Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale Reaches New Heights

The final session of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale concluded Feb. 6 with Coolmore Stud extinguishing a bidding war at $2 million for Zetta Z , dam of top 3-year-old colt Nysos . Besides that sale-record price, the complete dispersal of Lothenbach Stables also highlighted the two-day sale, bringing two seven-figure mares to the ring.

As for the sale topper, Grovendale Sales consigned the mare (Hip 536) as an addendum to the supplement, entering her on Sunday morning after her Nyquist   son, Nysos, gave a scintillating performance in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) Saturday at Santa Anita Park. The colt campaigned by Baoma Corp. and Bob Baffert is 3-for-3 and a dual grade 3 winner following that 7 1/2-length romp.

"Pretty strong," Grovendale partner Chance Timm noted on the reception for Zetta Z. "Ones like that, with that kind of an update—everybody saw and recognized it, and Fasig did a great job of making everyone know."

The mare sold in foal to dual grade 1 winner Cyberknife  , and she also has produced the stakes-placed Distorted Humor filly Attabe .

"We targeted Zetta Z as soon as she was entered into the sale on Sunday. She's a beautiful mare and stood out being the dam of such a talented young colt with his whole future ahead of him," said Adrian Wallace of Coolmore. "She was a must-have, and Mr. (John) Magnier and M.V. were very interested in her from the beginning. She's a wonderful mare and in foal to an exciting young sire and hopefully will be a nice addition to Justify's book when the time comes."

Saving the best for last, the 14-year-old Bernardini mare was the final horse through the ring Tuesday and the third to hit the seven-figure threshold. Coolmore Stud finished as leading buyer of the session and the sale with its single purchase.

"We were hoping we wouldn't have to go so high, but it seemed every time there was a return bid coming back quickly," Wallace said. "She's very well-credentialed and beautiful. She looks like a $2 million mare instead of a $1 million mare."

Timm added: "We are thrilled with the result. It's hard to predict what they can make at that level, but mares like her deserve to make a premium and a number like that because they're scarce."

Two mares from Vinery Sales, agent for the  complete dispersal for Lothenbach Stables, climbed to $1.3 million and $1 million. The higher-priced mare, Bell's the One  (Hip 476), was hammered down to agent Catherine Hudson. The hard-knocking Majesticperfection  grade 1-winning mare turned in an impressive record of 13-5-3 in 27 starts and earnings of more than $2 million.

The second mare, She Can't Sing  (Hip 485), a grade 3 winner by Bernardini, went the way of Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa. The broodmare prospect comes from the family of grade 1 victresses Music Note  and Musical Chimes .

Vinery Sales was the leading consignor of session two and the sale overall with 73 horses sold of its 78-horse draft for receipts of $7,098,500—an average price of $97,240.

"A fantastic horse sale again today, highlighted by the very last horse to go through the ring that brought $2 million, the dam of Nysos," said Fasig-Tipton CEO and president Boyd Browning Jr. "It was an unusual set of circumstances with the quality that we had this year with the Lothenbach Dispersal. Under unfortunate circumstances, we were pleased to have it, but you hate to lose a staunch supporter of racing in Bob Lothenbach.

"We were fortunate enough to have a major update when the connections associated with the dam of Nysos saw it made sense to take advantage of the opportunity and were rewarded for her today."

The second session proved strong as the day's top 10 horses brought $300,000 or more and were sold to nine different buyers. The session's top five short yearlings were by sires Into Mischief   (Hip 494—$650,000), Twirling Candy   (Hip 498—$300,000), Gun Runner   (Hip 491—$225,000), and Medaglia d'Oro   (Hip 314—$190,000 and Hip 500—$160,000).

"Even outside of those highlights, it was fantastic to sell Bell's the One and She Can't Sing for over a million dollars; it was an outstanding horse sale," Browning said. "There was trade and bidding at all levels; it restored some confidence in the marketplace that there is demand for horses.

"Not that there was a complete lack of confidence, but there have been concerns. As an industry, we still need to do a lot of things better, but from a sales perspective, it was solid. I saw people here who hadn't been here in the past because of the quality of the catalog. I saw people bidding aggressively for the top short yearlings, broodmares, and broodmare prospects. It has been a fantastic two days and wildly exceeded our expectations."

Fasig-Tipton reports 175 of 196 horses changed hands in Tuesday's session for a $13,756,000 gross, improving 62.9% over the 2023 corresponding session. The average price improved 96.4% to $78,606, but the median of $19,000 dipped 5%. The 21 horses that failed to attain their reserve represent an RNA rate of 10.7%.

Browning added: "We normally have high expectations for our sales and for the quality of horses that we're selling, but it was damn good. It feels terrific to say that in February. And not just on three horses, talking to the consignors across the board. They felt like it was a legitimate marketplace. Buyers found competition at all levels; it was not easy to buy horses, which is where you want the marketplace to be. You want it to be competitive on both the buying and selling side of things, and we saw that the last two days."

For the two days of selling, 372 of the 433 horses through the ring sold for a turnover of $21,687,000, posting a 53.7% increase over the previous year. A $58,298 average shows an increase of 66.1%, and the median rose 13.3% to $17,000. A total of 61 individuals failed to sell to account for a 14.1% RNA rate.

The addition of the Lothenbach Dispersal propelled the sale into new territory and accounted for $8,263,000 of the total gross for the 62 horses sold. This was the first time the February sale saw a horse reach seven figures, and it happened three times. The previous top seller had been Pool Land  in 2013 at $900,000.

Robert Lothenbach spent a lifetime developing his stud book and curating his mares to his liking. The market over the past two days saw through his eyes and liked what it saw.

Browning added: "It's the reflection of a man who had a program that raised and raced horses the right way; he gave horses time and used trainers that took care of the horses. He had a long-term perspective and was in it for all the right reasons: He loved racing. That shared passion for racing ultimately fuels everything we do in our industry."

Fasig-Tipton will next travel to Maryland for the Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Timonium May 20-21. An undertack preview will run May 14-16.