Fasig-Tipton is trying something new. There will be only one under tack show, instead of the usual two, for the company's Florida select sale of 2-year-olds in training at Calder Race Course. It is scheduled for Friday, beginning at 10 a.m. (EST). The sale, which has 270 horses in its catalog, will be held on Tuesday.
Fasig-Tipton was the first auction firm that conducts a major select juvenile sale to announce a reduction in the number of under tack shows. Keeneland, whose auction is scheduled for April in Kentucky, also will have only one show.
On the plus side, the change should help reduce the risk of injury for young horses by lessening the amount of hard work they have to do prior to an auction. That could result in sounder 2-year-olds, which will benefit buyers.
On the downside, horses that perform poorly won't have a chance to redeem themselves. This could be especially discouraging for consignors whose horses misbehave, dump their riders, or get distracted by other animals such as low-flying birds and shadows on the track.
However, a number of sellers interviewed by The Blood-Horse said having only one under tack show won't make much difference. In recent years, Juveniles that do well in the first show often haven't participated in the second. In addition, according to consignors, first impressions are so important that it often doesn't matter if a horse performs better in the second show because buyers already have dropped it from their lists.
Weather forecasts for South Florida are calling for partly cloudy skies Friday and a high temperature of around 83 degrees. There will be a 20% chance of rain.
