Fasig-Tipton's two-year-old Midlantic event ends on a strong note

In a sign that the juvenile market may be turning a corner after Covid-19 disruptions, the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale ended on a strong note on Tuesday, topped by a Candy Ride colt sold for $875,000.

The two-day auction at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium produced numbers on par with last year's record sale, emboldening the spirits of those involved in the business of buying and selling juvenile racing prospects.

Usually held in mid-May in conjunction with the Preakness Stakes, this year's auction was rescheduled due to the pandemic, as was the Preakness, which is now scheduled for October 3.

View sale results here

From 563 head catalogued, Fasig-Tipton reported 303 horses grossed $23,572,500, for an average $77,797 and a $40,000 median. The 72 horses that went unsold represented an RNA rate of 19 per cent.

Due to the unusual circumstances of the sale being rescheduled and possible effects of the pandemic, the sale company did not make a comparison with last year's sale.

The 2019 auction produced record receipts of $29,374,000 for the 326 horses sold, a record average of $90,104, and an all-time second-highest median price of $43,000.

The sale took place in an air of uncertainty, with seating in the sales pavilion limited to 50 per cent capacity, social distancing in place, and masks required.

Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning gave a tip of the hat to the Fasig-Tipton Maryland staff headed by Paget Bennett as well as Maryland fairgrounds and state and local officials that helped navigate the new Covid-19 restrictions and make the sale a success.

"Overall we're just thrilled with the activity we've observed the last two days," he said. "It was a really good horse sale. I think it restores some confidence among both buyers and sellers that with one sales company - us - there remains a legitimate, viable marketplace out there.

"I have to take my hat off to our team in the Maryland office. There were days when they didn't know what they were going to do in a geographic area impacted more severely by Covid-19 than those of us in Kentucky."

Browning said that the week leading up to the sale many sellers feared for their livelihoods and that once the sale concluded could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fear has been transformed into relief," he said. "It's probably not going to be the most lucrative year financially for many pinhookers but I think the survival rate at the end of the day will be dramatically higher than many would have assumed 60 days ago."

The Fasig-Tipton executive said the sale's results also bode well going forward, particularly with the company staging a Yearling Showcase in Lexington between September 9 and 10 that will be a shopping opportunity for buyers who pick out horses to re-sell as juveniles.

"I can look yearling consignors in the eye and say, 'We've damn sure seen a legitimate marketplace in our two-year-old sale,'" he said. "We don't know what will happen in the world between June 30 and September 9-10 but assuming there are no dramatic changes there will be a legitimate marketplace.

"It's not going to be the irrational exuberance we've all experienced before but it's not going to be disastrous either."

Browning noted that the introduction of internet bidding into the live auction process and use of a new repository system so veterinarians could view information remotely both were seamless.

For the second year in a row, agent Donato Lanni purchased the sale-topper on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen when he went to $1.1 million for an Uncle Mo colt sold during Monday's opening session.

The Candy Ride colt that topped Tuesday's session was described by Wavertree Stables' Ciaran Dunne as one of the best horses in his care this year. Cataloged as hip 443, the colt was purchased by agent Gary Young for an undisclosed client.

Bred in Kentucky by Brian Kahn, the colt had been purchased by Ron Fine's Superfine Farms from consignor Woods Edge Farm for $175,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. He is out of the winning Giant's Causeway mare Causara, a daughter of the grade 3-winning Boundary mare Lady Belsara.

"I thought he was the best colt in the sale," said Young, adding the colt would be sent to California to race. "I knew we would have to pay for him and we did."

Agent Gary Young picked up the session's top lotCredit: Photos by Z/Fasig-Tipton Photos

Young said he and the owner, with whom he was in touch via phone during the bidding, had some anxious moments when it appeared they had they had won the juvenile on a bid of $900,000. With the bidding ironed out, the final price was declared as $875,000.

"I thought I was in at $850,000, and that's what the owner thought and then they said $875,000," said Young. "So that was what he was concerned about."

"Earlier in the year we thought he was one of the best colts we had on the farm and one of the better horses we've had for quite a while," Dunne said. "He had a little setback which forced him to miss the Ocala Breeder's March Sale and we rerouted him here. We were a little worried because he's such a big colt about how he would handle the racetrack and (tight) turns.

"Obviously he breezed very well (eighth-mile in :10 1/5). At the end of the shank he's always been a wonderful horse. Once you cross all the bridges you've got to just sit back and watch. He had been well-received all week."

Dunne declined to speculate on whether the colt would have brought as much in March.

"He's always been a good horse, so wherever he went he advertised himself well. I'm glad we're here now."

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