NEWS
Medaglia d’Oro fillies key rally at Fasig-Tipton
Posted: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 8:47 PM
SALE TOPPER: MEDAGLIA D'ORO FILLY
PhotosByZ.com
by Pete Denk
A Medaglia d’Oro filly sold for $425,000 on day two of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale of selected yearlings, which rebounded slightly from a sluggish first day.
Tuesday’s average price of $87,117 was just 4.3% less than session two last year, which took place before the global financial meltdown.
For the entire sale, Fasig-Tipton reported 268 horses as sold from 424 offered for total sales of $20,828,000, a 26% decline from $28,151,000 in total receipts last year. Average was down 15.8% to $77,716, and the median dropped 26.7% to $55,000.
“We sold good horses today, and the good horses did bring a lot of money,” Fasig-Tipton Chairman Walt Robertson said. “Unfortunately, there’s not a market for every horse, but if it was a nice horse, it brought plenty.”
The buy-back rate improved slightly to 36.8%, compared with 38.8% a year ago.
“The news around us hasn’t been very good lately, and we didn’t know what to expect coming in,” Robertson said. “When we were down what we were yesterday [32.9% in total sales], it wouldn’t have surprised me if we were down more today. I’m just elated to be within 5% of where we were last year on average.”
John Ferguson, chief bloodstock agent for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, was the leading buyer with five purchases for $1,555,000. Ferguson signed the ticket for the sale-topping Medaglia d’Oro filly, whose connections to Sheikh Mohammed run deep.
The sale topper is out of Argentine Group 2 winner Ting a Folie (Arg) and is a half sister to Bastakiya, a stakes-placed filly owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s wife Princess Haya of Jordan. Plus, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley operation purchased second-crop sire Medaglia d’Oro last month.
Kitty Taylor’s Warrendale Sales consigned the filly on behalf of David Hanley’s Whitechurch Farm. The sale topper was a nice pinhook for Hanley, who purchased the filly for $85,000 at the 2009 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. It was the second consecutive year Warrendale topped the July sale with one of Hanley’s horses.
Medaglia d'Oro, whose first crop includes 2009 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Rachel Alexandra, was the leading sire with seven yearlings reported as sold for an average of $242,142. Warrendale also consigned a Medaglia d’Oro filly out of the Gilded Time mare Peridot that brought $370,000, the second-highest price on Tuesday, from Twin Creeks Farm.
Henny Hughes led the first-crop sires with four sold for an average of $123,750.
Gainesway was leading consignor by total sales with 16 yearlings sold for $1,428,000. A son of Gainesway sire Birdstone brought $400,000 on Monday, the highest price among colts.
Sheikh Mohammed purchased the Birdstone colt out of the unraced Seattle Slew mare Slew Smarts. Dapple Stud consigned the colt that a Dapple Bloodstock partnership bought for $37,000 at the 2009 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale.
“Birdstone has blasted onto the sire scene with two classic winners,” Ferguson said. “Obviously, he’s a sire that can do it, and this was a very athletic horse and it made sense to follow him through.”
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times
|
Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale of selected yearlings
Overall Summary |
|
2009 |
|
2008 |
| No. offered |
424 |
(-14.9%) |
498 |
| No. sold |
268 |
(-12.1%) |
305 |
| Pct. not sold |
36.8% |
|
38.8% |
| Gross |
$20,828,000 |
(-26.0%) |
$28,151,000 |
| Average |
$77,716 |
(-15.8%) |
$92,298 |
| Median |
$55,000 |
(-26.7%) |
$75,000 |
| For hip-by-hip results, click here. | | |
