Consignors Have A Lot Riding on Yearling Sale's Outcome

Although the setting of Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga selected yearling sale is a tranquil atmosphere in bucolic Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the auction comes with a certain amount of pressure for sellers.

"It's stressful," said Jim FitzGerald, who consigns under the Chilly Bleak banner, while taking a break from the hectic pace of showing horses on a temperate August morning. "It's stressful because this is how I make my living. I am a farmer, basically, and this is my crop I am selling. This is my payday."

FitzGerald, who has three horses cataloged for the sale, said while he may like every horse, he is at the mercy of the marketplace and what buyers are willing to pay.

"I think we have nice horses, but it doesn't matter at this stage," FitzGerald said. "It's what other people think.

"As horsemen, you go to bed every night dreaming big dreams, and you get up the next morning to go make it work. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. I have a lot riding on this."

Despite the stress associated with selling, FitzGerald acknowledges Saratoga "is a great place to sell a horse. Between the racing and social activity, this is everything you want it to be."

All three of Chilly Bleak's sale entries are scheduled to go through the ring Tuesday, Aug. 8. They include Hip 120, a colt from the first crop of Fed Biz  ; Hip 158, an Orb   colt whose stakes-placed dam is a full sister to classic-placed grade 2 winner and sire Imperialism; and Hip 161, an Uncle Mo   filly whose second dam is a grade 3 winner and grade 1-placed daughter of Elusive Quality  .

The name Chilly Bleak, under which FitzGerald operates, was inherited by the horseman when he and his wife, veterinarian Dr. Katie FitzGerald, bought a farm with that name near Marshall, Va., and relocated from Central Kentucky.

Part of the reason for the move by FitzGerald, an Irish native who operated in Kentucky under the Knockgriffin Farm name that he still also uses, was to be closer to one of his clients, the late William Backer, and to his wife's family. Also, his wife is an avid fox hunter, a sport that is more popular in Virginia.

"It was a lifestyle change and it worked out," FitzGerald said. "No disrespect to Kentucky, where I was for 30-something years, but you can raise as good a horse in Virginia as you can in Kentucky. We are very happy there. The soil is good; the grass is good."