Highcliff Farm announced today that it will be holding the third and final phase of the Flying Zee Dispersal at the farm in Delanson on Saturday, January 21 beginning at 12:00 PM. Included in the dispersal are the remaining broodmares, racehorses and weanlings from the estate of the late Carl Lizza.

A perennial leading owner in New York, Lizza’s Flying Zee Stable completed two phases of their dispersal in 2011 with Fasig-Tipton. Seth Gregory will be the auctioneer for the sale of 65 to 70 head in the Highcliff portion of the sale.

Gregory commented on the sale, “There are some very attractive offerings, including broodmares by War Chant, Lion Heart, Ghostzapper, Johannesburg, Point Given, Gulch, Wild Again and Elusive Quality.”

Highcliff Farm general manager and resident veterinarian, C. Lynwood O’Cain pointed out, “We have foals of 2011 by Freud, First Samurai, Nobiz Like Showbiz. Highcliff stallions Cosmonaut, Stonesider and Western Expression are also covering sires, in addition to recent Grade 1 sire Congaree, sire of Hollywood Starlet winner Killer Graces and Grade 2 winner Jeranimo.” O’Cain added, “Mr. Lizza was an avid pedigree student and worked very hard building up these families. We feel breeders will be pleased with the offerings.”

Catalogs and directions will be available at www.highcliff.com.

To request a catalog or for more information, please contact Auctioneer Seth Gregory (518) 893-1572 or email flyingzeesale@gmail.com.

The second and final phase of the dispersal of the late Carl Lizza’s Flying Zee Stables fueled an increase in total sales at Monday’s one-session Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December mixed sale from $968,100 in 2010 to $3,739,350 (up 286.3%), while the average price for New York-bred weanlings at the sale was 58.7 % higher than the sale weanling average.

Phase II of the Flying Zee dispersal, with Hidden Brook once again acting as agent, consisted of 96 horses (99 catalogued, 3 not sold) – 27 weanlings, 30 two-year-olds, 14 three-year-olds and 25 mares. The group accounted for three of the four top sellers in the session, and nine of the top 13, collecting total receipts of $2,315,350. The average price of the Flying Zee horses was $24,118, with a median of $15,000.

Leading the way in both dispersal and sale was ten-year-old broodmare Salty Romance (Hip 312) in foal to New York sire Cosmonaut (Highcliff Farm), who went to Carlos Martin, agent for Blue Devil Racing Stable, for $260,000. Cosmonaut’s first foals are weanlings this year.

A Kentucky-bred daughter of Salt Lake, Salty Romance was acquired by Carl Lizza for $320,000 at the 2003 OBS Open two-year-old sale. The mare, whose second dam One Fine Lady was a multiple stakes winner and stakes producer, won the Delta Princess S. at two and ran third in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel S. at three, earning $229,200.

Salty Romance has already produced two winners from three runners: multiple stakes-placed three-year-old Luxury Appeal, by Johannesburg ($70,960), and Agave Kiss (Lion Heart), a juvenile filly who, after effortless victories in two starts, looks like a horse with a big future. Salty Romance’s yearling filly by Lemon Drop Kid, named One Time Only, was the top-seller of the yearling portion of the Flying Zee dispersal at the Fasig-Tipton Fall yearling sale in October, going to Glen Hill Farm for $375,000, and her weanling colt by New York sire Congaree (Highcliff Farm) sold on Monday (Hip 313) to Machmer Hall for $48,000.

The second-highest seller (and also a dispersal horse), was a Hard Spun weanling colt (Hip 328) born in May, who was purchased by Dundrum Farm for $205,000. His unraced dam The Real Melody by Unbridled’s Song produced New York-bred multiple winner Sounds Familiar ($84,000) and second dam, winner Lilya’s For Real (In Reality), is a sister to two stakes winners and produced ten winners, including two stakes winners and two stakes producers.

The New York weanling population as a whole performed well in the sale, in keeping with the yearling results seen in 2011. Of the 45 weanlings offered, 38 sold (15.5% not sold) for an average of $21,561, which was 58.7% higher than the weanling average for the sale at large ($13,583).

