By Alan Carasso
Just days after he was represented by his eighth individual winner from his first crop, Spendthrift freshman sire Vekoma was responsible for a New Jersey-bred colt who was knocked down to Chris Gracie's Gracie Bloodstock for $150,000 to top Tuesday's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in Timonium, Maryland.
While last year's inaugural sale featured a $500,000 topper, four six-figure horses and turnover in excess of $2.5 million, Tuesday's trade was considerably more subdued. From a catalogue that was approximately 20% leaner than 12 months prior, a total of 48 horses–including post-sale transactions–were sold for gross receipts of $1,418,500. The average of $29,552 tumbled by 31.4% versus last year's sale, while the median price declined to $22,500, a decrease of 13.5%.
“I thought overall the sale was fine. It was a fair marketplace for the horses that were presented,” said Fasig-Tipton President and CEO Boyd Browning, Jr. “Obviously we would have liked to have a bigger catalogue, but the numbers are what the numbers are in terms of the horses we had an opportunity to sell. I thought it was a satisfactory exercise.”
Chris Gracie's Virginia-based Gracie Bloodstock made the highest bid on behalf of an undisclosed buyer during the 100-minute session for hip 4, a New Jersey-bred son of the in-form Vekoma from the 8-year-old mare Elusively (Pioneerof the Nile). The May 10 foal was bred by Greg Kilka, the co-breeder of recent Jersey-bred Grade I Woody Stephens S. hero Book'em Danno (Bucchero), and is a half-brother to the latter sire's 3-year-old daughter Hidden Vase, a blowout maiden winner in a Gulfstream turf dash in April. Hip 4, who breezed a furlong in a bullet :10 flat Monday, was consigned to the sale by Marcus and Crystal Ryan's Mason Springs.
“We thought we got very good value for the colt,” Gracie said. “We've been familiar with him since he was a foal and he really breezed nicely on Monday. We're very pleased to have him.
He continued, “He was kind of right in our ballpark for what we were willing to pay for him, so it kind of worked out.
“He's a very pretty horse, there was a lot to like about him in terms of the way that he looked. You hope they're able to carry the speed that he has.”
From Gracie's perspective, Vekoma picked the right time to get hot.
“He looks like he has some significant runners out there,” he said. “Everyone has talked really highly of the Vekomas all spring and they're showing that they do have some ability. You certainly couldn't knock them at this point.”
Elusively, a half-sister to MSW & GSP Colonel Sharp (Colonel John), was consigned by Gracie Bloodstock to the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Sale, where she fetched $37,000 in foal to Violence. She delivered a filly in 2023.
EQB's Patti Miller paid the afternoon's top price for a filly, going to $85,000 for hip 30 from the draft of Crane Thoroughbred Services, agent. A Jan. 31 foal, the chestnut daughter of Munnings is the first produce from her dam Roadrunner's Honor (Honor Code), third in the 2020 GIII Sweet Life S. and a half-sister to Gabon (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}), second in the $86,000 Ceske Derby in Prague on Sunday. The filly's third dam is 1996 Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly Storm Song (Summer Squall), the granddam of the outstanding stayer Order of St George (Ire). Hip 30 was a :10.1 breezer on Monday.
Browning indicated that he and his team will convene over the next several weeks to discuss the future of this particular sale.
“You don't want to make any rash decisions,” he said. “We'll evaluate it in due course, probably within the next month. We always want to give something a legitimate chance to succeed and grow.
“Frankly, I'm a little disappointed that the number of horses was down this year compared to last year. Part of that is probably indicative of the overall market, but we'll have to sit down and evaluate what makes sense for us and our consignors in the not-too-distant future.”
The June Sale marks the end of this year's breeze-ups, and Browning looks forward to the beginning of yearling sale season, with 286 youngsters catalogued for the July Sale at the company's Newtown Paddocks in Lexington July 9.
“I think it will be very competitive for the top offerings,” Browning said. “We saw a strong upper end in the 2-year-old sales and some weakness in the middle part, and those trends are likely to continue in the yearling market, like we've seen for the past several years.”
Click here for full results of the Midlantic June Sale.
Thank you to our buyers and consignors for supporting the Midlantic June Two-Year-Olds in Training sale! The sale has ended.
Results are available online ➡️ https://t.co/gntEjv3vQ2 pic.twitter.com/Q4VmF8OT60
— Fasig-Tipton (@FasigTiptonCo) June 25, 2024
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