Breeding Stock Sales Season Finishes Strong at Fasig-Tipton

LEXINGTON, Ky–

The second of two sessions of Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale featured strong trade heading into the opening of the breeding season later this month.

The two-day sale saw gross receipts of $9,659,400 at an average of $29,539 and median of $15,000. Last year's average was $28,673 with a $10,500 median. The buyback rate this year was 20.4%, compared to 22.7% 12 months ago.

For Tuesday's session, $4,982,200 changed hands at an average of $27,526 and median of $13,000. The RNA rate was a paltry 11.3%.

“It was a competitive marketplace from start to finish,” said Fasig-Tipton President and Chief Executive Officer Boyd Browning, Jr. “The first horse in the ring yesterday sold very well and the last horse in the ring today sold very well. It's kind of amazing to be standing in the back walking ring when the last horses are going through sale in February and people are asking, 'Can you bring some more in here?' The most common complaint I had from consignors was that they wished they had more horses because it was a very solid and strong marketplace throughout.”

Tuesday's session topper–a supplemental offering and the last hip through the ring–was $285,000 racing or broodmare prospect La Manta Gris (Lemon Drop Kid) (hip 531), who was consigned by Lane's End and signed for by agent David Ingordo.

The day's top short yearling was a $75,000 Palace colt (hip 334) consigned by Endeavor Farm. Bill Williams purchased the New York-bred.

The overall sale topper came Monday when graded stakes-winning broodmare prospect Cheekaboo (Unusual Heat) garnered a $300,000 winning bid from K R Japan. She was consigned as hip 57 by Small Batch Sales on behalf of Ciaglia Racing.

“I think we might start seeing a little more expansion in terms of supply and demand maybe getting a bit more in line,” Browning noted. “There seems to be a little more broadening of the band in terms of pedigree and physical conformation on some of the mares. There seem to be more people re-entering or willing to buy broodmares who may not have been doing so three or four years ago, and not just at the top end but in the $20,000 to $50,000 level, which is encouraging and provides some stability.”

The 13 priciest lots of the sale were purchased by different entities.

“There was no market maker [this year],” Browning said. “We've seen it occasionally in past years that someone will come in that has a new stallion and they're trying to buy 30 or 40 and that kind of pushed everything… It does show you some strength and broadening of the market that there wasn't an individual market maker, just a lot of people bidding on horses throughout the two days.”

Fasig-Tipton's next sale will be the boutique Gulfstream Sale of Selected Two-Year-Olds Mar. 27.

“I'm like a kid in a candy store with regards to the quality of the catalog we have for the Gulfstream sale,” said Browning. “It's in the oven–it's at the printers–and it will be a really, really strong catalog both in terms of pedigrees and physical conformation… People want a good horse. A lot of people want to have a weekend horse that can take them to the levels that they aspire to. Fortunately, we've had a track record at Gulfstream of selling those kind of horses and I promise you there's a bunch in the catalog this year.”

For more information, visit www.fasigtipton.com.

Ingordo on Both Sides of Topper Transaction

Prominent agent David Ingordo picked up a familiar face as the last hip through the ring at Fasig-Tipton's Winter Mixed Sale. He'd already purchased La Manta Gris (Lemon Drop Kid) on behalf of former professional baseball player and current Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli when she sold for $130,000 as an OBS March 2-year-old in 2016, and he was left holding the ticket Tuesday once she was hammered down for $285,000.

The twice stakes-placed earner of $211,000 was consigned as hip 531 by Lane's End, for which Ingordo works.

“Rocco Baldelli is a pretty good friend of mine and I bought her as a 2-year-old for Rocco,” Ingordo noted. “Because of business obligations, he had to sell her. I thought she'd be a nice addition to our broodmare band at the farm. We're not sure who we'll breed her to, but I'm sure it'll be Quality Road or City of Light or somebody like that.”

La Manta Gris, who covered a furlong in :10 1/5 in Ocala, is out of a full-sister to MGISW Honey Ryder (Lasting Approval) and a half to the dams of HSWs Hit It Rich (Smart Strike) and Dominus (Smart Strike).

