Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale Poised for Strength

Sunny, sunny, sunny.

That word is not only an apt description of the weather in South Florida in late February but also the mood of Fasig-Tipton executives and consignors leading up to the March 1 sale of 2-year-olds in training at Gulfstream Park.

Held in the Gulfstream paddock, the sale begins at 4 p.m., with the under tack show taking place Feb. 27, beginning at 10 a.m.

This will mark the third year the nomadic first juvenile sale of the season has been conducted in the eclectic atmosphere of the Gulfstream paddock, and by all accounts it has proven to be a winner.

After moving from Calder Race Course, the sale was held at Palm Meadows Training Center and Adena Springs South before Fasig-Tipton partnered with The Stronach Group to relocate to Gulfstream. That move was not only convenient to trainers stabled at the track and nearby training centers, but it afforded the sale horses the ability to train and showcase their talents over Gulfstream’s dirt main track.

Among the top-class graduates of that first sale was Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Nyquist  .

Topped by a Tapit   colt sold for $1.8 million, last year’s second Gulfstream edition saw 66 horses sold for $21,590,000, up 7.4% from the $20,095,500 in 2015. There was a 44.8% boost in average to $327,121 from $225,792, and a median of $250,000, an increase of 92.3% from $130,000 a year ago.

"We're ready to go; we're very optimistic," said Fasig-Tipton president and chief executive officer Boyd Browning Jr. "We were the gypsies for a little while. We moved from Calder to Palm Meadows to Adena South, for a variety of reasons. Now we feel like we've got it right for a long-term relationship.

"It is a wonderful facility and a great venue for a horse sale. I think buyers have gotten extremely comfortable and extremely confident buying horses that have breezed over that racetrack. There is a familiarity to it now that wasn't there in the past."

Although the sale is steeped in quality and is labeled a "boutique" auction—with the 160 head cataloged, including 24 full or half siblings to graded stakes winners, 34 juveniles by the top 10 general sires of 2016, and 38 by the top 10 2-year-old sires of 2016—Browning said there is plenty to attract bidders in the price points below the very top.

"You have to have a variety of horses in every sale catalog," the executive said. "Not everyone who comes to this sale (is) going to be spending north of $500,000. You are going to have folks spending $75,000-100,000 or $150,000. We're trying to put together a representative group of horses that buyers from around the world can look at and say there is a high percentage of horses that look like they have racing potential."

Browning said the horses entered in this year's sale are consistent with Fasig-Tipton's philosophy of placing a priority on conformation over sire strength or pedigree.

"At the end of the day, we are conformation folks at Faisg-Tipton," Browning said. "We want to have really attractive physicals and then you get as much pedigree as you can. If there is a pedigree that seems a little light, when people see that horse at the end of a shank and how it works, they will say 'I know why that horse is in there.'"

About 150 of the horses in the catalog have already gone through a sale ring and were either purchased for re-sell at Fasig-Tipton or did not achieve there expected price. Browning said pinhookers play a major role in the auction for good reason.

"What you have is some of the best horsemen and horsewomen in the world who are particularly adept at working with young horses, who are active in the 2-year-old sale marketplace, and they are doing it for a reason," he said. "That reason is they are very good at assessing young talent, very good at developing young talent, (and) delivering a product that can succeed at the racetrack. The consignors have had their hands on a lot of really top-level horses, and buyers have a high level of confidence that they have been carefully selected and carefully cared for to give them a chance to succeed on the racetrack."

Consignor Kevin McKathan agreed that the sale is poised to be strong and that the locale plays a factor.

"I think everything is setting up for it to be a great horse sale," McKathan said. "I think the economy is set up for it. 'Trumpmania' will make people with money feel better. It takes the right person to come in here and buy horses.

"It is a great venue. When people come here they just flourish. It's almost like a festival. It is just an event."

With the lofty average for the Gulfstream sale, there is an expectation of what it’s going to cost and it is not for everyone, McKathan said.

"When they come here they understand, if they want to buy a horse here it's not going to be cheap," McKathan said. "The three I brought are bred great and they are going to work great."

Consignor Niall Brennan agreed with the sale's appeal to those who play in the upper price points.

"The buyers are the same people going around the sales carousel and they’re looking for quality," Brennan said. "It's a little more boutiquish here. Of course there is going to be good value, with good horses bought right. But there (are) not as many buyers coming here looking for value. It's the guys who are looking for the best horses and willing to spend for them."