Cinnamon Spice Tops Positive Fasig-Tipton Auction

It was a bidding slugfest at the Fasig-Tipton winter mixed sale when the mare Cinnamon Spice was offered early during the Feb. 7 second session, and in the end Oussama Aboughazale's International Equities Holding left with the $700,000 sale topper.

While there was a large buying bench competing for the 6-year-old Candy Ride mare until the bidding reached about $500,000, it finally came down to representatives of International Equities Holding and Doug Cauthen, bidding on behalf of Marie Jones.

Frances Relihan, seated in the sales pavilion and bidding on behalf of Aboughazale, and Cauthen, standing in the rear walking ring, countered each raise by the other party

Finally, Cauthen, who was on the phone with Jones, folded first, leaving Relihan, who was on the phone with the owner, emerging with the prized mare.

Relihan said the final price exceeded expectations but that her client was prepared to go higher if necessary.

"She did cost a little more than we were expecting, but the quality always rises to the top, so we knew we'd have a challenge to get her,” Relihan said. “Mr. Aboughazale was on the phone, and we were hoping to have gotten her for a little less, but we were willing to keep going a little longer.”

Bred in Kentucky by Dell Ridge Farm, Cinnamon Spice was purchased by Rick Porter's Fox Hill for $350,000 from the Lane's End consignment to the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale. On the track, Cinnamon Spice won four of nine starts and earned $144,820.

Consigned as Hip 345 by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Fox Hill, Cinnamon Spice was sold as a racing or broodmare prospect after closing out last season with a fourth-place finish in the Tiffany Lass Stakes Dec. 26 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

It has not been determined to which stallion Cinnamon Spice would be bred this year, Relihan said.

Cauthen said Jones was shopping for a mare that could be bred on a season she has for Medaglia d'Oro   and that her advisers thought Cinnamon Spice was a perfect cross for the Darley stallion.

The stiff competition for mares such as Cinnamon Spice fueled a robust market over the two-day auction, the last buying opportunity for breeders prior to the traditional start of the breeding season. The results were positive in several key statistical categories.

With 640 head cataloged in the regular and supplemental books, Fasig-Tipton sold 351 horses for $9,501,800, compared with the $8,260,600 for 341 head a year ago. This year’s average price was $27,071, with a $9,000 median. The 2016 average was $24,225, with a $9,500 median.

With 169 horses withdrawn, the 120 horses that did not sell represented an RNA rate of 25.5%.

There were 23 transactions in excess of six figures this year, compared with 14 in 2016 when the sale was topped by Flashy American at $395,000.

Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. said the results and overall mood on the sale grounds were positive.

“I thought overall it was a positive two days and encouraging,” Browning said. “We were a little pleasantly surprised at the level of activity and the mood. You get a feel for the sale by talking to buyers and sellers. Buyers found it genuinely tougher to buy than they thought they were going to, and I think sellers may found it a little more activity in the marketplace than they had anticipated coming into the sale."

While the sale was positive, Browning said breeders need to continue to have realistic expectations.

The results "continued to demonstrate the viability of the overall marketplace as long as you've got a reasonable level of quality," he said. "It is still no fun when you have a 14-year-old mare who hasn't produced anything, is in foal to the wrong stallion, or foaled really late. We don't need to kid ourselves when we look at the results and see the average is going to be up and the gross is going to be up. You've got to be realistic. You've got to be evaluating them objectively and not emotionally. You have to be honest with yourself and recognize the realities of the marketplace."

Taylor Made’s Mark Taylor said it’s feast or famine for a lot of breeders at mixed sales.

“These mixed sales are like a bipolar experience,” said. “You’re like ‘Wow, that mare brought twice what I thought it would’ and then the next one you’re like ‘there’s nobody here for that horse for $2,000 and surely it can’t be that bad.' ”

Taylor said the polarization means there is some value potential under the right circumstances.

“If somebody had a farm and could control their expenses, I think pregnant mares could represent some value, especially if they are decent looking and are covered by a fairly commercial horse,” Taylor said. “The foal market is still solid, so if can get a decent foal you can make money."

The final horse through the ring, Glory, a 5-year-old daughter of leading sire Tapit   who placed three times in graded stakes, fetched the session’s second-highest price of $300,000 when purchased by Sheikh Abdullah Almadda’s Marbat operation.

Glory was consigned as a racing or broodmare prospect by Taylor Made Sales Agency for Porter’s Fox Hill Farms. The mare descends from a solid black-type female family that includes grade 1 winners Dressed to Thrill and Trusted Partner.

Kris Stuebs, who signed the ticket on behalf of Marbat, said she felt like Glory was a bargain.

“Having a grade 2 daughter of Tapit with kind of (catalog) page for that kind of money, it was a good buy,” said Stuebs. “She and the sale-topper were our two top picks, but the sale topper flew way out of sight.”

The sale’s top price for a yearling was the $172,000 paid by Artic Bloodstock for Makes Mo Cents, a bay colt by Uncle Mo foaled last Feb. 7. The colt, bred by TNP and consigned as Hip 492 by Bluewater Sales, agent, is out of the winning Stormy Atlantic mare Infliction, a half sister to multiple stakes winner Rock Candy.

Infliction was carrying the Uncle Mo colt when purchased by TNP Stables from VanMeter-Gentry for $100,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November breeding stock sale.