Elite Sales Looks to Be Exactly That at Fasig-Tipton

Bradley Weisbord and Liz Crow teamed up to start Elite Sales with the intent of offering public auction consignments consisting of quality racehorses that can compete at the highest levels.

Come July 10, the Elite Sales team (which also includes Beth Bayer running the consignment and Conrad Bandoroff as director of sales) will take the first step forward to achieving its goal with the Fasig-Tipton horses of racing age sale in Lexington. Selling on behalf of clients that include Zayat Stables, Sol Kumin, Bill and Terry Mathis, and Michael Dubb, among others, Elite has a dozen racehorses entered in the auction that begins at 5 p.m. EDT.

"I think the upper end of the horse business is in a good place," Weisbord said the morning of July 8 at Fasig-Tipton's Newtown Paddocks. "Lots of people want to win big races, and I expect the upper end to be solid. That's the area where we want to play. We're really trying to be elite. I don't want to come here with 25 horses. I want to come with five and have them shine. I hope we can be up there in the top five or 10 in average in every sale—gross is not going to be our goal."

Weisbord said having a mid-year sale of racehorses, which traditionally are not seen in the public auction arena until later in the season, is an opportunity for buyers to obtain stock with solid past performances and upside for the remainder of the racing calendar.

"I think is a great opportunity and the sale is well-positioned to get buyers to buy in-form horses," he said. "One of the most important things we wanted to do when we launched this company was to bring off good performances. Six of our 12 horses won their last start, and 11 of the 12 ran first or second in their last two starts."

Included in the Elite Sales group are multiple stakes winners Happy Mesa and Adorable Miss. A daughter of Sky Mesa  , Happy Mesa most recently defeated a top-class field of 3-year-old fillies in near course-record time (1:33 3/5) in the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. A 3-year-old daughter of Kitten's Joy  , Adorable Miss annexed the Martha Washington Stakes on July 4 at Gulfstream Park, where she won the Honey Ryder Stakes earlier in the year.

Drawing on his experiences, including an advisor position to Al Shaqab Racing that put him on the other side of the fence as a buyer, Weisbord said Elite hopes to provide clients with a realistic view of the horses they are considering purchasing.

"As a buyer, what I have seen in auctions of racing age is, I think the consignors could have done a better job of educating buyers of what these horses are," Weisbord said.

For example, Weisbord said the speed figures for Happy Mesa and Adorable Miss are equal to those of recent graded stakes winners such as Canadian champion Catch a Glimpse, information that would be valuable for potential buyers.

"I think people would be surprised that is true when they (Happy Mesa and Adorable Miss) are coming off listed stakes wins, but when you put the information out there it shows they are sitting graded stakes performances in the next few months," he explained.

Others in the Elite consignment include Bronson, a stakes winner this year at age 3 and a half brother to two grade 2 winners; Rum Go, a daughter of Mizzen Mast   from the female family of champion and sire Shanghai Bobby   who finished third in last year's grade 3 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes; stakes-placed My Sweet Stella; and Siem Riep, a winning son of leading sire Tapit   from the family of multiple graded stakes winner and multiple graded stakes producer Marianna's Girl.

With Elite Sales offering its first public auction consignment at Fasig-Tipton, Weisbord said the partners also believe it is important to set realistic reserves, offering buyers confidence that the horses are there to sell. 

"We are confident of what these values are because we play in the marketplace," Weisbord said. "If they don't achieve what we think they're worth privately, then they are not going to sell. But everybody is here to sell, especially not ticking a high reserve.

"We will be honest with anybody who wants to know what the reserves are. We're trying to bring good stock, show them the right way, be extremely transparent, and represent both buyers and sellers because they are both clients."

Based upon what he is seeing within the private equine sales arena, Weisbord said he is expecting a strong horses of racing age sale and selected yearling sale the following day, July 11, at Fasig-Tipton.

"The private market is impossible. It's stronger than strong. I've seen people asking $1 million for maiden winners. Come November, you can buy grade 1 winners for $1 million," he said.

And Elite Sales is hoping for similar strength at the top end of the public racehorse market.