The top New York-sired weanling was a colt by Freud (Hip 196). Bred by Sequel Thoroughbreds LLC, Rhapsody Farm LLC, Jon Davis and Tina Davis and consigned by Hidden Brook, agent, the colt was purchased by Beach Bar, LLC for $75,000.

A New York-bred weanling colt by Stormy Atlantic out of Forest Lady commanded $225,000 in the Fourth Session of the Keeneland November sale on Thursday –  the third highest weanling price on the day. The colt’s value was enhanced, according to Pat Costello of consignor Paramount Sales, by his being a New York-bred.

The chestnut January weanling (Hip 1046), bred by Conduit Bloodstock Services, et al., was purchased as a probable pinhook prospect for an undisclosed client by bloodstock agent Steve Shahinian. Asked what he liked about the weanling, Shahinian answered, “Everything.”

The weanling’s dam is a full sister to multiple Group/Grade 1 winner Ciro ($701,689), who is also a sire in Japan. The third dam, Korveya is a graded winner, sister to Keos, German highweight older horse at five, and has numerous European Group winners in the immediate family

Pat Costello of Paramount Sales firmly believes that being a New York-bred enhanced the weanling colt’s value. “It just goes to show you what the New York program is doing,” Costello said. “If that horse had been Kentucky-bred, I’m not sure he would have brought that kind of money. But he was a lovely horse.” Costello added, “He was a standout. He had every buyer on the grounds on him. It was a great price and we’re delighted.”

Accomplished and versatile race-mare Mother Russia, a five-year-old daughter of former New York stallion Mayakovsky, brought $290,000 in the opening session of the Keeneland November sale, selling in foal to Tapit to Carolyn R. Vogel for $290,000.

A six-time stakes-winner of $528,996 over the course of three campaigns, Mother Russia (Hip 179) was bred by Philip Birsh and foaled at Mill Creek Farm, former home of her sire Mayakovsky (Matty G), a Grade 3 Gotham winner and Grade 1 Hopeful runner-up who stood in New York from 2004 to 2009.

Purchased as a weanling for Obviously NY Stable by Linda Rice at the New York Breeders’ Sales Company’s 2006 October sale for $21,000, the talented dark bay went on to score victories on conventional dirt tracks (over both fast and off going), on turf, and, last year, even secured a graded placing on Polytrack. Her wins came at distances from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.

After winning her juvenile debut at Saratoga, Mother Russia went on to capture the Lady Finger Stakes and run third against the boys in the New York Breeders’ Futurity. In her final start of 2008 she finished second in the Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series – a series she would dominate at three.

In 2009, racing exclusively in state-bred and/or New York-sired company, Mother Russia won no fewer than four divisions of the New York Stallion Stakes Series, at least one at each of the NYRA tracks. She took the six-furlong Park Avenue in the slop in the Aqueduct inner oval, the Cupecoy’s Joy at seven furlongs on the turf at Belmont Park, Saratoga’s 1 1/16-mile Statue of Liberty on turf and – coming full circle with her final sophomore start – returned to Aqueduct to defeat three-and-up fillies and mares in the Staten Island Division in the slop, this time on the main track. That year Mother Russia also won the Peerless Springs Stakes for state-breds going a mile on turf at Saratoga. When Linda Rice won the Saratoga training crown in 2009, and was also the leading trainer of New York-breds, Mother Russia was her leading earner.

At four, Mother Russia moved into open company and secured two Grade 3 placings at Woodbine, finishing second to Unzip Me sprinting on turf in the Royal North and, next out, finishing third in the Seaway run at seven furlongs on Polytrack.

Mother Russia is one of two six-figure-earning New York-bred offspring out of the winning Hennessy mare Still Secret, who was purchased by Birsh for $17,000 at Keeneland’s 2005 January sale. Still Secret is a half sister to stakes performer Runaway Cat and stakes producer Feather Boa.

A March New York-bred colt by Bernardini was hammered down for $280,000 to become the second highest-selling weanling at Sunday’s Fasig-Tipton November sale (Hip 122).

Bred in New York by Darley, Edwin Schatzel and Robert O’Brien, and foaled at the Equine Clinic at OakenCroft in Ravena, the bay was sold by Ends Well Farm, with Darby Dan Farm acting as agent. M. W. Miller III, agent signed the ticket.

