Steady Trade Marks Day Three at Fasig-Tipton October Sale

LEXINGTON, KY – The Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearlings Sale continued to churn out steady results through its third session in Lexington Wednesday, with a filly by Uncle Mo bringing top price of $350,000 when selling to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan on behalf of Bob Edwards's e Five Racing.

During Wednesday's session, 244 head sold for $7,990,900. The session average was $32,750 and the median was $12,000. Through three sessions, 723 yearlings have sold for $24,575,900. The cumulative average of $33,992 dipped 3.7% from the same point a year ago, while the median is up 25% at $15,000. The buy-back rate is 22.9%.

Through three sessions in 2017, 728 yearlings had grossed $25,698,500. The average was $35,300 and the median was $12,000. The cumulative buy-back rate was 24.2%.

“Day three of the October Yearling Sale here at Fasig-Tipton was very similar to the marketplace we've seen during the first two days,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “There were pretty consistent results, with the average in the $33,000 to $35,000 range for each of the three days. The median was a little bit lower today, but still consistent and, overall for the first three days, it is slightly higher than last year. The buy-back rate is in an acceptable range. I think we've seen the market is pretty consistent and similar to what it was last year. There was solid and fair trade and most of the horses are getting sold at reasonable levels. So we are fairly pleased overall.”

Wednesday's session-topping daughter of Uncle Mo was the first purchase of the October sale for Ryan, who continued to see steady demand for quality offerings even as the yearling sales season winds down.

“For the good ones, it's good,” Ryan said of the market. “It's the same old story. We're in oversupply. We have more horses than we have end-users and a lot of people have bought already. But they are selling pretty well here. The good ones have sold very well. There is still a demand for the right horse. It's the same old story. If you've got what they want, you'll get paid.”

The final session of the October sale begins Thursday morning at 10 a.m.

Uncle Mo Filly to E Five

Bob Edwards's e Five Racing, which just announced the retirement of its Breeders' Cup-winning filly New Money Honey (Medaglia d'Oro), looked ahead to the next generation with the purchase of an Uncle Mo filly for $350,000 at Fasig-Tipton Wednesday. Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan made the winning bid on hip 933 from the Romans Racing & Sales consignment.

Bob Edwards's e Five Racing, which just announced the retirement of its Breeders' Cup-winning filly New Money Honey (Medaglia d'Oro), looked ahead to the next generation with the purchase of an Uncle Mo filly for $350,000 at Fasig-Tipton Wednesday. Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan made the winning bid on hip 933 from the Romans Racing & Sales consignment.

Ryan compared the yearling to another offspring of Coolmore's Uncle Mo in GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, whom he had purchased for $230,000 as a yearling at the 2014 Keeneland September sale.

“She looked like a female Nyquist,” Ryan said. “She's tall and elegant with a beautiful long neck and shoulder. The first time I saw her, I wrote Nyquist on the page. She'll go to Stonestreet and hopefully we'll see her on NBC a year from now.”

The yearling is out of Miss Luann (Unbridled's Song) and is a half-sister to G3 UAE Oaks winner Nomorerichblondes (Hard Spun) and to stakes winner Sharp Kitty (Kitten's Joy).

Dale Romans purchased Miss Luann for $375,000 on behalf of Marc Holliday's Blue Devil Racing at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and was selling the Uncle Mo for Holliday Wednesday.

“We thought she would sell well,” Romans said. “She's a very nice filly out of a good mare. You just don't know when you go out to the market. I'm happy with what we got for her. And she's going to a good home. That's the best thing. It will help the mare. Teresa [Little] and the team did a great job getting her ready. She looked good.”

The filly was the only horse in the Romans Racing & Sales consignment.

“It's a little pressure,” Romans said of the one-horse consignment. “But the way we do this, we do it for fun. If we make money, we'll sell them. If not, we'll take them to the races. I try not to bring a horse over here that I wouldn't race.”

Bodemeister Colt Returning to Canada

An Ontario-bred colt by Bodemeister will be returning to Canada after being purchased for $300,000 by trainer Catherine Day-Phillips Wednesday at Fasig-Tipton. The yearling is a half-brother to Canadian champion and Queen's Plate winner Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro). He was bred and consigned by Anderson Farms.

“He is a lovely colt, he's well-balanced,” Day-Phillips said of hip 859. “I saw him as a foal and really liked him. He has a great hip on him and he is an athletic horse. He comes from a great family. I'm really looking forward to having him in the barn.”

Day-Phillips, who purchased the youngster on behalf of a partnership, admitted she missed out on the opportunity to purchase the colt's illustrious older sister.

“Wonder Gadot is tremendous,” Day-Phillips said. “We missed her. We watched her sell. We didn't want him to leave the country, too.”

David Anderson's Anderson Farms purchased Loving Vindication (Vindication) as 6-year-old for $180,000 at the 2011 Keeneland January sale. Her first foal was stakes winner and graded stakes placed Solemn Tribute (Medaglia d'Oro).

Wonder Gadot, who was an $80,000 Keeneland September yearling, sold for $325,000 at last year's OBS April sale. In addition to the Queen's Plate, the sophomore filly was also second to Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Kentucky Oaks. She was named Canada's champion 2-year-old in 2017.

“He was a tremendous-bodied colt who looks like he's got a lot of speed,” Anderson said of the yearling. “We pointed him towards this sale because we felt a little bit of extra time would do him some good. He is a May foal and he's still a big baby. Obviously, the mare has been a 100% producer and Wonder Gadot needs no explanation. We are thrilled he is going to a great home and he'll be going back to Canada.”

