Take a look around the sales booth at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Old Training Sale and there are plenty of familiar faces. But the scene may look a little different to those who haven’t been following shoppers at the Timonium, Md., sale for several years.
That’s because Fasig-Tipton has made a concerted effort to attract more international customers. Those efforts are starting to pay off in both online and in-person purchases.
Chairman Fasig-Tipton said: “Certainly, we’ve had very strong participation in the Middle East from a number of countries there. I’m quite confident that we have buyers from Dubai, Saudi Arabia , Bahrain and possibly some other countries have joined.” CEO Boyd Browning.
Saudi princes made a big splash in the sale.
KAS Stables purchased the opening day sale topper, attracting Hip 276, a filly Bernardini, for $650,000. Pedro Lanz, who represents KAS Stables, was delighted to achieve what he described as a “multi-million dollar filly”.
That price was matched on Day 2 of the sale, May 21 when Prince Faisal Bin Khaled Bin Abdulaziz’s Najd Stud bought Music criticOne Music by Maclean colt, for $650,000.
Both purchases represent the first sale of Midlantic by the Saudi princes. Saudi Arabia’s third prince, Saud Bin Salman, was also a buyer.
Browning said the sales company has made a concerted effort over the past two years to increase its footprint internationally, especially in the Middle East.
“It’s about introductions, developing confidence and educating people about what we have to offer here,” he said after the first day. We are already seeing the results of some of those efforts.”
Fasig-Tipton hired Michael Adolphson in January 2023 to represent the Middle East. Adolphson, a native of Baltimore, is a British broadcaster and lead producer for Dubai Racing Channel and a contract journalist for The Saudi Cup, Breeders’ Cup and Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
Anna Seitz Cinnello, director of customer relations for Fasig-Tipton, visited Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Bahrain this year around the time of the Saudi Cup on February 24. She said the company is based by Synergy Investments in Dubai owned, needs to be more aggressive in letting people know about its sales offerings, especially the Midlantic sale, the only 2-year sale on land in the United States.
Anna Seitz Cinnello
“It was unbelievable the number of people we met, the way they rolled out the red carpet to welcome us and introduced us to all the big coaches and then all the big owners, with private meetings with tycoons and princes in those three different regions,” Seitz Cinnello recalls.
One of the attractions for Middle Eastern customers is the appeal of dirt track racing. Browning said the area’s off-road racing presence plus scheduled sales locations — which take place after the Dubai World Championships at the end of March — make it a prime shopping opportunity.
“I could see that they wanted these American horses. The dirt horses were running very well in that area and on those big days. So I thought, ‘We’ve got to find a way to get to those guys. there,'” she said. , noted that Adolphson’s established relationships played a key role in connecting with key players.
Since Adolphson was not an agent, he had no difficulty making introductions. Trainers and buyers know they can trust him.
“I worked there for seven years,” Adolphson said. My goal has always been to improve the quality of racing there and continue to maintain it.” “Because once you live there for a certain amount of time, you realize that there are so many people attached to the sport and the history of horses. It’s amazing.”
Part of the effort to put Fasig-Tipton in the minds of buyers in the Middle East is a track sponsorship and another run at the King Abdulaziz Circuit on Saudi Cup Day. Seitz Cinnello said it’s easy to think everyone knows about Fasig-Tipton compared to other sales companies, but being on the other side of the world makes it difficult to differentiate itself.
Fasig-Tipton sent catalogs in special boxes written in English and Arabic to potential buyers in the Middle East
To solve that problem, when Seitz Cinnello returned, Fasig-Tipton sent about 100 printed catalogs in English and Arabic packaged in a special box.
“We were rewarded for our efforts because they came and bought,” she said.
Seitz Cinnello said Middle Eastern buyers were coming to Europe to buy grass horses but now there was a change in focus.
“People are switching to wanting really good earth horses, with good pedigrees, horses that can last a long time. They are not afraid to buy 2-year-old, 3-year-old, 4-year-old, 5-year-old animals; If the horse gets a vet, they won’t have any problems,” she said.
Coach Bhupat Seemar said this year was the second time he visited the Midlantic trade. One of his purchases last year, the Kentucky-bred Mendelssohn Bay won the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) in January.
“There are good horses here. And secondly, racing in Dubai is improving. There’s more prize money, there’s more international owners there. So there’s a huge appetite for it.” getting good horses to race in Dubai. And you know, Dubai has a scoring system to go to the Kentucky Derby from the UAE Derby, which is really helpful, and also a scoring system from the UAW to go to the Kentucky Oaks. ,” he said.
Seemar bought seven horses in two days in Timonium for seven different customers. He said all his purchases will be directed to Dubai.
Not all horses necessarily go abroad. According to Seitz Cinnello, some buyers are contemplating setting up operations in the United States. Without horse racing during the hottest time of the year in the Middle East, consideration is being given to keeping the horses with trainers in the United States with the option of shipping them for the fall racing season.
A good example is the “million dollar” Lanz purchased for KAS Stables. She will stay in the United States. The same thing happens with justification filly (Hip 171) was acquired by Case Clay Thoroughbred Management, which purchased her for Qatar-based Wathnan Racing for $500,000 on Day 1 of the sale.
Other locations of buyers in the sale were from Japan, South America, India, Canada and the UK, and there was an online purchase from a Russian buyer in Cyprus.
Practical joke tiny (Hip 450) for $525,000.
- Seemar, who counts the winner of the Dubai World Cup (G1) laurel river and Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) winner Switzerland And Tuz as part of his Zabeel Stables at Meydan Racecourse, purchased a Medaglia d’Oro colt (Hip 256) for $325,000. He also topped Hip 500, a Lord Nelson colt for $250,000, and Hip 339, a colt. Vekoma colt for $200,000. Seemar, acting as agent for Saudi Arabia-based FMQ Stables, signed tickets on Hip 258, a Bolt d’Oro colt, for $100,000.
- Prince Saud Bin Salman bought one Good magic tiny (Hip 250) for $180,000.
- Seoul Racehorse Owners Association (KOID), donated $37,000 to Hip 128, a Good Samaritan pony.
