By Stefanie Grimm
No matter the time of year or the venue, ELiTE Sales knows how to bring a good horse to auction. Names like dual champion Monomoy Girl (Tapizar), who topped the 2020 FTKNOV sale at a cool $9,500,000, or another dual champion in Tepin (Bernstein) who posted the second-highest price of the 2017 FTKNOV sale behind only Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) at $8,000,000, have passed through their consignments in recent years. Still racing are the likes of MGSW Newgrange (Violence) along with 2023 July grads and stakes winners Power In Numbers (Girvin) and Catiche (Arrogate). Just two months ago, Dana's Beauty (Not This Time) co-topped the Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale when selling to John Stewart's Resolute Racing for $450,000 just before winning the Ouija Board Distaff Stakes in May. The list of grads reads like a “who's who” with success still occurring daily on the track and in the breeding shed. A new group stakes their claim next week as Elite brings a diverse and quality group of horses of racing age to Fasig-Tipton Monday.
ELiTE grad Dana's Beauty | Coady Media
“I think an important component of a HoRA consignment is variety,” said ELiTE's Katelyn Jackson. “We want to be able to service a wide range of buyers and give them the opportunity to inspect horses at all levels. Elite's July draft features horses with all conditions remaining, allowances horses, some are starter eligible, and we have 2 stakes winning 3-year-olds. It's a really well rounded group of horses.”
Topping the group is Reasoned Analysis, a 3-year-old son of Upstart (hip 465) who provided a timely update when taking April's listed Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct before out-running his odds to finish fourth behind Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in the GI Woody Stephens Stakes on the Belmont undercard at Saratoga June 8.
“Both of his lifetime best Ragozin and Thoro-Graph figures show that he has graded-stakes caliber talent within his division. As a 3-year-old dirt colt, there are a plethora of age-restricted stakes that he can target over the rest of the 2024 racing season.”
Horses on an upward trajectory are poised to be the most appealing to buyers Monday and Jackson noted that, while a strong pedigree never hurts, HoRA sales are all about letting track results do the talking.
“What's most important is recency and in-form results. Horses that come to the sale off of lifetime best speed figures or that are trending upward are generally the most well received by buyers. With that said we do have some fillies with a bit of pedigree and some residual black type such as [Busher Stakes runner up] Asset Purchase (Dialed In) (hip 500).”
Indeed, there is something for every buyer on offer as also among ELiTE's consignment are promising maidens Lake Superior (Quality Road) (hip 435), Mount Fuji (Quality Road) (hip 448), Paris Surprise (City of Light) (hip 458), Public Assembly (More Than Ready) (hip 464), Special Justice (Justify) (hip 472), Stage Presence (Speightstown) (hip 474), Strategic Decision (Good Magic) (hip 476), Tirupati (Mitole) (hip 485) and Utopian (Curlin) (hip 490). Allowance runners include Truly Quality (Quality Road) (hip 486)–also a half to SW/MGSP Mouffy (Uncle Mo), Enahm (Ghostzapper) (hip 420), Etheric (Ghostzapper) (hip 421), Proprietary Trade (Practical Joke) (hip 463), Rollin in Dough (Central Banker) (hip 467) and Sacred Image (Catholic Boy) (hip 469). And added to the catalog as supplements earlier this week were Ziti (FR) (Toronado {Ire}) (hip 501), undefeated Lake Abanakee (Central Banker) (hip 503), recent maiden winner Smooching (Mendelssohn) (hip 505) and Party On Girl (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) (hip 512).
Power In Numbers | Bill Denver/Equi-photo
“The buying pool at [this] sale has been quite strong in years past,” Jackson continued. “There are always domestic agents looking for horses that might fit the Del Mar ship and win program and of course, you're also looking ahead to the lucrative purses at Kentucky Downs later this summer. There has also been excellent international participation from agents buying on behalf of Middle Eastern clients. Two of our top horses from last July (Power in Numbers and Rebellious Stage) went on to have excellent results in Saudi Arabia during their winter carnival.”
“And from a sellers perspective, the Fasig-Tipton July HoRA sale has been a great place to trade in-form racehorses. Owners are typically looking to capitalize on their offering's recent results in order to make way for their incoming crop of 2-year-olds. And as a buyer, summer meets are about to kick off around the country so it provides them the opportunity to reload their stables with in-form horses.”
The Fasig-Tipton July Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale begins Monday, July 8 at 3 p.m.
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