F-T Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale Ends With Record Gross

New sale records were achieved for gross and median as the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale came to an end Feb. 9 near Lexington, where $750,000 racing or broodmare prospect Brilliant Cut  closed out two days of action with a bang.

Japan's Katsumi Yoshida saw out rivals bidding over the internet to secure the 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown   from new consignor Highgate Sales. Brilliant Cut topped the two-dale sale where the cumulative gross reached $17,245,500 for 431 horses sold at an average price of $40,013, with a $16,000 median. Cumulatively, 56 horses failed to meet their reserve to represent an extremely low RNA rate of 11.5%. The average was the highest in sale history in a non-dispersal year, and the second highest overall. The previous record gross of $13,781,700 was set in 2014. The RNA rate is the third lowest in sale history and the lowest since the record was set in 1992.

"Tremendous horse sale, great activity on all types of horses and at all levels," said Fasig-Tipton's president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. "The most encouraging thing was the depth of the marketplace. The energy has been apparent since the weather broke on Sunday. You could walk around and you saw multiple horses out showing at multiple barns. I think we all said, 'This is going to be OK.'"

Fasig-Tipton reported for the second day of selling that 233 horses were traded of the 251 that went through the ring. It accounted for gross receipts of $10,646,700, an average price of $45,694, and a median of $18,000. A low RNA rate of 7.2% represents the 18 horses that failed to sell.

In 2021 Fasig-Tipton reported 218 horses sold from 260 offered on the second day with gross receipts of $8,550,400. The average was $39,222 and the median was $11,000. The 42 unsold horses represented an RNA rate of 16.2%. Across the two days of the 2021 sale, 425 horses were reported sold for $12,506,700. The 99 unsold horses represented a cumulative RNA rate of 18.9%. 

"We had a tremendous clearance rate, a very healthy marketplace even improving on last year, which was good," Browning commented. "From our perspective, the beauty for us is the February sale has established itself as a meaningful sale on the calendar that people can point horses towards. People who brought horses of quality were richly rewarded over the last two days."

The sale-topping 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown   (Hip 541) showed recent form with a second in the Dec. 26 La Brea Stakes (G1) along with hitting the board in the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) last season.

Jill Gordon and Jacob West of Highgate Sales were thrilled with the results of the two days.

"We are pleased to report we are 10 for 10 at our inaugural sale. We can't thank our clients enough," Gordon said. "All in all, it couldn't have been a better way to start."

Yoshida's single purchase made him the leading buyer of the sale. Taylor Made Sales Agency closed out the sale as the leading consignor by gross after selling 52 of their 58 horses for gross receipts of $4,323,500. 

David Meah of Meah/Lloyd Bloodstock purchased the day's second-highest offering, Lady Edith , for $370,000 for a new partnership in Abbodanza Racing and Omar Aldabbagh. Hermitage Farm consigned the 4-year-old filly by Street Boss   as Hip 350 for The Estate of J. David Richardson, who bred and campaigned the filly with Sandra New.

Taylor Made Sales Agency consigned the session's leading broodmare, Lucky Draw (Hip 369), who sold in foal to Three Chimneys' leading sire Gun Runner   for $330,000 to Gracie Bloodstock, agent. The unraced Lookin At Lucky   mare has produced a stakes winner in her first foal by Frosted  , You Look Cold , winner of the Finest City Stakes.

Four Star Sales purchasing on behalf of a pinhooking partnership picked up the day's top-priced short yearling, a colt by City of Light  , for $180,000 from Taylor Made Sales Agency as Hip 337. The colt out of Justwalkonby, by Giant's Causeway , was bred in Kentucky by Fred Hertrich III, John Fielding, and Robert Tribbett.

City of Light was the sale's leading short yearling sire (minimum two sold) by both average ($220,000) and gross ($440,000). Gun Runner was the sale's leading covering sire (minimum two sold) with a $205,000 average and an $820,000 gross. 

"I think this is something we are going to see through the end of the year; at least we are all banking on it," said buyer/consignor Kerry Cauthen of Four Star Sales. "Things will transition with the economy, we are starting to tighten up interest rates, and it will trickle down. Still, we have a high demand for racehorses and Kentucky will be one of the strongest if not the strongest circuit around. We have a lot of new players if you look around … the people that weren't in the marketplace this year have been replaced and then some. I think there is a lot of excitement."

A youngster by Spendthrift's sire Audible   sold for $165,000 to Castleton Way to be the day's highest-priced short yearling filly. Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services consigned her as Hip 462. Newtown Anner Stud-bred the New York-born filly out of the stakes winner Rachel's Temper .

"I have been doing this a long time and I can't tell you what the 'new normal' is in terms of the marketplace. Clearly, it's healthy, and there is a significant amount of money, but I hate to characterize," commented Browning. "Markets move and evolve. I think in recent years we have seen a strong correlation between the Thoroughbred industry and the U.S. and world economy and as long as those things stay healthy, I think we will continue to have a vibrant market."

"It's strong; I have had orders to try and buy everything from yearlings to broodmare prospects to pregnant mares, and I was able to buy one horse," said West, who was wearing both consignor and agent caps. "It's been strong, there are quality horses in here, and they are selling well across the board. The results speak for themselves, looking at yesterday's gross total, median, and average. I'm sure today they are blowing the figures out of the water. Quality products are bringing quality money, and it looks like it will be that way for the foreseeable future."

"It's been a great sale; we are delighted," Vinery Sale's Derek MacKenzie said. "Our RNA rate is low, and if we did RNA, we are getting them sold pretty quickly after in the barns.

"I think every year people are targeting this sale with specific horses; later foals come here or broodmare prospects. It's finding its niche. We have been bringing a good group here for the last several years and we target certain horses for this sale."

Cauthen shared a similar feeling towards the end of selling on the second day.

"This was a good sale," he said. "It's not a sale where you're going to have lights out here and there, but you are bringing horses for another man to find treasure. You want horses to move on for owners who are looking to sell, so every time you complete a transaction, it's a win for me."

Online bidding has become a new normal for buyers worldwide. Both sessions of the February Sale were topped by a foreign entity buying over the internet.

"One of the positives that came out of COVID-19 was online bidding, which gave way to increased information offered online in photos and videos that are accessible around the world. In previous years we have sold horses to the Japanese from this sale, but they generally had an agent here on the grounds," Browning said. "You can go online and look at a video, pull up races, access veterinary information. We have all learned to provide more information to buyers around the world, increasing the bidding opportunities. People have gotten comfortable bidding online."

The final breeding stock sale of the season has concluded for Fasig-Tipton and now all eyes will turn to the juvenile market. Next up will be The Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's sale of selected 2-year-olds held at Gulfstream Park March 30.

"The most difficult group of sales is the 2-year-old sales. They have the toughest requirements—video, time, gallop out, veterinary, and end of the shank," said Browning. "There are more boxes to tick, but when you get the majority of those boxes ticked, it's going to be a lot of fun to sell horses at the 2-year-old sales in 2022."