The foal is the first New York-bred to be produced by La Grande Mamma, an Ontario-bred juvenile stakes-winning daughter of Compadre ($209,355). The ten-year-old mare has already produced two winners from three starters, both by Congaree.

La Grande Mama is the only stakes-winner through the third dam, but there is abundant black type under the fourth dam, Periphery, by Vice Regent. Periphery produced stakes winners Circulating ($323,026) and Periscope ($149,172) and her stakes-placed daughter Marienburg produced stakes winner Marlang and two more stakes performers. Her unraced daughter Florisa produced stakes-winner Ring of Flowers ($220,462).

Three six-figure yearlings in Phase I of the dispersal of Flying Zee Stable, which followed the three regular sessions of the Fasig-Tipton’s Kentucky fall yearling sale in Lexington on Wednesday night, were testimony to the breeding acumen of the late Carl Lizza Jr., principal of Flying Zee Stable, who passed away in July at the age of 73.

The yearling portion of the Flying Zee dispersal, with Hidden Brook Farm acting as agent, was topped by a March Filly by Lemon Drop Kid (Hip 1118) purchased by Donato Lanni on behalf of Glen Hill Farm for $375,000 – just $10,000 shy of the top seller in the regular portion of the sale.

The filly’s dam Salty Romance, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Salt Lake, won the Delta Princess S. at two and ran third in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel S. at three, earning $229,200. She has already produced two winners from three runners: multiple stakes-placed Luxury Appeal, by Johannesburg ($70,960) and Agave Kiss (Lion Heart), who turned heads on the Showcase Day undercard just days earlier with a 6 1/4-length debut victory against a full field of New York-bred maiden fillies. Agave Kiss’s time for the six furlongs was 1:09.79, just .21 seconds slower than four-year-old General Maximus’ winning time in the Posse Hudson later on the card. Lizza purchased Salty Romance as a two-year-old in training for $320,000 at the 2003 OBS open sale.

Lanni said of the dispersal filly, “Everybody was on her, everybody waited for her. She checked every box. She moved great, she did everything right, and is just a nice filly.” Lanni added, “I’m happy to have gotten a filly from the dispersal. [Lizza] was a great breeder and did so much for the industry, and it’s good to have one from their breeding program.”

The next highest priced yearling was Hip 1137, a Tapit filly out of multiple stakes-winner Comacina (Dixie Union), who sold to Mark Casse (agent) for $170,000. Red and Black Stable, which purchased four yearlings, bought Hip 1124, a bay filly by Bernardini out of The Real Melody (Unbridled’s Song) for $140,000.

Thirty-five of the 39 New York-bred yearlings offered sold for a total of $1,236,700, with an average price of $35,334 and a median of $15,000. Phase II of the Flying Zee Dispersal will consist of weanlings, broodmares, and horses of racing age and will take place during Fasig-Tipton’s Midlantic December Mixed sale on December 5.

Hidden Brook’s Jack Brothers said, “I was very pleased with the results. It got respect across the board, and people hung around for it. There were a lot of surprises…in good ways.  It was good all around, and gets the ball rolling for Phase II of the dispersal.”

While the New York-breds in the regular sessions of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling sale, which ran from Monday through Wednesday of this week, did not make headlines with individual session- and sale-toppers, they eclipsed their performance at the same sale last year with double- and even triple-digit increases.

With 34 Empire-bred yearlings selling in the three sessions – only one more than in 2010 – the total receipts for this group increased to $643,400 from $386,300, posting a gain of 66.6%.  The average price per yearling kept pace with those figures, up 61.7% from $11,706 last year to $18,924 in 2011. The median price skyrocketed from $6,500 in 2010 to $18,100 in 2011, showing an increase of 178.5% and far surpassing the median for the general population of the sale ($12,000).

The top three New York-bred lots at the at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling sale were:

Hip 516 dark bay/brown colt (March 12), Street Hero/Screen Happy (Brunswick), bred by Joseph & Jennifer Daniels; a half to three winners, including Rule Seventy Six, by Hook and Ladder ($133,920); Screen Happy, a multiple winner ($337,805), has 13 winning siblings, including SW Overtime Victory, by Knights Choice ($439,631) and SP Gallant Goalie, by Gallant Best ($287,894). Consigned by Saratoga Glen Farm LLC, agent for Winter Creek Farm, purchased by Bruce Levine for $80,000.

