A bay filly by Medaglia d’Oro out of the Rahy mare Adorahy bought $265,000 to top the second session – and the overall market – at Fasig-Tipton’s preferred New York-bred yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Aug. 11.
John Confort and Al Weis purchased the filly, consigned by Denali Stud, on their own behalf as the two-day sale drew to an end.
“We had more money than we had brains,” joked Confort. “Lately we’ve been down on our luck, we’ve had several horses with no quality, so we decided to take one horse and try to get a top one, and I hope she’s as good as we think she is.”
“She’s a May baby but she has fantastic conformation, just great balance and presence,” said Mallory Mort of Gallagher’s Stud, the Ghent, N.Y.-based farm owned by the filly’s breeder, Marlene Brody. “I love her stride and she has a great mind; from the first time she was out until the last time, she walked perfectly and stood up perfectly. She’s just a very nice yearling.”
The filly will return to Gallagher’s and will eventually enter training with Tom Bush.
Earlier in the session, agent Buzz Chace spent $135,000 on an E Dubaicolt out of the Spectacular Bid mare Twice Forbidden on behalf of L.F. Stables, the pinhooking venture recently established by Terry Finley’s New Jersey-based West Point Thoroughbreds. The colt was the property of and consigned by Scott Van Laer.
Session two of the auction exhibited the following business trends:
* The number of horses offered increased to 93 from 77 last year.
* 56 yearlings were sold (49 last year).
* The buyback rate rose to 40% (37 head) from 36% (28 head) last year.
* The gross was up 7%, from $2,652,000 last year to $2,825,500.
* The average was down 7%, from $54,122 last year to $50,455.
* The median was up 17%, from $35,000 last year to $41,000.
Cumulative auction results
Overall, the average was slightly down and the gross and median posted modest gains as the market remained steady at the conclusion of the two-day auction.
With 113 of 193 horses being sold (compared with 101 of 162 last year), 80 horses were RNA’s (61 last year), resulting in respective sales rates of 41% and 38%.
The gross total for the two sessions was $5,831,500 – up 10% from last year’s 5,294,500. The average dipped 2%, from $52,421 last year to $51,606 this year. The median rose 9%, from $35,000 to $38,000.
“The horse sale was fine. Everything went as we expected it to be,” said Fasig-Tipton President Walt Robertson. “Play at the top and mid-range – say above $50,000 – was terrific. Below that it was tough, but that’s the world we live in now. As far as support for the sale goes, we saw the same action as we saw last year. A lot of New York trainers came across the street to buy horses, the pinhookers were here, everybody was here that was here last year. I think the quality of horses was good this year as well; we had a few more horses, but the market was similar.”
Denali Stud consigned the sales toppers for both evenings and both sexes – for session one, a $200,000 bay colt by Posse out of the Phone Trick mare Reverse the Call (purchased by Mike McMahon of McMahon Bloodstock on behalf of Saratoga Stable); and for session two, the $265,000 bay filly by Medaglia d’Oro who topped the overall sale.
- Sale Leaders: All Sessions