Loving Vindication's 2-year-old filly by Hard Spun sold for $400,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale and the mare produced a filly by Nyquist this year. She was bred back to Curlin.

Goldencents Colt Shocks Roberts

Oklahoma horseman Rusty Roberts readily admitted he was shocked when the Goldencents yearling (hip 974) he bred sold for $265,000 to SBM, agent during Wednesday's third session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“The stars were aligned and we are beyond thrilled with the result,” Roberts said after watching the colt go through the ring at Newtown Paddocks. “If I sell a horse for $50,000, I think I've had a really good sale. Every few years, we get a six-figure horse, but it's not very often.”

He added, “I am a middle market, meat and potatoes kind of guy. I don't pay very high stud fees; $15,000-$20,000 is a large stud fee for me. To get a good mare, I usually have to buy a mare with a little age on her and maybe get lucky every now and again and get a mare that is carrying a foal who is by a reputable sire.”

Roberts purchased the then-15-year-old mare Ms North Carolina (Honour and Glory), in foal to Eskendereya, for $15,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale. The mare had already produced graded stakes winner Off Duty (Yes It's True) and she was about to be represented by the promising Shaken Not Stirred (Eskendereya).

“She is gorgeous and she had produced a graded stakes winner of almost a half-million dollars,” Roberts said of Ms North Carolina's appeal.

“And then Shaken Not Stirred came along and he broke his maiden so impressively. It looked like he was going to be a major stakes horse, but he got injured and unfortunately only had three races. But the mare has the potential to throw any of kind of a racehorse.”

Of the mare's 2014 price tag, Roberts admitted, “Absolutely, I was surprised to get her for that. I thought maybe somebody had made a mistake and left a zero off. But I find mares like that at almost every sale. Last year, I bought two graded stakes mares off of Claiborne, one in foal to Lea and one in foal to First Samurai and they were both $10,000 or $15,000 mares.”

Hip 974 was consigned to Wednesday's sale by Bill Murphy, who partnered with Roberts on the foal.

“The mare was open, she had missed the year before, and Billy had a season himself to Goldencents,” Roberts said. “I just said, 'Look, this mare is open, let's partner on one.' So Billy actually took the mare and bred her.”

Ms North Carolina has a weanling by Mshawish who will go through the sales ring at the Keeneland November sales ring as hip 2169 and she was bred back to American Lion last spring.

Roberts splits his broodmare band between Kentucky and Oklahoma.

“I have about 15 mares right now,” he said. “I keep about 10 in Oklahoma and five here in Kentucky with Ralph Kinder at Alliance Bloodstock. He boards my mares out here and helps me with my yearlings and my matings and weanlings and things. Every horse I breed is with the intention of keeping and running, but I also have an option, if we get a fair price, to sell. If I don't, I keep to race.”

Doctors Seize the Day at Fasig-Tipton

A group of New York medical doctors added a filly from the first crop of Grade I winner Carpe Diem to its fledgling racing stable when trainer Wesley Ward, bidding alongside bloodstock agent Ben McElroy, purchased hip 813 for $230,000 Wednesday at Fasig-Tipton. The yearling was consigned by Denali Stud on behalf of Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings.

“She is a beautiful filly,” Ward said. “Ben McElroy took me over to see her. She's a beautiful physical individual, so hopefully she can run as fast as she looks.”

Hip 813 is out of Le Relais (Coronado's Quest) and is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Soldat (War Front). Stonestreet purchased the mare for $800,000 at the 2011 Keeneland November sale.

“She was raised fantastically at Stonestreet by Robert Turner, who does a great job for Barbara [Banke],” Ward said of the yearling. “I've been really lucky with Barbara and the ones she raises, so hopefully the luck continues.”

Ward trained multiple Group 1 winner Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy), who was bred and co-owned by Banke's Stonestreet Stables, and the conditioner said the operation may also be a part of this new acquisition.

“She is for a group of doctors over in New York who bought into a purchase I had at Keeneland,” Ward said of his new clients. “I am going to try to get [Stonestreet's] Lesley Howard and we'd hopefully have Barbara stay in as well, but if she doesn't, we understand as well. They are brand new owners, fantastic people.”

Affe A New Face at Fasig

There's a new face at Fasig-Tipton's October Sales this year; successful Italian trainer Agostino Affe is making his first visit to Lexington to bring back horses to join his 35-strong string at Rome's Capannelle Racecourse. Affe, who has bought six to eight horses per year in recent years at OBS to take home to Italy, is attending this year's Fasig-Tipton sale with Florida-based bloodstock agent Paolo Romanelli.

“I came to this sale for a new experience,” said Affe, who has so far picked up just one yearling, hip 706, a Data Link colt from the Denali Sales consignment on Tuesday. “This is my first time in Kentucky,” said Affe. “I'm looking for something a little different pedigree-wise to bring back to Rome. I like the quality of the horses here, and the prices are good. Some of the prices are too high for my budget, but I came here with the intention of buying three horses for around $20,000 each.”

Affe said he's looking for early, precocious types who could win early in the season in Rome.

“I'm looking for a good athlete, not really tall or big, a medium-sized, robust horse to run soon, in May,” said the 41-year-old Sicilian native, who was one of the leading trainers in Italy last year. Affe said that about 80% of the American horses he had imported had gone on to be winners.

“He is an up-and-coming trainer who has a very good eye for not-so-obvious yearlings that don't cost a lot of money who go on to become good horses,” said Romanelli.