Fasig-Tipton Texas Sale Kicks Off Two-Day Run Monday

Like most yearling sales thus far this year, the 2005 Fasig-Tipton Texas summer yearling sale will be bigger than last year, and sale company officials are also hoping it will continue on an upward pattern.

There are 545 horses catalogued for the auction, an increase of 33.9% over last year's figure of 407. The sale is conducted Monday and Tuesday at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.

"We're hoping to hold our market share," said Tim Boyce, director of sales for Fasig-Tipton Texas. "We have an increase of just over 100 horses from last year, and we just hope the growth we saw last year continues this year."

Fasig-Tipton Texas expanded its catalogue again this year in an effort to promote the auction as the Southwest's premier yearling market. This year's auction has a marked increase in Louisiana-breds: 147 are catalogued this year compared with 54 last year.

The auction also saw an increase in the number of Oklahoma-breds. Expanded gaming legislation was recently passed in Oklahoma.

"By increasing the number of Louisiana-breds, hopefully we can meet the demand we saw last year, and I believe we have the best Louisiana has to offer, as well as having some of the best Texas-breds I have ever seen," Boyce said. "We're trying to bring more attention to this sale, making it the Southwest's premier auction marketplace."

Last year, the sale saw across the board increases with the gross jumping 24.8% to a figure of $3,360,800 from 207 horses sold. The $12,447 average was up 1.2%, reaching its highest level since Fasig-Tipton started conducting the auction, sponsored by the Texas Thoroughbred Association. The median was up 32.1% to $7,000.

The two-day sale begins at 10 a.m. Monday and Tuesday.