trip south to Wavertree after Dunne bid $205,000 to secure a colt by young sire sensation Uncle Mo early in Monday's first session of the October sale.

Dunne signed the ticket on hip 78, who was consigned by Mill Ridge Sales, in the name of Waves Bloodstock on behalf of new client Paul Brodsky.

“[Brodsky's] a new guy in the barn, so we're excited to have him and excited to have the horse,” Dunne said. “He'll pinhook him–maybe he'll go to Miami [Fasig-Tipton Florida], but we'll figure it out.”

Bred by Jamm, the yearling is out of Klondike Hills (Deputy Minister), a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Strut the Stage (Theatrical {Ire}) and from the family of champion Chief Bearhart.

“He's a pretty horse, he's lean, he looks quick and he's by Uncle Mo,” Dunne said of the youngster. “There's not much more to say really–you can just say Uncle Mo and leave it there.”

Of the market for pinhooking prospects, Dunne added, “It's the same old story. I think the good ones are going to cost money. And we're all going to be on the same ones.”

Medaglia d'Oro Colt to Lieblongs

Alex and Jo Ann Lieblong weren't exactly planning on stopping in Lexington for the Fasig October sale, but the Arkansas-based couple took advantage of a road trip to Cleveland to purchase a colt by Medaglia d'Oro for $300,000. That purchase came some 30 hips after the offering the Lieblongs actually came to see.

“I came here mostly because High Dollar Woman's half-sister was here and we had to go to Cleveland, so I said we might as well stop and see,” Alex Lieblong admitted. “We should have just gone on to Cleveland,” he added with a laugh while pocketing a pair of tickets.

The Lieblongs purchased High Dollar Woman (Super Saver) for $675,000 at the 2014 OBS March sale and the filly went on to win the 2015 GII Indiana Oaks. They were able to acquire her yearling half-sister by Medaglia d'Oro (hip 171) Monday for $140,000. Then they stuck around long enough to sign the $300,000 ticket on hip 204, a son of Medaglia d'Oro out of Grade I winner Mistical Plan (Game Plan).

Consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency on behalf of breeder Blue Heaven Farm, the colt is a half to 'TDN Rising Star' and recent GI Champagne S. fourth-place finisher Big Gray Rocket (Tapit).

“That one was very nice,” Lieblong said of the colt. “I watched his half-brother run and this one looked the part.”

Mark Taylor of Taylor Made said he expected the yearling to be popular in the Fasig sales ring.

“We had high expectations for the horse,” Taylor said. “We've been following the horse along out at Blue Heaven Farm. He was a really nice horse, one of the best in their crop. We were hoping he could bring a little bit more money, but we're happy. It looks like he has a huge shot and he's going to a good home.”

Big Gray Rocket, who was a $450,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Fletcher Racing in 2015, was tabbed a 'Rising Star' after his 6 3/4-length maiden score at Del Mar in September. He battled fellow 'Rising Star' Syndergaard (Majesticperfection) on the front end before tiring to fourth in the Champagne.

“If Big Gray Rocket could have won the Champagne, it would have been a whole different dollar amount,” Taylor said of the yearling's final price tag. “He ran really well, he just got caught in a speed duel. I think you're going to see him resurface in some big races at the end of this year and next spring. So I think they got good value [with the half-brother].”

Godolphin Offerings Prove Popular

Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm has a star filly in unbeaten champion Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) and his team was searching for the stable's next big thing Monday at Fasig-Tipton October, going to $300,000 to secure a filly by Malibu Moon.

“[Bloodstock advisor] Tom McGreevy picked her out and [trainer] Larry Jones liked her,” said Fox Hill's Victoria Keith after signing the ticket on hip 144. “She has an excellent pedigree and a nice physical. So she checked all the boxes.”

Keith added, “Rick is feeling pretty good with Songbird, so he feels like shopping.” She laughed and added, “Us women, we go to Nordstrom. Rick comes to Fasig-Tipton.”

Bred by Godolphin, the gray filly is out of Grade I winner Magnificent Song (Unbridled's Song), a half-sister to multiple group placed Great Barrier Reef (Mr. Greeley) and to the dam of graded placed Royal Obsession (Tapit).

“She was such a gorgeous individual–she looked like a sculpture,” said Joe Seitz of Brookdale Sales, which consigned the yearling on behalf of her breeder. “She was in a perfect place and she stood out.”

Seitz admitted the yearling had attracted plenty of attention leading up to the sale.

“It was constant, incessant,” Seitz smiled of the filly's shows. “That filly was out from daybreak until we closed the barn at the end of the day, non-stop. I think she is going to appreciate a few days off.”

Godolphin, which is undergoing an international, year-long reduction in numbers, also sold a filly by Mineshaft for $200,000 Monday in Lexington. Bloodstock agents Mike Ryan and Niall Brennan bid that price to secure hip 32. The duo signed the ticket as Sweet Clover Stable.

Bred by Godolphin, the dark bay filly was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency. She is out of Jellicle (Ire) (Successful Appeal), a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner It's Tricky (Mineshaft). Racing for Godolphin, It's Tricky won the 2011 GI Acorn S. and GI Coaching Club American Oaks, as well as the 2012 GI Ogden Phipps H.

“We thought she was one of the best fillies we saw,” Brennan commented. “She's got a real pedigree–[It's Tricky] is obviously a top filly–and she looks like a runner. She is a very special-looking filly and she is one that we just zoned in on and said we'd like to have her.”

Brennan said the yearling was purchased as part of a partnership and plans were as-yet undecided.

“We'll get her back home and we'll get her going and make a plan later,” he said. “Those kind you work the sale and it doesn't matter if it's the first or the last sale of the year, the special ones are the ones you are trying to find and you want to get them.”