Ahead of Fasig-Tipton’s select yearling horse auction in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Aug. 5-6, auction house president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. was confident that his team had assembled one of the highest-quality catalogs ever. His confidence paid off as The Saratoga Sale set records for gross and average sales, surpassing last year’s record by 9.5 percent.
Browning is quick to credit his team for the record-breaking success of this week’s sales.
“Thank God you have an unbelievable team. They are the unsung heroes, like the workers behind the scenes,” he said. “They don’t get any recognition. It’s not easy, it’s a thankless job, but it’s all the guys in red. It’s a shared responsibility, a shared effort and a shared desire to do a great job.”
Helping set a record of 12 horses selling for $1 million or more in two auctions. After the final horse walked off the auction block, total sales reached $82,160,000 and an average of $533,506 from 154 horses sold.
The second auction was stronger with a total of $41,900,000 for 73 horses sold out of 92 offered and an average of $573,973. The RNA rate for the entire sale was 19%.
ONE Into mischief The colt (Hip 183) consigned by Lane’s End sold for $2.4 million at auction Tuesday to broker Marette Farrell on behalf of Speedway Stable, topping the auction and becoming the second-highest-priced colt in auction history.
Hip 183 at FT Saratoga Sale
Bred by Marty and Pam Wygod and consigned by Lane’s End on behalf of the Wygod family, Hip 183 almost left the ring for $2 million, but the buyer re-entered and offered much more. This colt is unlikely to be missed as a foal to a race winner Sweet blow (Awesome Again), is a son of the multiple Grade 1 winning and 2000 champion mare Perfect Sting.
“We paid a lot of money a couple of times,” said Farrell, who signed the mares for the sorrel colt to Speedway owners Peter Fluor and KC Weiner.
Farrell said partner Zoe Cadman nudged her to bid again as the bidding war was coming to an end.
“We absolutely love this colt, I feel like he commands the room, as they say,” she said. “We love all the relationships and we wanted to pay tribute to Marty Wygod. He was a huge supporter of our Thoroughbred business and was very successful.”
Farrell said she sees Hip 183 as “a stallion on the rise.”
“I can’t thank Peter and KC enough. I’m still shaking because I love this horse, but I really hope we don’t have to spend that much money, and they know we love this horse. I hope he’s a lucky horse, I hope he’s a good horse. They deserve it, and so does he. I really think he’s a great horse.”
Marty Wygod, who died April 12, was a renowned breeder and owner. He and Pam bred many winning horses, including the 2004 Eclipse champion mare Sweet Catomine and many Grade 1 winners. Life is sweet Both are from the mare Sweet Life, which they bred.
“We bought the mare at the beginning of Covid and my dad picked her out, he liked her pedigree. We’ve all been cooped up at home,” said Emily Bushnell, Marty and Pam’s daughter. “She’s still quite new to our broodmare herd, we have a 2-year-old mare that we love, she’s a big brother, so hopefully this one will be just as great.”
Lane’s End sold both of its products on August 6 for seven figures. The lot also sold Hip 146, a foal by Gunman for $1.9 million for MV Magnier and Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm.
“It’s an incredibly healthy market for us,” said Allaire Ryan of Lane’s End. “We try to bring quality individuals here across the spectrum. We want good individuals that will show well and represent the breeder and us well, and we’ve been rewarded handsomely for that.”
Resolute Racing’s John Stewart was the top buyer for the second night in a row, purchasing six yearlings for a total of $3,660,000. Over the two nights, Stewart spent $9,085,000 on 11 yearlings.
Boyd Browning on sales basis
Browning, along with many other buyers, commented on the fierce competition at the auction, which they felt reflected the quality of the horses present at the auction.
“We’re very pleased with the results; there’s depth in the buying bench,” Browning said. “We’ve also seen some new faces who haven’t bought here before, which have been a big contributor to the sales, but we’ve also seen some groups that they think could be dominant bidders and also overbid at some hips, which is very healthy.”
Magnier and White Birch Farm teamed up to buy the second-highest-priced horse at Tuesday’s auction for $1.9 million—the aforementioned Hip 146, a colt out of Gun Runner. Water tap mare Secret Sigh . The same team had success with the Gun Runner colt previously in Sierra Leone winner of this year’s Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Gainesway was the first consignor of the Saratoga auction, selling all 19 yearlings offered. They averaged $670,526, for a total sale of $12,740,000.
Sales continue August 11-12 in Saratoga Springs for Fasig-Tipton’s New York-Bred Sale. The first session on August 11 will begin at 7 p.m. ET with bids of 301-400, and the second and final session will begin at 12 p.m. ET with bids of 401-600 on August 12 at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion.
“The New York-bred program is producing quality individuals, horses and athletes. That gives us a lot of optimism going in,” Browning said.
