Fasig-Tipton Opener Mirrors Recent Market Trends

The expanded Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale kicked off Oct. 23 with results that mirrored trends evident within the equine marketplace over the past several years.

Topped by Hip 96, a Ghostzapper  filly bought by Samantha Siegel's Jay Em Ess Stable for $275,000 from Legacy Bloodstock, the session experienced across-the-board declines from the comparable day a year ago.

Fasig-Tipton reported 230 yearlings grossed $6,479,500, compared with total receipts of $8,306,400 for 246 sold during last year's first session. The session average of $28,172 represented a 16.6% decline from the $33,766 figure a year ago and the session median was down 21.6% from $12,750 to $10,000. With 364 cataloged for the session, there were 92 head that went unsold for an RNA rate of 28.6%.

The day's second-highest price of $250,000 was paid by Mathis Stable, represented by agent Liz Crow, for a Tapit  filly from Gainesway.

With the addition of one day to the sale and a larger catalog, Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning said it's too early to draw any conclusions about the state of the market.

"It's too early to tell much," Browning said of the auction that still has three days remaining. "I don't really know the mix of the composition of day one, two, or three this year, so I'm not going to make any dramatic statements about the marketplace.

"If you talk to consignors and buyers, it's the same song we've heard over, and over, and over, and over. Buyers were saying it was really tough to buy the quality horses and consignors were saying it was really tough to sell the horses that weren't perceived to be the quality offerings."

Browning said that in the past, there has been "some significant fluctuations from day to day in the composition of the results." Overall, the Fasig-Tipton executive said it was "pretty solid trade with a diverse group of buyers."

In the current market, buyers can be more selective in deciding which horses to place on their short lists and eventually bid on, particularly when it comes to veterinary issues.

"I think what we continue to see particularly amongst the upper-end buyers is that there might have been a smidge more forgiveness in the past when you got to this stage—it is the last yearling sale of the year—but the feedback today was there is no more forgiveness," Browning said. "It is just the scrutiny these horses go through, particularly those horses that are going to be re-sold.

"Some of that might play out a little bit different as we progress through the week," Browning continued. "You might have been more scrutinizing in the vetting on day one because you've still got a little over 1,100 horses remaining so you might have been a little tougher on vetting today than you will be ... there might some slack that works its way into the system, but I don't know that for sure."

Mark Taylor, of consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency, agreed that buyers planning to pinhook yearlings into 2-year-olds in training sales next year can be more discerning in their selections.

"A lot of these horses vetted fine for going to the races, but it's just one more criteria that people can be picky about," Taylor said. "And when they're very finicky about what they're buying, that's just another hurdle.

"We had a horse that had a little vet issue—not a bad issue—and is by a young sire with 2-year-olds that haven't done much yet, but other than that was a nice horse. But those two strikes just killed it."

The sale in Lexington continues through Oct. 26, with daily sessions beginning at 10 a.m. ET.