Hip 433 bay colt (April 2), Big Brown/Purely Surprized (Pure Prize), bred by IEAH Stables & Andrew Cohen; lone sibling Motion Lounge (Rockport Harbor) a juvenile Saratoga debut winner this year; SP Purely Surprized is out of SW Raise the Prize, by Prized ($204,360). Consigned by Saratoga Glen Farm LLC, agent, purchased by Murayama Bloodstock for $70,000.

Hip 798 bay colt (February 19), Holy Bull/Acquired Taste (Scarlet Ibis), bred by Patricia Staskowski Purdy; half to three winners, including SP Acquired Cat, by Tactical Cat ($362,563); Acquired Taste a half to GSW Cozy Blues, by Cure the Blues ($365,638). Consigned by Gainesway, agent, purchased by Michael Salerno for $65,000.

By the close of the two-day Fasig-Tipton Eastern Fall Yearling Sale on Wednesday, the population of New York-breds as a whole had far out-performed their counterparts from last year’s sale, and a half-brother to R Betty Graybull occupied third place in the rankings of the sale’s overall top sellers.

The outstanding results for the New York-bred yearlings at the Timonium, MD sale were not unexpected. Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said that the anticipated boost to the New York racing program from VLT revenue was generating a lot of pre-sale buzz. “Everybody wants a New York-bred,” she said. “I think that’s at the top of everybody’s list.”

The numbers back up these pre-sale impressions. With only marginally fewer yearlings offered (104) compared to last year (-3.7%), the number of horses sold (72, including three private sales) increased by 14.3%, which drove down the buyback rate of Empire-breds to 30.8% (after last year’s 41.7%) and drove up the total New York-bred sales to $1,421,000 (+58%).

Once again dramatic increases in average and median demonstrate that the New York-bred yearling market has changed completely in 2011. The $19,736 average price for a New York-bred yearling this year at Fasig-Tipton Fall outperformed the average for the sale’s general population ($18,523), and represents an increase of 37.3% over the New York-bred average last year. The New York-bred median ($7,000) shows 55.6% increase over last year.

The top-selling New York-bred yearling, and third highest-seller over the two days, was a bay colt by Grand Slam out of Hey Darla, dam of four-time stakes-winner R Betty Graybull, who retired this year with earnings of $436,117. Bred by Pegasus Farms, Inc., the March colt (Hip 55) first sold to Crupi’s New Castle Farm (agent) for $100,000 as a Fasig-Tipton New York Preferred Yearling. He sold in Timonium to Al Gold for $145,000. Vinery Sales acted as agent for both transactions.

The top New York-bred filly (Hip 88) was also the second-highest selling New York-bred overall. From the first crop of Heatseeker (IRE), the filly is out of the winning Smart Strike mare Joyjoyjoy, a half sister to stakes-winner Champagne Eyes (Flatter). The dark bay/brown filly was purchased by Sovereign Stable, Inc. for $95,000 from the consignment of Allied Bloodstock, agent for Bayne and Christina Welker. Bred by Patricia Staskowski Purdy, the March filly sold as a weanling at the 2010 Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale for $52,000.

The top selling yearling by a New York stallion and fifth-highest Empire-bred seller was a bay colt from the second and final crop of Sunriver, sire of dual Grade 1 stakes-winning juvenile filly Weemissfrankie (Hip 281). Bred by Shirl Penney, the colt failed to meet his reserve as a short yearling when bid up to $19,000 at the OBS winter mixed sale. Consigned by Candyland (agent) at the Fasig-Tipton Fall sale, he went to EQB Inc. (agent) for $80,000. The colt’s second dam is multiple graded winner Noble Damsel and his dam Shawnee Legend (Miswaki) has already produced multiple stakes-winner Southern Fiction by Brocco ($299,132).

Fewer than half the number of New York-breds participated in the recently-concluded 2011 Keeneland September Yearling Sale than in 2010, but those who did fared better than last year, with a radically improved clearance rate and stunning 35.4% increase in the median price over the 13 sessions.

