By Jessica Martini
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – After an electrifying renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale just five days ago, the action returns to the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion Sunday evening for the company's New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. Bidding begins at 7 p.m. with a session of 100 catalogued yearlings and is followed Monday by a session of a further 264 yearlings which begins at 12 p.m.
“People seem very eager to buy horses,” Don Robinson said between all-shows at his Winter Quarter Farm consignment Saturday morning. “Hopefully it carries over from the main sale–sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.”
Winter Quarter will offer 10 yearlings at the two-day auction, including fillies by Bernardini and Not This Time and colts by More Than Ready and Malibu Moon, as well as one from the first crop of GI Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, who has gotten off to a fast start in the sales ring.
“We have always done very well bringing Kentucky-raised New York-breds to the sale,” Robinson said. “People like them and we've sold pretty well here.”
The New York-Bred Yearling catalogue includes half-siblings to a pair of 2-year-olds who won on debut at the racetrack just across the street from the sales pavilion. Four Star Sales offers a half-brother by Vino Rosso to Miss d'Or Cherie (Bolt d'Oro), who was a three-length winner Thursday, and Straight Line Equine Sales offers a half-sister by Vekoma to Trust Fund (Practical Joke), who graduated at the Spa Friday. Both were running in special weight races worth $88,000, while New York-breds competing in open company are eligible for bonus purses during the Saratoga meet.
The purses available to New York-breds provides a major draw for buyers, Pat Costello of Paramount Sales confirmed.
“The New York program is very good right now,” Costello said.
“I think the maidens over there run for big purses and with the new program, if they run in open company and win they get an extra 30%. That helps as well. So, to have a New York-bred across the road here is huge.”
Paramount will offer 17 yearlings at the upcoming auction and Costello expects strong demand for the right horses.
“I think it's going to go down to the good horses,” he said. “If you pass the muster, I think you'll be in great shape and if you don't, it won't be pretty.”
Indian Creek, which sold a $3.2-million son of Into Mischief during last week's select sale, returns with 10 New York-bred yearlings.
Asked if she expected to see the electricity from the select sale carry into the New York-bred auction, Indian Creek's Sarah Sutherland said, “I hope so. I think if it does, that will be fantastic. It was just an absolutely electric environment at the first sale. I would not expect it to be exactly the same, but I hope we see the same support with the vetting and the process the whole way through here.”
With 364 yearlings, this year's New York-bred catalogue is the largest it has been in recent years. Sutherland is taking a wait-and-see approach as to how the added numbers will affect the end results.
“I think we will have to wait to see what the sale tells us,” Sutherland said. “Our numbers, personally, are about the same as they always are up here. [The larger catalogue] probably does make me a little bit apprehensive. But I'd love to see everybody do well and maybe the additional horses will work for everybody that way. It's been a few years since they've done that, bumped the numbers. I'm curious to see what happens. But there are a lot of people here, so there may be plenty of people for all the horses.”
The New York-bred sale has shown dramatic growth over the last decade and its 2022 renewal produced its highest-ever gross when 188 yearlings sold for $20,175,000, and its second-highest average and median.
“The New York program just seems to get better and better,” said Sutherland. “The quality of horses up here improves every year. And it's great racing. You're seeing nice New York-breds running in open company as well. I think that's a testament to the strength of the program. We sell a lot of horses for breeders and it's great to bring them here and to have them stay in New York. This is a perfect venue for us.”
While end-users tend to dominate both Saratoga sales, last year's New York-bred sale was topped by a son of Arrogate who brought a sale-record $700,000 final bid from Tom McCrocklin, as agent for Champion Equine, just days after his full-brother Cave Rock impressed on debut at Del Mar. The colt returned to sell for $1.05 million at this year's OBS March sale. Eaton Sales will offer a half-sister by Improbable to last year's sale topper late in Monday's session of the auction.
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