“She had one of those tiny vet issues everyone talks about that scare a lot of people, but it didn't scare us,” Ingordo said of the purchase back in 2016. “[Trainer] Rusty Arnold did a great job with her, and her pedigree speaks for itself. It's a rare pedigree… I don't know yet if she'll be resold or we'll just keep her.”

Gainesway 'Delighted' to Send New Buy to Tapit

Gainesway Farm came out on top of one of the more spirited bidding battles of the day Tuesday to secure the well-related three-time winner She's Delightful (Mission Impazible) for $200,000. The grey racing or broodmare prospect was consigned to the sale by James M. Herbener, Jr., Agent V as hip 330.

Out of GSW Chimichurri (Elusive Quality), She's Delightful was a $40,000 OBSMAR 2-year-old buy by Our Sugar Bear Stable. Turned over to Bruce Brown, the New York-bred was a maiden $50,000 winner and two-time allowance winner en route to nearly $133,000 in earnings.

While she was repaying her owners' investments on the track, a daughter of her half-sister Loving Vindication (Vindication) was improving her page significantly. That filly, 'TDN Rising Star' Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro), was MGSW/GISP at two in 2017 en route to a Sovereign Award. She's also a shoe-in for at least one more Sovereign Award for her 2018 campaign, and possibly Horse of the Year honors, after annexing last year's Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales S. after completing the exacta in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Loving Vindication is a finalist for Canada's outstanding broodmare.

“Look at the family; it's such a fantastic family with that champion [Wonder Gadot] under the first dam,” said Gainesway's general manager Neil Howard. “The plans are to breed her to Tapit, so we're excited about it.”

That mating will produce a foal bred on the same Tapit–Unbridled's Song cross as two-time Eclipse winner Unique Bella and GSW West Coast Belle.

“It's completely polarized to all the good horses,” Howard said of the market at Fasig as a whole. “Everybody wants the same thing, but it's the market we're in… [Quality] is where you need to be right now, and that's what we saw in this mare. She's a lovely filly, and in fact we thought she was probably the best physical in the sale. So, being able to get her and breed her to Tapit, we're excited.”

Things Come Full Circle for Victress

A $47,000 KEESEP yearling the last time she was in Lexington, Victress (Include) returned from Western Canada a graded stakes winner and will be heading back to her breeder Judy Hicks's Brookstown Farm after Hicks paid $200,000 for her Tuesday. The earner of nearly $210,000, Victress was a stakes winner at Hastings Park at three, four and five, and made the grade last out in October's GIII Ballerina S. She was consigned to the sale as hip 402 by Brookdale Sales on behalf of owners Rob and Vicky Gilker.

“It was obviously a good sum, but we weren't surprised–we thought she'd bring somewhere between $150,000 and $200,000,” said Brookdale's Joe Seitz. “At the end of the day, she is a graded stakes winner, she's got a good family and she's beautiful. It's about what you'd expect to pay for that kind of horse in this type of market.”

Judy Hicks acquired Victress's second dam Phoenix Sunshine (Encino) as a yearling when a boarding client failed to pay his bill. Phoenix Sunshine went on to earn almost $226,000 for Hicks with several stakes wins. She produced a pair of black-type performers in the shed as well.

“It was nice to see Judy Hicks buy her–I love it when the cycle comes back around,” Seitz said. “It shows that people appreciate the family. Judy has been involved in three generations of that family, so it's nice to see it all come back around.”

Victress was a home horse for the Gilkers, and was one of four graded winners they've been responsible for in Western Canada over the past decade.

“They do everything themselves, so it's a wonderful story about people who made the horse,” Seitz said. “She gallops the horse, he trains the horse, they do it all hands-on. [Victress] is like a family member to them, and they did a great job with her getting her to where she is now.”

Winning Call Rewards Hernon and Partners Again

Taking Aim (Trappe Shot) (hip 476) became the third mare to reach the $200,000 mark Tuesday when purchased for that sum by Larry and Karen Doyle's KatieRich Farms.

The half-sister to Tapizar, the 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero and sire of champion 3-year-old filly Monomoy Girl, was consigned by Gainesway.

Gainesway's Michael Hernon, also a co-breeder of Monomoy Girl, co-owned Taking Aim with Anthony Warrender of Virginia's Oak Ridge Farm.