The reduction in the number of New York-bred yearlings catalogued (-44%) and offered (-54%) at Keeneland this year is striking, especially in light of a catalogue that was reduced by only 11.1% overall. The most obvious explanation lies in the expansion of the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Preferred catalogue by 23% in 2011 (40 individuals).

The different scale of New York-bred participation at Keeneland this year necessarily led to a comparable reduction in number of yearlings sold (-46.5%) and total sales (-46.1%) compared to last year. On the other hand, all the remaining numbers moved in the right direction, some dramatically.

The average price for an Empire-bred at the Keeneland sale was up 3% to $44,144, a positive indicator, even if not matching the headline-making increases in the average New York-bred yearling price at the Fasig-Tipton Preferred Sale in Saratoga (up 38.7% to $54,238) or OBS (up 40% to $15,975).

More dramatic was the positive change in clearance rate. The percent of New York-bred yearlings not sold at Keeneland improved from a discouraging 29% in 2010 to 17% in 2011 – a number which also outperformed the statistic for the sale overall (20.08%). The number also compares favorably with the New York-bred buybacks at OBS (18.8%) and at Saratoga (32.2%).

Finally, the most eye-catching number from the Keeneland sale was the median price for a New York-bred yearling, which climbed 35.4% over last year to $32,500 and also outperformed the overall sale median of $30,000.

The next stop on the 2011 yearling sales circuit is the Fasig-Tipton Eastern Fall Yearling Sale in Timonium, MD, where 122 New York-breds are catalogued. The two-day sale will take place on October 4-5.

Through the first two books (and five sessions) of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale – when seven-figure horses tend to grab the headlines – Empire-breds have quietly held their own, with five of the eight sold going for $100,000 or more.

Of the twelve New York-breds that have gone through the sales ring so far, eight changed hands, leaving 33.3% “not sold,” a figure more or less comparable to the figure for the sale at large (27%). The $96,875 New York-bred average is solid, as is the New York-bred median, which sits at $100,000. The cumulative sale average of $192,851 shows a 17.6% increase over 2010, while the sale median of $150,000 is up 36.4%.

The top-selling New York-bred in Books 1-2 was a colt by Mr. Greeley out of Cellars Shiraz ($728,410). Bred by Gallagher’s Shiraz LLC, the February colt sold to Nick de Meric (agent) from the consignment of Denali Stud for $140,000 during Session 4 (Hip 648). An accomplished race mare by Kissin Kris, Cellars Shiraz won eight stakes races, including the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride, and was a 14-time stakes performer. Six of Cellars Shiraz’ victories and five of her stakes wins came on turf. The mare last changed hands via public auction at the 2004 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, going to James Delahooke (agent) for $415,000. Cellars Shiraz has produced two winners from two foals to start, including six-time turf winner Classic Vintage by El Prado ($141,799).

The second best-selling New York lot was Hip 927, a colt by Arch named London Bridge out of the winning British mare Kindness (Indian Ridge). The bay April colt, bred by Patricia S. Purdy and sold by Three Chimneys Sales (agent), was secured by Cecil Seaman (agent) for $130,000 in Session 5. London Bridge’s second dam Kissing Gate produced four-time Grade 1 winner Magical Fantasy (Diesis), an earner of over $1 million in the US and North America, and stakes-winner Forward Move (Dr. Fong). There is also significant graded black type under both the third and fourth dams.

Three other New York-bred yearlings garnered six figures through the first two books of the Keeneland sale:

Hip 889 bay colt, Empire Maker/Intend to Win, bred by Mrs. Gerald A. Nielsen, a half to seven winners including Grade 2 winner Josh’s Madelyn. Consigned by Summerfield, purchased by Hugo Merry Bloodstock for $115,000.

Hip 603 chestnut filly, Curlin/Bluff for Bluff, bred by Saratoga Glen Farm LLC, a half to two stakes performers. Consigned by Lane’s End, purchased by Sovereign Stable LLC for $100,000.

Hip 1115 chestnut filly, Giant’s Causeway/Pleasant Rhapsody, bred by MDS Farms, LLC & Ashford Stud, with first dam a half to millionaire Cowboy Cal; from the family of Behrens. Consigned by Paramount Sales, purchased by Carla Gaines for $100,000.