Posts Tagged ‘taylor made sales agency’

By Ray Paulick
With Santa Anita running extra American Graded Stakes last weekend due to the cancellations the previous week because of drainage problems with the Pro-Ride synthetic track, there were 13 AGS races run over the three-day President’s Day weekend. One stakes, the Southwest at Oaklawn, was lost on President’s Day because of bad weather and has been rescheduled for this Saturday.

A quick review of the 13 races shows there was a parade of chalk into the winner’s circles, with eight favorites winning for a 61.5% rate, nearly double the national average of roughly 33% for all races run in North America.

Four trainers doubled up on AGS victories over the Feb. 13-15 weekend: Todd Pletcher (Rule in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and Munnings in the Gulfstream Park Sprint Championship at Gulfstream Park); Mike Mitchell (Kays and Jays in the Hurricane Bertie at Gulfstream Park and St. Trinians in the Santa Maria Handicap at Santa Anita); Jerry Hollendorfer (Blind Luck in the Las Virgenes and Tuscan Evening in the Buena Vista Handicap, both at Santa Anita); and Christopher Grove (Greenspring in the General George Handicap and Sweet Goodbye in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap, both at Laurel).

There have been 38 AGS races run so far this year, with 18 of the winning horses having sold at public auction (RNAs are not included). Of those 18, eight of them have sold for less than $100,000. Three of those eight sold on two different occasions for less than $100,000—Kinsale King, for $27,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale and $67,000 at the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training; Cat by the Tale, for $75,000 at the Keeneland September sale and then for $52,000 as a 3-year-old at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale; and Jeranimo, for $50,000 at the OBS August yearling sale and $70,000 at the Barretts May sale.

At the other end of the spectrum is Munnings, the highest-priced auction horse to win an AGS race so far in 2010, having been purchased by Demi O’Byrne for $1.7 million at the Fasig-Tipton Calder February sale of 2-year-olds in training. Leprechaun Racing pinhooked him at that sale after buying the son of Speightstown for $150,000 at Fasig-Tipton’s August select yearling sale.

Keeneland’s September sale, the largest yearling sale in the world, continues to dominate as expected, with 12 of its graduates winning AGS races thus far in 2010.

Eaton Sales and Taylor Made Sales Agency, the two biggest-volume consignors, each have sold three AGS winners of 2010 (all sold at Keeneland September); Gainesway and Warrendale Sales are next on the list of consignors of 2010 AGS winners, with two each.

El Corredor and Smart Strike are the only two sires to be represented by two AGS winners thus far in 2010. El Corredor, who stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale for $15,000, has sired Santa Ysabel Stakes winners Crisp and Col. E.R. Bradley Handicap winner El Caballo. Smart Strike, who stands for $75,000 at Lane’s End, has sired San Fernando Stakes winner Papa Clem and La Canada Stakes winner Striking Dancer.

By Ray Paulick
At the suggestion of a Paulick Report reader who thinks the market declines at Monday’s opening session of the Keeneland September yearling sale were overstated, we’ve done a comparison that includes figures from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale from 2008 and 2009 and the first day of Keeneland from both years.So before we begin Tuesday’s live blog from Keeneland, we’ll spend a few minutes going over those numbers.

The assumption, and one repeated by more than a few people on the sale grounds, is that Keeneland lost some of its book one yearlings to the Saratoga sale, which was revitalized this year by Fasig-Tipton’s new, deep-pocketed owner, Dubai-based Synergy Investments. With a lot of help from Sheikh Mohammed, friend of the new owner and the industry’s leading buyer, the Saratoga sale jumped 45.6% in gross receipts and 11.1% in average, defying the trends at nearly every other Thoroughbred auction. The sale ended up with an average of $328,434, 29% higher than the opening day’s average at Keeneland. Last year’s Saratoga average was $295,738, 18.7% lower than the opening day average at Keeneland.

Do we have something of a role reversal under way?

Adding last year’s Saratoga numbers to the 2008 opening session at Keeneland gives us a total of 276 yearlings sold (122 at Saratoga, 154 at Keeneland) for $94,127,000 ($38,080,000 at Saratoga, $56,047,000 at Keeneland), an average blended price of $341,039.

This year’s two sessions of Saratoga and the opening session of Keeneland saw a combined 267 yearlings sell (160 Saratoga, 107 Keeneland) for $77,498,500 ($52,549,500 Saratoga, $24,949,000 Keeneland), an average price of $290,257.

