Saratoga Sale Showcases Foals of 2016

Those who’ve been waiting to see what the first foals sired by recent racing stars Mucho Macho Man  , Verrazano  , Handsome Mike  , and Goldencents   look like will get their first chance Oct. 17 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale.

Among the 179 weanlings entered in the one-day sale at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., are foals by Mucho Macho Man, the $5.6 million earner who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I), Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) winner and two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) winner Goldencents, and multiple grade I winner Verrazano.

Other stallions with first foals in the sale include Travers and Woodward Stakes (both grade I) winner Alpha  , Woodward Stakes (gr. I) winner and $1.7-million earner Itsmyluckyday  , grade I winner Shakin It Up  , Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) third-place finisher Revolutionary  , millionaire Handsome Mike, as well as grade II winners Cairo Prince  , Honorable Dillon  , Flashback  , and Central Banker  .

In addition to the first-season foals, there are weanlings sired by established stallions such as Freud  , Giant's Causeway  , and Sidney's Candy   as well as up-and-coming Union Rags  , Shanghai Bobby  , Graydar  , Maclean's Music  , Eskendereya, and Tizway  , among others.

All of the weanlings and the 34 yearlings entered in the sale were bred in New York. The 106 in-foal mares and racing/broodmare prospects among the 319 total in the catalog include daughters of prominent sires A.P. Indy, Bernardini, Danzig, Dynaformer, Empire Maker, Harlan’s Holiday, Henny Hughes, Medaglia d’Oro, Mineshaft, Pioneerof the Nile, Speightstown, Street Cry, Tiznow, and Unbridled’s Song.

Topped by a Shanghai Bobby sold for $140,000 and a weanling Curlin colt that went for $120,000, last year’s auction resulted in a 5.3% increase in average to $17,493 for the 162 head that changed hands. With the median unchanged at $10,000, the RNA rate was a whopping 46%, compared with a high 41.2% in 2015.

“It has a nice niche in the marketplace,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. “There has been great activity and interest in that weanling market for many years due to the strength of the New York racing program. The New York-bred program is fantastic and is one of the reasons there will be so much interest in those foals. It is hard to separate the success of racing from sales. They go hand in hand.

"This year's catalog features a significant number of mares in foal to proven and up-and-coming young sires, and the large group of weanlings should prove popular once again with both regional and national buyers."

Considering that the sale is the first of the year in which new foals are offered, the Saratoga auction puts pressure on sellers, said Elaine Peck of RF JF Bloodstock, a joint sales venture of Rhapsody Farm and Hidden Lake Farm that was leading consignor last year with the two sale toppers.

“You have just finished weaning them and then you only have a couple of weeks to rally and get them back in condition so they can survive the stress of the sale, mentally and physically,” Peck said. “Last year, we had weanlings that were in and out of their stalls 75 to 80 times a day.”

Peck said the Saratoga sale is important for New York breeders who don’t want to send their weanlings to the Keeneland November sale.

“This is a really good sale for New York breeders,” she said, adding that many weanlings that have come out of the sale have gone on to sell well at the following year’s Fasig-Tipton August New York-bred yearling sale. “It definitely has a place. It is a showcase for the babies.”

Peck said she doesn’t believe the overall quality of the offerings this year match up with 2015.

“I don’t think there will be more than a handful of mares that will sell decently. They just move them along and hope someone else does well with them,” the consignor said.

The catalog for the single session that begins at 10 a.m. EDT is available online and in the Equineline sales catalog app.