Increases in turnover and average in Fasig-Tipton Saratoga opener

Led by strong demand for yearlings sired by Gainesway's leading sire Tapit and other top-class stallions, the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale began on a solid note at the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Monday.

Setting the standard on a pleasant midsummer evening at the Fasig-Tipton select yearling sale was hip 80, a Tapit colt consigned by Lane's End as agent. Named Flightline, the colt sold to West Point Thoroughbreds, with LEB acting as agent, for $1 million.

The next horse in the ring was a Tapit filly (hip 82) who sold for $950,000 to Donato Lanni, agent for Heider Family Stables.

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From 112 selected yearlings catalogued for the session, Fasig-Tipton sold 61 for gross receipts of $22,775,000, compared with $28,965,000 paid for 83 yearlings sold on day one a year ago.

Monday's average of $373,361 was up 6.9 per cent over the opening average of $348,976 last year, and the median of $315,000 represented an increase over the $300,000 figure for the comparable 2018 session.

The 24 head that went unsold represented 28.2 per cent of the total through the ring.

In 2018, nine yearlings were sold for $750,000 or more during the first session, with four such individuals this year.

"I thought we saw very competitive bidding throughout the evening," said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. "There was a lot of strength and a lot of diversity in the buying bench.

"Overall, we're very pleased to have increases in the average and median over day one last year, although I always caution you have to look at the whole sale as a composite because there can be some fluctuations and variations from day to day."

Browning echoed a sentiment expressed on the sale grounds that Tuesday's offerings are perceived to be stronger than the Monday group.

"We're set for another strong session tomorrow, and we have lots of positive feedback about the horses we have to offer," he said.

The session began slowly, but the momentum picked up as the two and a half-hour session continued.

Peter Brant, one of the day's leading buyers, said the 760-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average might have affected the early prices.

"At the beginning, the prices may have been low because of the stock market," Brant said. "I thought I would have to pay more for my fillies [Quality Road fillies - hip 46, $525,000, and hip 47, $400,000] because of the value of Quality Road fillies. It seemed to impact the first 50 or 60 lots of the sale, and then it changed."

Browning said it's not unusual for a sale to begin slowly, adding that how the catalogue falls plays a role. He did not believe there was a stock market effect.

"It's always a little harder to get a sale started than it is in the middle and latter parts," the executive said. "Honestly, it's the luck of the draw in the quality of the horses.

"It takes a little while to build momentum. I really don't think the stock market had any impact. We're still near record highs with significant increase throughout the year in the financial marketplace."

Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency said it was difficult to gauge the overall market based on the first-session numbers due to the relatively small number sold.

"I think it's been solid," Taylor said. "For us, it hasn't been electric, but I think we've got fair prices. We bought a few horses back, but they were no surprises because they may have had a vet issue or things didn't line up.

"But in a sale like this, it's really hard to know because it's such a small sample size the first night. When you account for outs and other things, there are not a lot of horses."

The sale concludes on Tuesday.

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