Thus, the gross revenue from these three select sessions is down 17.7% from 2008 and the average has declined by 14.9%.

I’m not trying to sugarcoat what happened Monday. For those who remember the late 1980s and early ‘90s, yesterday’s session was reminiscent of that era when many breeders were selling yearlings for less than the stud fee invested in them–just cutting their losses. The difference today is that the racing industry, the economic engine at the foundation of Thoroughbred breeding, is lurching through troubled waters. The economics of horse ownership are worse today than they were in the late 1980s, and the crisis within the global economy only makes matters more dire.

Incidentally, just because Sheikh Mohammed stepped up his investments at Saratoga, it didn’t mean there was any slowdown for him at Keeneland. His agent, John Ferguson, led all buyers Monday with 14 bought for $5,152,000, and it will be interesting to see if any of the other foreign-based purchases will end up carrying his Darley or Godolphin colors on the track.

Here are a few addition numbers to ponder:

Taylor Made, Monday’s leading consignor, offered 38 yearlings, and half were bought back and listed as RNA. Eaton Sales (excluding the five Overbrook yearlings that sold without reserves) offered 16 and bought nine back. Three Chimneys offered eight and bought five back. Some smaller consignments like Chesapeake (3 offered), Man o’ War (three) and Middlebrook Farm (2) bought all their horses back.

A few consignors had better luck: Brereton Jones offered six and bought back just one. Gainesway sold four of five offered; Lane’s End sold 14 of 18 and Warrendale sold all four, and Claiborne, Narvick and T. Wayne Sweezey and partners all were 3-for-3 in sales from their Monday offerings.

Will a reset button change things Tuesday? Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland’s director of sales, said his staff believes there are some potential breakout yearlings catalogued today, but he said the same thing about Monday’s book.

We’ll find out soon enough.

11:40 a.m. … Today’s live blog is just like the sale itself–a bit slow to get going. I spent the first hour wandering the grounds and talking with buyers and consignors, and there are very few optimists in this crowd. The negative forces at work include the global economy, market volatility, the credit squeeze, the disappearance of investment money for pinhookers, troubles in the racing industry, a shortage of new owners and departure of some existing ones…you name it. One horseman who buys and sells, after perusing Monday’s results sheet, said: “We should be bowing to Sheikh Mohammed for doing his best to hold this sale up. If it wasn’t for him–and he’s buying horses through other agents besides John Ferguson–it would be a lot worse than it already is, and it’s bad enough.”

Speaking of Sheikh Mohammed, he helped break through the seven-figure ceiling that seemed almost a psychological barrier for the first 245 Hips catalogued. Standing alongside the ruler of Dubai, Ferguson signed the ticket for a $1 million filly by Unbridled’s Song out of the Strawberry Road mare, Strawberry Reason, consigned by Stone Farm as agent. The filly is a half sister to champion Vindication.

12:10 p.m. … Last year’s second session of the Keeneland September yearling sale was a bit stronger in average price than the first day, with 146 yearlings selling for $57,310,000, an average price of $392,534 and a median of $300,000.

The cumulative figures for the first two days in 2008 were: 300 sold for $113,357,000, an average of $377,857 and a median of $300,000.

So far in today’s second session, including the first 40 catalogued, 22 yearlings have sold for $6,600,000, an average of $300,000 and median of $247,500 (the average includes the only $1 million horse sold thus far). There have been 12 RNAs, 35.3% (at an average price of $156,667), somewhat better than Monday’s opening session. The average and median are both up from Monday, too, but still significantly down from 2008.

12:30 p.m. … With the two select sessions nearly 65% complete (Hips 1-268 of the 418 catalogued), here are the cumulative numbers (comparable figures are listed above in the 12:10 p.m. update): 141 sold sold for $34,294,000, an average of $243,220 and median price of $200,000. The number bought back stands at 95, or 40.3% of those through the ring. Today’s RNAs are running at 37%.

2:20 p.m. … Here’s a new one. Hip 296, an Elusive Quality colt that was selected for book one of the Keeneland sale, left the ring without a single bid being made on it. I haven’t seen that before during the select sessions. A short time earlier, when Hip 280, a Giant’s Causeway colt, left the ring, he sold for just $5,000. It’s an unforgiving market.

