F-T Saratoga Sale Posts Modest Declines

The opportunity to buy a well-bred filly from the stock of Josephine Abercrombie proved irresistible to Mandy Pope, who bought a Medaglia d'Oro   filly from the prominent breeder for $1.45 million to top the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale Aug. 9.

The filly and continued demand for yearlings by leading sire Tapit   highlighted the second and final session of the auction in Saratoga Springs, N. Y. that saw a decline in key statistical categories.

Consigned as Hip 191 by Craig and Holly Bandoroff's Denali Stud, the filly bred by Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stud is out of the stakes-winning Thunder Gulch mare Whisper to Me, the dam of grade II winner Overheard.

In addition to the powerful female family, the filly is by Darley stallion Medaglia d’Oro, whose offspring continue to excel at the highest level. Included among his top fillies are Rachel Alexandra, who is being inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame this year, and undefeated champion Songbird.

The filly’s family is steeped with tradition, tracing back to champions Chris Evert, Chief’s Crown, and Winning Colors, among others.

Pope said the filly was the standout horse in the sale. 

"(She) stands over a lot of ground, good conformation, and as often as she was shown, she always had a forward walk, she always had her ears up, you could always go up and pet her, she never pinned her ears," she said. "She always had so much class—an unbelievable amount of class."

The filly was one of two seven-figure horses at this year’s two-day sale, held in the unique setting that combines racing at nearby Saratoga Race Course, the sale, and Fasig-Tipton’s hospitality. Last year, three yearlings were sold for more than $1 million, topped by Rothenburg, a son of Tapit purchased by El Capi Racing.

For the two days, Fasig-Tipton reported 156 horses sold for $45,570,000 compared with gross receipts of $46,755,000 for 145 that changed hands last year. This year’s average price of $292,115 was down 9.4% from $322,448 in 2015 and the median declined 5% from $250,000 to $237,500. The 47 horses not sold represented a 23.15% buyback rate, compared with 15.2% in 2015.

"I think the reality is that the marketplace is in close proximity to last year," said Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. "I think there is a little less competition at the top of the market and you continue to see a trend  toward  merging and developing partnerships among the top buyers, which doesn’t result in as spirited a bidding competition as we want to experience in expensive colts."

Browning said part of the interest in the sale topper was the ability for Pope to obtain a quality individual from the Pin Oak stock.

"She was a beautiful, beautiful individual, but the reality is it’s a family people have not had access to," Browning said. "It’s unusual to see a filly with that depth of pedigree and physical offered at public auction. That’s why you such spirited competition."

Not surprisingly, yearlings by Gainesway’s leading sire Tapit were in demand at Saratoga, with the night’s second-highest price of $1.25 million paid for a full brother to graded-placed Royal Obsession.

The colt bred in Kentucky by Marbat is out of the winning Tiznow   mare Rote and has a female family loaded with stakes winners, including grade I winner Magnificent Song under the second dam.

"He's a beautiful Tapit; as far as Tapits go, he’s one of the best ones I've ever seen," said Stonestreet bloodstock adviser John Moynihan, who signed the ticket. "We hope to have a lot of luck with him. He's probably one of the two best horses in the sale.

"He's completely different from Royal Obsession. She is big and lanky; this horse has a look of more muscle. He's a little more tighter, he looks like he'll be early. I actually prefer him physically to her."