by Sarah Mace
Once the dust settled after the second and final day of trading at Fasig-Tipton’s 2015 Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, New York-bred juveniles had produced two more top-of-the-line sales and generated an average price that approached the record-setting sale average.
Overall the benchmark renewal of the sale generated an $88,859 average, which was up a whopping 49.1% from a year ago ($59,578). The New York-bred average was $80,081. The $45,000 sale median was up nearly as much, 45.2% to $45,000 (from $31,000). The New York-bred median was $37,000.
In addition to providing the second top selling individual in the sale, a Pioneerof the Nile colt who sold in the first session for $850,000, the population of New York-breds at the auction produced 12 six-figure horses, six selling for $200,000 and above.
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The co-second top seller of Tuesday’s second session, and co-sixth top seller overall was Hip 400, a colt by Bluegrass Cat out of Unbridled Melody, who went to Jacob L. West, agent from the consignment of Raul Reyes’ Kings Equine, agent for $450,000 after breezing a co-bullet :10 flat breeze in the under tack show.
Bred by WinStar Farm, LLC and foaled at Vinery NY at Sugar Maple in Poughquag, the sale colt is a full brother to stakes winner and graded stakes placed Michael With Us, and a half-brother to stakes winner and Grade 1 placed Tourist (Tiznow). Bluegrass Cat, a former leading New York sire, stood at Vinery New York at Sugar Maple in 2012 and 2013 and Rockridge Stud in 2014 before relocating to California in 2015.
Purchased by Reyes for $90,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale, the colt RNA’d in March for $160,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale. Before the Midlantic auction Reyes said, “He has changed quite a bit since the Florida sale. He looks a lot better now. He looked dull in Miami. I think he didn’t like the heat. He breezed good down there, but he didn’t look the best.”
West, who signed the ticket for an undisclosed client, commented, “I work for Taylor Made, and it’s well documented in our system that we loved him as a yearling. We just had to give a little more for him now, but he’s a nice horse. Down there (in the Florida sale) he was a victim of being around a lot of horses that were stallion prospects. Everybody was looking for the athlete and the pedigree, but here you have to get the athlete at this point and time, and that’s what we did. He’s a special horse.” The colt will go to trainer Todd Pletcher.
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The other New York-bred headliner on Tuesday was Hip 296, a bay filly by Super Saver out of graded stakes winner Richiegirlgonewild. She was purchased by Matthew Schera for $230,000 from De Meric Sales, who bought the filly at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale for $190,000 from the Hidden Brook consignment.
Bred by Doug and Felicia Branham and foaled on March 20, 2013 at Todd and Michele Graves’ Hickory Hill Farm in Fort Edward, the filly worked a furlong last week in the under tack show in :10 2/5. Said Nick de Meric, “She has plenty of speed to burn, but I think the Super Saver on the top will give her the stamina to stretch out. She is a good-moving, attractive filly who has taken all this in stride.”
The Super Saver filly is her dam’s second offspring. The mare’s first foal Broadway Show (Unbridled’s Song) was a debut winner at Gulfstream in January.