Through Hip 310 (the session ends at Hip 418), the average for Tuesday was $270,756 and the median was identical to Monday’s $200,000. There have been 32 RNAs, a buyback rate of 36%. The buybacks have averaged $153,563. Today’s average is down 31% from 2008’s comparable session. It’s improved, but it’s hard to find many smiling faces around here.

2:35 p.m. … That was a pleasant deja vu. John Magnier vs. Sheikh Mohammed, just like in the days of old. The two international Thoroughbred giants hooked up in the first battle royal of the sale, Hip 342, a Storm Cat colt out of the Indian Charlie mare Fleet Indian, consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency on behalf of the Summer Wind Farm of Frank and Jane Lyons, brought a final bid of $2,050,000 from Sheikh Mohammed and agent Ferguson, who were standing out back in their usual spot. Magnier, who is usually just a few paces behind the sheikh’s entourage by the horse path near the back ring, had slipped inside the pavilion to do his bidding, according to sources. The final price more than doubled the sale’s previous high of $1 million. The colt is the first foal out of Fleet Indian, a winner of 13 of 19 starts and champion older mare in North America.

3:20 p.m. … How would this sale be going without Sheikh Mohammed? His agent, John Ferguson, has signed 15 tickets Tuesday for yearlings totaling $7,830,000, roughly one-third of the day’s gross receipts. That brings Sheikh Mohammed’s two-day total to 29 yearlings purchased in the name of Ferguson, plus an unspecified number that may have been bought through associates and other agents. The $2,050,000 sale-topping Storm Cat colt has helped increase the day’s average to $289,720 from 82 lots sold. The receipts so far total $23,757,000. There have been 42 RNAs from the first 124 through the ring, a percentage of 33%. The median is $222,500.

3:45 p.m. … With about 30 horses left to sell, here are the cumulative numbers for the first two days of the Keeneland September yearling sale: 198 sold for $50,961,000, an average price of $257,379 and median of $210,000. There have been 52 yearlings withdrawn and 123 listed as RNAs, a cumulative buyback rate of 38.3%. (For comparison with 2008’s select sessions, see today’s blog update at 12:10 p.m.)

It is almost certain the average for the two Keeneland select sessions will fall below the $328,434 average price of Fasig-Tipton’s 2009 Saratoga sale. That’s the first time since 1999 that Saratoga’s yearling sale average topped the select sessions at Keeneland September. Back in 1999, however, Keeneland still had a July select yearling sale where many of the top offerings were sold. That sale was suspended in 2003.

We’ll  report on the final numbers around 6 p.m.

6:15 p.m. … “It’s a reflection of the world…it speaks for itself,” Keeneland’s director of sales Geoffrey Russell said after the final hammer came down on the two select sessions of the 2009 Keeneland September yearling sale. The numbers on Tuesday’s second session improved across the board from Monday,  but the comparisons to previous years and the cold, hard facts left many breeders reeling.

The number sold over the two days, 222, was down 26% from last year’s 300 sold, Gross receipts of $58,756,000 reflected a 48.2% drop from 2008’s $113,357,000. The average of $264,667 was a decline of 30.0% from $377,857 last yeawr and the median price, $215,000, fell 28.3% from $300,000 in 2008.

There were 137 horses bought back by consignors from the 359 through the ring, an RNA rate of 38.2%, up substantially from the 30.1% buybacks in 2008.

Tuesday’s comparative figures with 2008 were 115 sold for $33,807,000, an average of $293,974 and median price of $250,000. Those numbers represent a 41% decline in gross receipts, a 25.1% drop in average and a $16.7% fall in median from 2008’s 146 sold for $57,310,000, an average of $392,534 and median of $300,000. Tuesday’s 62 buybacks were 35% of the 177 offered, up slightly from the 32.1% RNAs at the second session in 2008.

There were three seven-figure yearlings sold Tuesday (none Monday), topped by the $2,050,000 Storm Cat colt purchased by Sheikh Mohammed’s agent, John Ferguson, the leading buyer of the select sessions with 31 purchases totaling $13,460,000. It was the fewest million-dollar yearlings sold at the September sale since 1997, when two brought seven figures.

Ferguson told the Paulick Report that Sheikh Mohammed purchased additional horses through other agents, including Blandford Bloodstock, the sale’s fourth leading buyer (11 for $2,742,000) but that he was uncertain of the total number. Ferguson said he would attend at least a portion of Wednesday’s first non-select session before leaving Lexington.

