By Jessica Martini
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – A year after a record-smashing 2022 edition, the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of Selected Yearlings returns to Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs with a two-session auction beginning Monday evening at 6:30 p.m. The sales grounds were a scene of wall-to-wall activity on a cloudless Sunday morning as trainers, agents and principals all vied for prized show spots for the 235 catalogued yearlings.
“The traffic has been outstanding,” consignor Dave Anderson outside his Barn 3. “Coming in with the economy being a little suspect, it was hard to know whether we would attract the usual suspects, but they are all here. Everybody is in good spirits, so I am expecting a good sale.”
Adrian Regan of Hunter Valley echoed Anderson's comments.
“We are delighted with the activity at the barn,” Regan said. “There's been a lot of showing. People look to be working it hard and from what we are hearing so far, people are saying that there are a good group of horses here.”
The boutique Saratoga catalogue attracted its usual array of sire power and glitzy pedigrees. Gun Runner who had two million-dollar yearlings, including the $2.3-million sale topper at last year's auction, has 12 yearlings in the auction this year. Curlin, who had three seven-figure yearlings in 2022, has seven in the catalogue in 2023, including a son of champion Beholder (Henny Hughes). That mare's half-brother, super-sire Into Mischief, who was represented by four million-dollar sales a year ago, has 12 to be offered in this year's catalogue.
The Saratoga sale is held just across the street from the historic racecourse, giving the power-packed catalogue that extra bit of bling.
“I think with the racing, it is as good as it gets,” Anderson said. “It gets people excited. And the wives and the husbands and the families come and they turn it into a mini-vacation. And when the weather cooperates, Fasig-Tipton knows how to put on a great party and a great show. People bring the product and it's really a special place.”
The atmosphere encourages buyers to attend the sale in person, rather than simply having agents acting on their behalf. That, too, adds to the success of the auction, according to Doug Arnold of Buck Pond Farm.
“This is what's great about coming up here,” said Arnold. “When you can put your hands on things, it kind of changes your mind on what you will and won't do.”
Buck Pond's consignment at Saratoga this year includes just one horse, a filly by Not This Time, and Arnold said horses at the boutique auction face plenty of scrutiny in the days leading up to sale time.
“The buyers have a long time to look at these horses, so they can talk themselves out of things,” Arnold said. “If you have something that is sticking out that they don't like, they will find a way not to buy. We would normally bring more than one up here and it was one of those years that we had a lot of May foals and I kept looking at them and thinking maybe this horse will work for Saratoga, but I am really happy I didn't. Everyone seems to love this filly.”
Tim and Nancy Hamlin's Wynnstay Sales is making its first appearance at the Saratoga sale with a four-horse consignment.
“We've sold horses up here, but we've never brought our own consignment,” Tim Hamlin explained. “One of our customers wanted to do it and Fasig wanted us to do it and we decided to do it.”
Hamlin continued, “I am hoping it's going to be a good sale. You have to have one that has the pedigree and by a hot sire and vets, you've got to jump through all of the hoops. But these are some of the best horses in Lexington, so I think the best ones will have a home.”
The first-ever Wynnstay consignment at Saratoga received the most timely of updates when Brightwork (Outwork) won the GIII Adirondack S. Sunday at Saratoga. The Hamlins offer a half-sister by Volatile to the newly minted graded winner as hip 19 Monday.
After a series of out-of-the-park results last year, the yearling sales season got off to a quieter start at last month's Fasig-Tipton July Selected Yearlings Sale.
“I am a glass is half-full kind of guy, but I think we've got to realize what is going on with interest rates and the economy in general,” Anderson said of a possible correction in the market. “The yearling market has to soften at some point here and that's a good thing, it probably needs to happen.”
While economic conditions might deter many buyers in the middle market, the top-end of the market targetted by Saratoga sellers seems to remain competitive.
“I don't think [the economy] is going to impact this sale,” Anderson said. “This is a boutique sale and buyers are coming here expecting to see some of the best horses in the United States and Canada. They are prepared to buy them at whatever cost it takes.”
Despite the dips and turns at yearling sales to come this fall, Regan feels confident bidding will be strong Monday and Tuesday in Saratoga.
“To be honest, I was a little bit cautious coming up here,” he said. “But we have seen the top end is where everybody wants to be at the moment. So with the group of horses that Fasig has here, I would be very positive about how the sale is going to go.”
Last year's Saratoga sale set records for gross, average and median as 14 yearlings sold for $1 million or over. A total of 135 head grossed $55,155,000 for an average of $408,556 and a median of $350,000.
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