'Solid' Lineup Set for Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale

If the observations of the major players at the March 28 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale are any indication, this year's sale is bereft a breakout horse but has a balanced group of quality individuals.

At last year's Gulfstream sale, held March 1 and re-positioned later in the month this year to take place during the week leading up to the Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1), three individuals sold for seven figures or more to fuel a robust market in which the average price of $327,121 and $250,000 median represented increases of 3.8% and 8% over 2016's numbers.

In the barn (actually well-designed and -built tents) on the penultimate day before the sale, buyers and sellers were buzzing about the successful under tack show workouts March 26 and how the horses cataloged were able to show their abilities.

"I don't know if there is one outstanding horse but there a lot of nice, solid horses," consignor Cary Frommer said.

"I thought it was a very good breeze show," prominent agent Mike Ryan added. "There were a lot of nice horses on the track and the track conditions were superb."

Ryan, whose MO is to compare the juvenile sale offerings with the notes he made when inspecting them at yearling sales (for those that were previously purchased), said the Gulfstream sale is poised to continue the trend in which the strength is at the top of the market.

"There are some very nice horses here and I think it will be strong in the $300,000-$700,000 range," Ryan said.

"The way they went down the lane (stretch) yesterday, there were a lot of horses that made my first-cut list," agent Peter Bradley said. "If the buyers are here, the horses are going to match up pretty well for them. If you're here and want to buy a horse in the $250,000-$500,000 range, I don't think there will be only be 10 horses to key on."

If there are no horses that light up the bid board, that's fine with consignor Eddie Woods, who said the results of the recent Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-year-olds in training sale, in which the median rose but the average declined, was a sign of a realistic marketplace.

"It's getting back to reality," Woods said. "The median is the big number at the end for the day. A $3 million horse in a 2-year-old sale destroys an average, but it's just one little horse in the sale median. It means more horses are getting sold."

Woods said one reason there may not be as many breakout horses this year at Fasig-Tipton is that pinhookers who play such a vital role in the 2-year-old auctions had a tough season buying at the top last year.

"It was very tough to buy the top yearlings because there was a shortage of them," he explained. "We can only get yearlings that the rest of top end of the market doesn't want without going in too deep. So we bought really good, solid racehorses and they were bought accordingly."

Wednesday's sale in the Gulfstream Park walking ring begins at 3 p.m. EDT.