Fasig-Tipton will catalog 272 horses for its Florida select sale of 2-year-olds in training, according to the company’s chairman, Walt Robertson. The number is about the same as in 2008, when 270 horses were in the book.
The auction will be held March 3 at Calder Race Course. An under tack show is scheduled for Feb. 27.
“It’s the same quality that we’ve had,” Robertson said. “Storm Cat’s in there (as a sire); A.P. Indy is in there – everybody that you would expect to see, and they (the 2-year-olds) are good horses.”
The auction has been the market share leader among the five major select sales of 2-year-olds in training for 11 consecutive years. In 2008, its gross revenue of $35,100,000 represented 31.4% of the five auctions’ combined total of $111,805,000. The other four sales in the group are the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. February and March auctions, the Barretts March auction, and the Keeneland April auction.
The Fasig-Tipton Florida sale’s other figures last year included an average of $344,118 and a median of $230,000 for the 102 juveniles that sold. Compared to 2007, the average declined only 2.2% while the median fell 8% from the world Thoroughbred juvenile auction mark of $250,000. The number sold decreased 17.7%, and the gross dropped 19.5%.
The Fasig-Tipton Florida sale holds the world juvenile auction records of $62,187,000 for gross and $403,812 for average. They were established in 2006, when The Green Monkey brought $16 million at Calder and became the most expensive Thoroughbred ever sold at public auction.