"We think this a great sale, but last year, we didn't have the right horse for up here," said Case Clay of Three Chimneys Sales. "Now we've got four of the right horses, so we're back."Added Clay's father, Robert: "You've got to bring the right horse for this show -- one that can be picked over for five days in a row."
William S. Farish's Lane's End has returned to the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling auction after a two-year absence. There are three horses in the consignment -- a Distorted Humor -- Demi Souer colt, a Forestry -- People's Princess filly, and a filly from the first crop of Mineshaft that is out of Unbridled Lassie."We're back for a couple of reasons," said Bill Farish of Lane's End. "We had some horses this year that we really thought fit the sale nicely, and we wanted to bring a top Mineshaft yearling up here to showcase him. With the Keeneland September yearling sale looming, this is a great place to get a little buzz going about Mineshaft."As we've always said, every year we look at our crop, and if we have a group that we think will fit, we'll be here. You don't want to come up here with one that doesn't have the complete package. People just have so much time to look."Fasig-Tipton officials are glad Lane's End returned. The first year Lane's End was gone, 2004, the Saratoga auction suffered downturns in its gross revenue, average price, and median price. But the sale rebounded in 2005,"We're very pleased they came back," said Boyd Browning, Fasig-Tipton's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "They've got a very nice consignment. They are a quality participant in all arenas of our industry. You always want to have industry leaders participating in your sales."Two more operations run by industry leaders also are back with consignments at Saratoga after a one-year absence. They are Arthur B. Hancock III's Stone Farm and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clay's Three Chimneys Sales."My mother was very ill last year; she passed away in June," Hancock said. I just didn't have the spirit to sell up here. And we didn't to seem to have the right horses. It just seemed like everything would be better just to go the Keeneland September (yearling) sale."Stone Farm has four yearlings in its consignment. Three Chimneys has four.