Fasig-Tipton's Racehorse Sale Provides Opportunity

The modus operandi for Kenny Troutt's WinStar operation is well known—race well-bred horses at the highest level with potential to return to the Versailles, Ky., farm as stallions.

For those not fitting that criteria, WinStar has succeeded in finding new homes for them, primarily offering those racehorses to the public at Keeneland's November breeding stock sale.

In a new twist, WinStar has its first consignment to the Fasig-Tipton horses of racing age sale that will be held July 10 at the Newtown Paddocks in Lexington. The sale begins at 5 p.m. ET and will take place one day before the Fasig-Tipton July selected yearling sale.

Established in 2013, the auction has proven to be viable market for horse trading among owners at a time of year in which there is a paucity of opportunities for buying and selling racehorses, other than the private market, which can be limited.

The sale's graduates include 2015 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner Wavell Avenue, as well as graded stakes winners Squadron A, Fear the Cowboy, Fioretti, Point Piper, Bullards Alley, and Dramedy  .

"This is our fifth year conducting the horses of racing age sale, and we feel that this is our strongest catalog to date," said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. "The sale has attracted entries from several of the most prominent racing stables in the country, and buyers will find a number of turn-key, quality offerings no matter their budget.

"Since this sale was first held in 2013, sale graduates have made more than 3,500 starts for their new owners, earning more than $19 million," Browning continued. "The sale has also produced 25% stakes horses and more than 40 stakes wins."

Topped by Stormy Lucy, sold in a private, out-of-the-ring transaction for $575,000, last year's sale saw 72 horses gross $5,048,500, for an average price of $70,118 and a median price of $42,000. Those numbers represented gross and average gains of 26.3% and 14.1%, respectively, as the median was down 12.5%.

"We found it to be (a) useful (sale) for horses that have lots of conditions, but might not be stakes horses, or are just a cut below what we keep as stallions but are extremely useful horses for other outfits," said Sean Tugel, WinStar's director of bloodstock services and assistant racing manager. "(New owners) can go on and have fun with them and race at the highest level as we do."

Tugel said WinStar decided to enter a half-dozen horses in the Fasig-Tipton sale because there are so many additional racing opportunities between now and when the farm presents its other racehorses to the public in November.

"You have horses that are in form and racing, and it is just before the big summer meets at Saratoga and Del Mar," Tugel explained. "With the increased purses at Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs, we also have a lot of horses that fit that mold. With the amount of racing that goes on in the summertime rather than winter, we felt like it was a good time to test the waters of a new marketplace."

The WinStar consignment is being handled by Tugel and James Keogh, a veteran consignor whose Grovendale Sales offerings at the auction include stakes winner Zulu. The Bernardini   colt showed potential early in 2016, when he finished second in the Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) before an unplaced effort as the favorite in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1). Following an eight-month layoff, Zulu won the Dec. 18 Tamarac Stakes.

With the addition of recent stakes winner Dreamin, the horses of racing age sale catalog now numbers 126 and includes more than 15 stakes winners. A 4-year-old filly, Dreamin has won or placed in 13 of her 22 starts, including a victory in the July 6 Saylorville Stakes at Prairie Meadows, in which she defeated graded stakes winner I'm a Looker in a final time of 1:08.8. She is offered by Darby Dan Farm.

Annother recent stakes winner cataloged is Happy Mesa, a daughter of Sky Mesa   who won the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in near course-record time of 1:33.61 for a mile on the turf. The 3-year-old filly, who also won the Selima Stakes at age 2, is out of stakes-placed Happy Choice and from the family of grade 1 Test Stakes winner Missed the Storm, as well as champion Hall of Famer Chris Evert.

Happy Mesa is among a large group from the recently formed Elite Sales of Bradley Weisbord and Liz Crow.

Taylor Made Sales Agency's consignment includes multiple graded winner Made You Look, a 3-year-old son of More Than Ready   who annexed this year's Dania Beach Stakes (G3T) on the turf at Gulfstream Park and took last year's With Anticipation Stakes (G2T) at Saratoga Race Course.

Another Saratoga graded winner from Taylor Made is Bitumen, who closed with a powerful rally to win the 2016 Sanford Stakes (G3). The 3-year-old Mineshaft   colt is a half brother to a stakes winner Meshell and is out of an unraced half sister to four-time grade 1 winner and sire Quality Road  .

Taylor Made's Mark Taylor said the Fasig-Tipton sale's placement on the auction calendar has appeal for a lot of buyers and sellers.

"Everybody is looking for a live, sound racehorse," Taylor said. "And liquidity is a big thing for the owners. You used to only have a few racehorse sales throughout the year and the private marketplace is somewhat inefficient. We've sold a lot of good horses at all levels here that people have had success with."

Other stakes winners in the catalog include the 5-year-old mare Distinta, winner of this year's Inside Information Stakes (G2), from the family of grade 1 winner Purim; Closing Bell, a son of Tapit   who won the Dueling Grounds Derby and finished second in the Secretariat Stakes (G1T); Lori's Store, a multiple stakes-winning daughter of El Prado; Bronson, a stakes winner this year at age 3 and a half brother to two grade 2 winners; Rose to Fame; and Adorable Miss.