“The market's strong with good demand for the quality broodmare prospect and the good weanling,” said Hernon. “This one was a bit special–half to a Breeders' Cup winner and the sire of Monomoy Girl, a quality individual, she'll get great-looking foals, I think. With any luck, maybe [KatieRich President] Mark [Hubley] will let us consign a yearling out of this mare going forward.”

Taking Aim's dam Winning Call (Deputy Minister) was a $200,000 RNA when consigned by Gainesway at the 2011 Keeneland November sale. Hernon partnered with Warrender and Fred Allor to purchase the mare from Winchell.

“She was an RNA in the ring, and [owner] Ron Winchell leaned on me pretty hard and said, 'Get this mare sold,'” recalled Hernon. “I tried everybody, and then I got thinking about it and came up with a couple of partners and we rolled the dice and it worked out very well. She's a Deputy Minister mare, beautiful mare, and we were very fortunate that Tapizar came to fruition and stepped up and won the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita and that changed the whole pedigree.”

The Tapit filly Winning Call was carrying when Hernon and partners bought her sold for $350,000 in 2012, and the best score they made out of the mare thus far was the $600,000 sale of a full-brother to Taking Aim at the 2014 Keeneland September Sale. Hernon and Warrender bought Allor out of Taking Aim when she sold for $250,000 at KEENOV '15. They raced her four times, with a best finish a second going a mile in Aqueduct maiden special weight company in November.

“It's gratifying, and she's a lovely filly–it's hard to see her go, but we're in the business of selling horses and breeding horses,” Hernon said. “As they say, 'You never go broke making a profit.'… The filly showed great at the barn and there were a lot of people interested. We put a very conservative reserve on her–she was here to sell.”

Winning Call, now 21-years-old, is currently open. Her most recent produce was a Constitution filly of 2017, who brought $95,000 as a Keeneland November weanling and $115,000 as a Fasig-Tipton October yearling. Hernon said Winning Call could visit young Gainesway resident Anchor Down this breeding season.

Solid Session for Hill 'n' Dale

John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency was an active seller at the top of the market Tuesday, consigning a pair of broodmares that brought $150,000 and $180,000, respectively.

First up was Thicker Than Water (Speightstown) (hip 377), who was purchased by agents Sallusto and Albina. Picked up at last year's Keeneland January sale for $30,000 by Sikura while barren to Hard Spun, she was offered this time in foal to Hill 'n' Dale resident Maclean's Music. A two-time winner on the NYRA circuit, the 9-year-old is a half-sister to another popular Hill 'n' Dale resident in Kantharos. Her now 2-year-old colt by Super Saver was a $130,000 KEESEP yearling.

“It's not really a question of value; the majority of the market isn't going to buy a mare in her third season not in foal,” Sikura said of how he acquired Thicker Than Water for what he did some 13 months ago. “Kantharos is having a great year at stud and is a very popular horse, and she's attractive–cost $250,000 as a yearling and Mike Ryan, a great judge of a yearling, bought her.”

It didn't take long for another Hill 'n' Dale offering to light up the board as Vickie Wins (Unbridled's Song) (hip 401) went to Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden for $180,000 in foal to Violence. Vickie Wins, a daughter of GISW Mistical Plan (Game Plan), was purchased off the track for $270,000 at this sale two years ago to be bred to Hill 'n' Dale's Bayern. She produced that first foal, a colt, last March.

“I thought she was a little light, actually, I thought she'd bring $200,000-plus, but she sold for $180,000 and that's ok,” Sikura said. “I thought she was good value–Violence is flying, and a good Violence can pay for the mare.”

Machmer Hall has shown a particular affinity for Unbridled's Song mares and purchased two at last month's Keeneland January sale for $290,000 and $100,000, respectively.

Overall, Sikura seemed pleased with the day: “There's been good trade. We try to sell horses when we bring them to auction and be reasonable when we set reserves. So far, it's gone well. We've sold everything… It's a pretty good market here. It's not just an afterthought or [full of] severe culls. There's a lot people here and some good, quality stock with breeding season right around the corner. Plus, it's not sunny but it's 65 [degrees] today–last week it was 0.”