 

 

Combining the two days of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale in August with the Keeneland September select session, there were 382 yearlings sold in 2009, compared with 422 last year. The 2009 combined average of the two sales was $291,375, a decline of 18.8%. Gross receipts in 2009 were $111,305,500, a 26.5% drop from the combined FT Saratoga and Keeneland September select gross of $151,437,000 last year.In 2008, Keeneland’s market share of the combined gross receipts with FT Saratoga was 74.9%, with FT’s share at 25.1%. When the results of this year’s top two yearling sales were finalized, Keeneland’s market share fell to 52.8% with FT at 47.2%. For the first time since 1999, the FT Saratoga sale resulted in higher average prices than the select sessions at the Keeneland September sale. 

The Paulick Report will have further analysis of the select sessions on Wednesday morning.

Book two yearlings sell Wednesday and Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m. Friday is an off day, followed by 10 consecutive days of selling starting Saturday.

 Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
Of the 233 horses that have won an American Graded Stakes (AGS) race this year, 122 of them (52.4%) have sold at public auction in North America or abroad, either as foals or weanlings, yearlings or at 2-year-olds in training or sales of older horses.

Yearling sales dominate the roster of 2009 AGS winners. There are 107 AGS winners this year sold as yearlings (that’s 45.9% of 2009 AGS winners and 87.7% of the 122 sold at any type of sale). Keep in mind, these numbers only reflect American Graded Stakes and do not include horses offered at a sale and either withdrawn or bought back by their consignors. Some horses sold as yearlings were previously bought as foals or weanlings or were later sold as 2-year-olds in training by pinhookers.

Drilling down a little deeper on the yearling statistics, the Paulick Report’s weekly American Graded Stakes Standings brought to you by Keeneland shows that Taylor Made Sales Agency is responsible for selling 18 of those 107 yearlings that subsequently became AGS winners. That means 16.8% of this year’s AGS winners sold at public auction as yearlings passed through the Nicholasville, Ky., operation run by brothers Duncan, Frank, Ben and Mark Taylor and Pat Payne.

Of course, we all know that Taylor Made is the industry’s largest volume of seller of yearlings, so how does that 16.8% compare with the overall percentage of yearlings sold by Taylor Made? Since the AGS winners came from different foal crops and yearling sale years, we’ll arbitrarily select one auction year as an estimated benchmark. Using statistics from the 2007 Thoroughbred Times Auction Review (3-year-olds of 2009), Taylor Made sold 536 yearlings, or 5.3% of the 10,215 yearlings sold that year. In other words, Taylor Made sold about one in 20 of all the yearlings auctioned off in a given year, but sold one in six of the yearling sale graduates that won a 2009 AGS race. If 2007 was an average year for Taylor Made in terms of the number of yearlings sold, then its 18 AGS winners of 2009 equates to a success rate of 3.4% AGS winners from yearlings sold.

The prices of Taylor Made graduates reflect that quality. While the overall average of the 10,215 yearlings sold in North America in 2007 was $55,020 and the median was $15,000, Taylor Made’s 2007 average price was $137,500. Buyers of Taylor Made consigned yearlings that went on to success in 2009 AGS races spent, on average, $346,111 for each yearling that became an AGS winner (the median price of a 2009 AGS winner sold by Taylor Made was $342,500).

For comparison’s sake, of all 107 yearlings sold that went on to win a 2009 AGS, the average hammer price was $211,134 and the median was $120,000.

Eaton Sales is typically second in volume (number of yearlings sold) and is also second behind Taylor Made in producing the highest number of 2009 AGS winners, with 10 (two of which were sold by Eaton as weanlings and eight as yearlings).

Using overall 2007 auction numbers, the eight yearlings sold by Eaton that won a 2009 AGS equates to 2.2% of all the yearlings Eaton sold in 2007. The average sale price of Eaton’s 2009 AGS winners is $131,500, almost identical to Eaton’s 2007 yearling average of $130,970.

Paramount Sales is represented by six AGS winners of 2009, all sold as yearlings for an average price of $92,000, and the six AGS successes represents 2.4% of the total number sold by Paramount in 2007 (again, please remember, we are choosing 2007 arbitrarily, since this year’s AGS winners come from multiple foal crops and sale years). Paramount’s overall yearling average in 2007 was $67,803.

