Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale Last Chance for Breeders

Breeders still seeking a broodmare or broodmare prospect before the mid-February start of the North American breeding season will have one final opportunity when Fasig-Tipton Kentucky holds its winter mixed sale Feb. 6-7.

With a diverse selection of more than 600 head entered in the main and supplemental catalogs—from just-turned yearlings to stallions—the sale offers something for every buyer's taste and pocketbook.

While some well-bred short yearlings will prove attractive to pinhookers and end-users, along with accomplished mares sired by or in foal to some of North America’s leading sires along with some appealing off-the-track broodmare prospects, for the most part the auction will likely mirror other recent sales—demonstrating a growing gap between the top and rest of the market.

As a result of polarization, buyers are willing to pay a premium for horses perceived as being better quality, while remaining unforgiving on horses deemed less desirable.

“I don’t anticipate there will be any surprises,” Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. said. “We have pretty clear indications of what the market wants and is willing to pay for, and conversely we’re seeing what the market doesn’t want and isn’t willing to pay for to some extent. We’re going to have horses fall into both categories—some that are viewed as highly desirable and some not viewed by the marketplace as very desirable.”

While mixed sales last fall and earlier this year have seen a market downturn, breeders are still bringing large numbers to market because they need time to adjust to the changing environment. The results are not only across-the-board declines in key statistical categories, but also elevated buy-back rates, because many breeders are not willing to part with their stock for less than a certain figure derived from factoring in production costs.

“There is a segment of the population that continues to behave out of habit rather than adjusting to market realities," Browning said. “I think a lot of people are cognizant of the market, but this takes time. You can’t change your inventory overnight. We are dealing with livestock that has a somewhat lengthy gestation period. It is just not as easy to adapt in this marketplace as it is in others.”

Like most mixed sales, Fasig-Tipton’s winter sale gets a boost when there is a major dispersal like the Eugene Melnyk sell-off in 2013 that pushed the sale to new heights. Topped by the $900,000 mare Pool Land, the sale saw 245 head gross nearly $13.8 million for an average price of $56,252, both records for the auction first conducted in 2007. The buy-back rate that year was a paltry 11.6%.

In 2014, the number offered nearly doubled to 505 from 277, resulting in an average $33,319 for the 406 sold for an aggregate $13.5 million. In the two most recent editions, 406 head grossed $10.6 million for an average $26,012 in 2015, and last year 341 horses averaged $24,225 on total receipts of $8.3 million.

Browning said the increased entries over the last four years are “indicative of confidence in this sale at this time of the year and it is a desire by people who want to sell some horses.”

This year’s lone dispersal is the 32-horse allotment from Robert Zoellner’s Oklahoma-based Rockin’ Z Ranch, with Vinery Sales acting as agent. Among the Rockin’ Z offerings are grade 3-placed Rowdy the Warrior, a 3-year-old who has earned points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and graded stakes winners Peach Brew and She's All In.

Browning said those looking for quality should find what they’re looking for at the winter mixed sale, many of which have been added to the sale through a supplemental catalog.

“There are definitely some high-quality horses on offer whether they be weanlings, mares, yearlings, or horses in training,” he said. “Some horse will sell really, really well and will go on to be meaningful producers and to be meaningful horses in the yearling or 2-year-old sales ring later in the year.”

Among the more accomplished or better-bred horses in the main catalog are Sarasota (Bluewater Sales, agent), an Argentine mare in foal to Curlin   who is the dam of grade 1 winner Salutos Amigos and grade 2 winner Sarah's Secret; Tapit Home (Timber Town, agent), an unraced daughter of Tapit   from the immediate family of Shackleford   who is in foal to Verrazano  ; and Cinnamon Spice (Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Fox Hill Farms), a half sister to grade 1 winner Violence   from the family of champion Sky Beauty.

Among those cataloged in the supplement are 2010 Vinery Madison Stakes (G1) winner Dr. Zic, offered in foal to Constitution  ; Find Joy, a stakes-winning daughter of Drosselmeyer consigned by Legacy Bloodstock, agent, as a broodmare prospect; Andean (Indian Creek, agent), a stakes-placed daughter of City Zip   who is a half sister to millionaire stakes winner and grade 1-placed Mr. Z.; and Glory, a 5-year-old Tapit mare (Taylor Made Stakes Agency, agent for Fox Hill Farm) who has placed in six stakes, including a second in the grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes and thirds in the Santa Ysabel and Robert J. Frankel Stakes, both grade 3 events at Santa Anita Park.

The supplemental catalog can be viewed online. The supplemental horses, which include racing and/or broodmare prospects, in-foal mares, and short yearlings, sell Feb. 7 following completion of the main catalog.