Gross and average registered double-digit increases while the median dipped slightly at the close of business on the second session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale Oct. 2 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md.
The day was paced by Samantha Siegel’s purchase of the session’s top-priced filly and colt--a $325,000 daughter of Stormy Atlantic and a $170,000 son of Lion Heart. Siegel signed the sales receipts for Jay Em Ess Stable, the nom de course for the racing stable she operates with her father, Mace.
“I thought it was just a really good horse sale,” said Walt Robertson, president of Fasig-Tipton. “The market is just fine. We may be up a little bit from where we were last year and that is good. Let’s look at it at the close of the three days and see where we are.”
For the day, Fasig-Tipton reported 194 horses sold for a gross of $4,616,600, an increase of 11.2% from 221 sold for $4,152,300 last year. The average was $23,797, an increase of 26.6% from the 2006 figure of $18,789. The median was $11,000, down 4.3% from last year’s median of $11,500.
The number of horses not sold was 53 (21.5%) of the total number offered. Last year’s figure was 32.4% when 106 hips failed to sell.
For the first two days, the auction company reported 369 hips sold for $8,886,400, a decrease of 8.7% from last year’s mark of $9,727,200. The average is up 10.4% to $24,082 compared with the 2006 figure of $21,810. The median is down 8.7% to $10,500 from $11,500.
The not-sold rate for the first two days was 27.21% with 138 horses failing to meet their reserves. Over the same period last year, 203 horses failed to sell for a not-sold rate of 31.3%.
Robertson credited the lower not-sold rate to consignors and buyers having a better feel for the market. “We certainly started the day with a good run through the first 100 hips,” he said. “The average price was good and the not sold rate was very good.”
The day’s top-priced filly was bred in Kentucky by Bayne and Christina Welker and Lochlow Farm and consigned by Welker Sales Agency, agent.
“She was a May foal and as a foal she was spectacular,” said Welker, who noted he considered sending her to the Keeneland September sale but opted to wait for the Midlantic sale to give the filly time to develop with hopes she would stand out verses getting lost in the September catalog.
Siegel said the filly ranked toward the top of her short list and called her a poorly-kept secret among the buyers at the auction. “Unfortunately, the top of our list at every sale has become more expensive,” she said. “She is a nicely-balanced filly and she handled herself well. And she is being sold by the people that raised her. Nobody could really pick her apart and she vetted. That is why she brought so much money.”
The filly was produced from the Indian Charlie mare Princess Birdeye, who is still owned by Welker and is in foal to Lion Heart.
Siegel purchased the day’s top-priced colt over the telephone with adviser Pat Payne. Siegel had left the auction to catch a flight back to her California base when the colt came through the ring late in the day.
The colt, consigned by Paramount Sales, agent, was bred in Kentucky by Peter Blum and Gerry Dilger and was originally consigned to the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale, where he failed to meet his reserve and was bought back for $170,000.
Produced from the Slewacide mare Twin Induction, the colt is from the family of stakes winner A.P. Adventure.
“Samantha really liked the two top colts that sold yesterday (a $180,000 son of Forest Camp purchased by Buzz Chace on behalf of the pinhooking operation LNF and a $190,000 son of Maria’s Mon purchased by Nick de Meric), and this colt fit right into that mold,” Payne said. “Obviously, the Stormy Atlantic filly was the pick of the sale, but she really liked this colt.”
Both the colt and filly will be sent to Brian Rice in Florida, and a decision will be made on which of Siegel’s four trainers will receive the two session-toppers.