Lane’s End has six 2009 AGS winners, one sold as a weanling; the five sold as yearlings had an average price of $1,021,000, a number spiked by the $3.9 million Storm Cat colt Mr. Sidney. The five AGS winners represent 2.7% of the 184 yearlings Lane’s End sold in 2007. Lane’s End had an overall yearling average of $236,506 in 2007, by far the highest of this group of consignors ranked among the leading sellers of AGS winners. (Another reminder, the statistics do not include overseas graded/group race results.)

Hill ‘n’ Dale sold six 2009 AGS winners, four of them as yearlings for an average price of $148,800. The number sold represents 2.1% of all Hill ‘n’ Dale yearlings sold in 2007. Those yearlings averaged $92,982.

Conclusions? Obviously, Taylor Made is enjoying an outstanding year as the leading seller of 2009 AGS winners, and it’s not only because of the higher volume of horses sold. Using those 2007 auction figures as a benchmark, Taylor Made’s rate of 3.4% AGS winners from yearlings sold is higher than all the other leading consignors shown in the table below demonstrating that quantity in a consignment does not by any means exclude quality.

By Ray Paulick

Lane’s End Farm is expected to announce that reigning Horse of the Year Curlin will enter stud at the Versailles, Ky., farm in 2009 for a live foal stud fee of $75,000, the Paulick Report has learned. Lane’s End is owned by William S. Farish, vice chairman of the Jockey Club and former ambassador to Great Britain for President George W. Bush.

“Curlin has proven himself across two continents with 16 starts, the honor of 2007 Horse of the Year and the greatest North American money-earner in racing history,” Jackson said in the Nov. 15 announcement that Curlin would enter stud in 2009. “He always gave it his all and has done everything we have asked of him. I am proud to announce that he will start a new career in 2009 and contribute his soundness, stamina, durability and athleticism to the breed. I am looking forward to seeing his foals compete and possibly exceed his unequaled racing record.”

Curlin, who began his career under the care of Helen Pitts and was transferred to trainer Steve Asmussen after breaking his maiden at Gulfstream Park early in 2007, retires with record earnings of $10,501,800. He won 11 of 16 starts, with two seconds and two thirds. He won seven Grade 1 races: the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Dubai World Cup, consecutive runnings of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Woodward, Preakness and Stephen Foster Handicap. Bred in Kentucky by Fares Farm, he sold for $57,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale. Jackson, Satish Sanan and George Bolton bought at 80% interest in Curlin through bloodstock agent John Moynihan for about $3 million after the colt’s maiden win. Jackson eventually bought Sanan and Bolton’s interests.

Curlin’s sire, Smart Strike, stands at Lane’s End for $150,000. Also joining the 2009 roster at Lane’s End is War Pass, the 2007 2-year-old male champion and winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile who will stand for $30,000 live foal.

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By Ray Paulick

The final numbers from Monday’s opening session of the 2008 Keeneland November breeding stock sale were not pretty, and the bad news is that it might get worse before it gets any better in an environment stung by turbulent stock exchanges around the world, high-profile bankruptcies in the financial markets and a stalled American economy.

First, the numbers: Keeneland reported selling 149 horses (broodmares, broodmare or racing prospects, and weanlings) from the 311 catalogued. The gross amount was $48,021,000, an average price of $322,289 and a median of $185,000. Those numbers are down substantially from last year’s opening session when 194 horses sold for $109,064,000, an average of $562,186 and median of $272,500. The declines are 56% in gross, 42.7% in average, and 32.1% in median price. Last year’s opening session was the strongest in the history of the Keeneland November sale, jumping 30% in gross revenue from the 2006 opening day.

The average and median prices don’t tell the whole picture. Of the 311 horses catalogued, there were more that didn’t sell than changed hands. Seventy lots were withdrawn and 92 horses, or 38.2% of the 241 through the ring, failed to meet their reserve price. The RNA or buy-back rate was twice as high as last year’s opening session, when 19.2% of those through the ring failed to sell.

Those are tough numbers for  breeders to swallow. In cases where breeders were not forced to sell to pay their bills, they had the luxury to withdraw their horses rather than selling them in a soft market. In instances where bank notes were due or credit lines have been tightened, mare owners had to suck it up and see what the market was willing to pay.

"It’s a bloodbath," one agent said midway through the session. One breeder said he took a beating on one mare sold early Monday and withdrew the rest.

In contrast to 2007, when a record 28 million-dollar horses were sold on the opening day, there were just 11 this year, led by the $3 million paid by John Ferguson, chief bloodstock adviser to Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley operation, for Hip 53, the grade I-winning mare Hystericalady, who most recently finished fifth behind Horse of the Year candidate Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita Oct. 24. It’s doubtful Hystericalady will race again.

