Hip 419, a daughter of Munnings out of stakes winner Freudie Anne, sold for $350,000 to top Monday’s session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale. Susie Raisher Photo.
By Mary Eddy
The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale made a roaring return Sunday and Monday with increases in all metrics compared to the last edition of the state’s premier market for state-breds in 2019.
Fasig-Tipton reported sales on 203 of the 258 yearlings offered over the two sessions for $18,566,500, up 14.6 percent from the $16,200,000 for 186 yearlings sold at the 2019 sale. This year’s average price also rose 5 percent, from $87,097 to $91,461 this year, while median increased 16.7 percent to $70,000. The sale’s buyback rate came in at 21.3 percent, compared to 30.1 percent in 2019.
Fasig-Tipton reported sales on 141 of the 176 yearlings offered during Monday’s afternoon session for $12,069,000, an average price of $85,596 and median of $60,000.
Conor Foley of Oracle Bloodstock signed the final session’s biggest ticket on behalf of GMP Stables, Vekoma Racing and West Paces for Hip 419, a Munnings filly who hammered for $350,000. Out of the dual stakes-winning Freud mare Freudie Anne, the filly is a full sister to a Munnings colt who sold for $100,000 at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale in 2019.
From the family of Grade 1 La Brea Stakes winner I Ain’t Bluffing, Foley thought the filly was one of the most attractive offerings in the catalog.
“I thought she was one of the top three fillies in the sale,” he said. “We’re really excited. She’s one of the best athletes in the sale. She’s going to go to the races and be trained by Danny Gargan. Hopefully in a year, she’ll be walking out of the winner’s circle at Saratoga. We thought she would cost about that. She’s a very nice physical… we are excited to get her.”
Pleased with his purchase, Foley said the New York-bred sale consistently offers standout yearlings each year.
“The quality here is very good,” he said. “You’re buying New York-breds to win open races. The (New York-bred) program has gone way up.”
Consigner Adrian Regan of Hunter Valley Farm said the success the filly’s dam found at Saratoga Race Course in the New York Stallion Series Stakes added to her appeal.
“I don’t think it was any harm that her mother did all of her running across the road here,” he said. “She won here six years ago,” said Regan.
The filly’s sire, Munnings, has seen his stud fee double since 2019 with high demand for his progeny at auction. The filly was popular throughout the week at her consigner’s barn.
“Munnings has taken off in the last year, with results on the track and at the sales,” Regan said. “She’s a beautiful, athletic, well-balanced mover. She behaved brilliantly. Every show was as good as her previous show. She was by far our most popular yearling this week.”
Hunter Valley Farm had previously consigned her at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky winter mixed sale in February where she sold for $130,000 to Peter Pugh of Cherry Knoll Farm. The filly was bred by Fergus Galvin, Marc Detampel, Jayne Johnson and Adrian Wallace and foaled at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs.
Jon Green of D.J. Stable LLC took home Hip 528, a colt by leading third-crop sire Constitution for $300,000. Bred by Fred W. Hertrich III and John D. Fielding, the colt is out of the five-time winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Rare Medal, who Hertrich and Fielding also bred. The dam has produced Combat Medal, a Unified colt who sold for $150,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-year-olds in training sale.
Attending the sale with Hip 528 in mind, Green said he has big plans for the dark bay colt.
“He reminded us of a lot of the great colts that we have seen on Saturdays,” said Green. “He’s a big, scopey two-turn kind of horse. We came here looking to get a top colt and he fit the bill. He checked all the boxes for us.”
Hoping to replicate the success he found with Mark Casse and horses like champion 2-year-old filly Jaywalk and Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby winner Helium, Green is planning on sending the colt to the barn of the Hall of Fame conditioner.
“The plan right now is to ultimately have him at Mark Casse’s barn. He’ll go back to Kentucky and get a little R and R,” Green said. “It takes so much out of these horses. He’ll be there for about six or eight weeks and then he’ll head down to Ocala and start getting into the program.”
“The sale has been so strong that if you want to come away with a good horse, you have to spend a little bit of money. We had 11 horses on our list and this was only the second one we even got a bid on. That’s how strong the sale has been.”
While Green plans to run his horse in open company, he praised the New York-bred program and the security it provides in its strong incentives.
“We really like to have the safety net of knowing that we can run against New York-breds,” he said. “The money is much better in New York and we have year-round racing for our program. So it lends itself to us owning New York-breds.”
Stuart Angus of Taylor Made Sales Agency was pleased to see the colt in the hands of Green, a longtime client of their farm.
“We were lucky that Mr. Green got him,” Angus said. “He keeps a bunch of horses with us in Kentucky and we are sending the horse back there to take care of him before he gets broken and trained.”
Taylor Made, which began consigning horses at the New York-bred sale in 2012, has seen success with horses Angus said are exciting prospects.
“I remember bringing the first group of horses here for the Taylors and we just kept evolving from that to get this quality stock now,” he said. “With the race program here in New York and the money it provides, it’s exciting. There’s a lot of people who want New York-breds.”
The popularity of freshman sire Accelerate at the New York-bred sale continued as a colt by the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner sold late in the sale to David and Chris Stack for $300,000.
Out of the stakes-placed Marquetry mare Ten Halos, Hip 591 was a $100,000 RNA the Keeneland November sale last year and is a half-brother to the winning Liaison mare Three Halos. Three Halos sold for $150,000 in foal to Candy Ride at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale in 2016.
“When we saw (the colt), we just thought that he was the one,” said Chris Stack. “He looked me right in the eye… when they look you in the eye, they’re intelligent… we have our fingers crossed.”
Hip 591 was consigned by Paramount Sales and bred by SF Bloodstock.
Leading the way for those conceived in the Empire State was Hip 404, a son of the late Laoban, who stood at Sequel Stallions. Team D went to $225,000 to secure him out of the Bluewater Sales consignment. The colt out of E Storm, who hails from the family of Weekend Surprise, was bred by Southern Equine Stables – both of his siblings of racing age are winners.
– Additional reporting by Tom Law and Susie Raisher