Ferguson was the day’s leading buyer, with six purchases totaling $8,710,000. Last year, Ferguson bought just four horses on the first day, but one of them was Playful Act, a mare who set a then-world record price of $10.5 million, who made up the bulk of his $18.5 million expenditures.

The atmosphere at Keeneland on Monday in no way matched the buzz that was created across town at Fasig-Tipton on Sunday night, which was highlighted by the $14-million sale of Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour and the $5.7 million sale of presumptive 2-year-old filly champion Stardom Bound. But even those headline prices camouflaged a soft market.

Fasig-Tipton was packed Sunday night, in part by Thoroughbred enthusiasts who wanted to get a close look at Better Than Honour and Stardom Bound. It was a little reminiscent of the old Keeneland July yearling sale, when the Keeneland pavilion was filled with a combination of buyers, consignors, industry workers and "tourists." Monday’s atmosphere at Keeneland is strictly business, it seems. 

The tarmac at Bluegrass Field across Versailles Road is filled with private jets, suggesting that many of the industry’s wealthiest particpants are here. Comments from several consignors suggest the presence of those jets indicates the very high end of the broodmare market will be stable. Below that, however, there are fears of a major dropoff in prices. "Some breeders are in a tough spot," one consignor said. "They need to sell some mares to pay the bills, but they are selling into a very tough market right now."

Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland’s director of sales, made the following statement in a press release: "Last November opened with an historical and record-breaking session during which we sold 28 million-dollar horses versus 11 this year, including a $10.5 million broodmare; that’s a huge difference. Whether the difference is owed to the economy or to the catalog; it’s probably a factor of both. But this is marketplace where people come to trade horses; and we will successfully trade horses over the next two weeks; though probably not at the level we did last year.” 

Click here for Monday’s results, includilng a summary of leading buyers and consignors.

The sale continues through Monday, Nov. 17, with daily sessions beginning at 10 a.m.

A CLOSER LOOK AT SUNDAY’S FASIG-TIPTON SALE

While Fasig-Tipton’s Sunday night sale looked very strong at first glance, it had the same clearance problems that plagued Keeneland’s opening session on Monday. The published buy-back rate was 39.3% (59 RNAs from 150 offered), but there were also 39 lots withdrawn, meaning that 98 horses, more than half of those catalogued, failed to sell.

Fasig-Tipton reported 91 horses sold for $70,279,000, an average of $772,297 and median price of $250,000. Included in those sales were eight horses bought for $23,460,000 by Southern Equine Stables from the consignment of Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency that were previously owned in partnership by Southern Equine and Hill ‘n’ Dale (including the world record-priced Better Than Honour, which sold for $14 million). Hill ‘n’ Dale owner John Sikura bought one from his consignment for $3.1 million. Stripping those nine transactions out, Fasig-Tipton still sold 82 horses for $43,719,000, an average price of $533,158 and median of $220,000, well ahead of last year’s average of $486,318 and median of $180,000. 

Either with or without the Hill ‘n’ Dale horses, it was an extremely strong market for top-class mares.

The increasing depth and quality of Fasig-Tipton’s November sale didn’t happen overnight, or with the purchase of the company by an associate of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed. Fasig-Tipton is in the very early stages of that new ownership, but already there have been significant enhancements in the physical plant on Newtown Pike (more are certain to come), along with news about coming improvements at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The accompanying table shows Fasig-Tipton’s stready growth in the November sale over the last eight years.

Perhaps more than anything else, the strength of Fasig-Tipton’s outstanding catalogue was the reason for Keeneland’s sluggish start on Monday. As one commercial breeder said, "Fasig-Tipton took a huge bite out of book one at Keeneland."

Earlier this year we wrote about the "new era of Fasig-Tipton" under the ownership of Synergy Investments, and included a number of comments from breeders, agents and buyers who hoped that Fasig-Tipton’s advancements would make Keeneland more customer friendly. Keeneland was called "arrogant" by a some of its customers in a subsequent Paulick Report article.

Based on comments by some mare owners, Keeneland is responding with a stronger recruiting effort, something Fasig-Tipton has been doing for years. Keeneland has held a powerful edge in market share in yearling and breeding stock sales, but the results from this fall indicate Fasig-Tipton is gaining ground.

Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

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