TIMONIUM, MD — With a staggering $1 million lead, Fasig-Tipton Midlantic’s 2-year-old Coaching Sale in May concluded its two-day run at the Fairgrounds. Maryland State Market with stats roughly equal to the record-setting 2022 renewal.
“What a wonderful two days in Maryland,” Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Manager Paget Bennett said Tuesday night. “There is a lot of competition for the horses that people want. Whoever they want, they all go to war.”
At the end of Tuesday’s session, the top 375 sold for $34,795,500. The median was $92,788–just down 2.7% from last year’s record of $95,391. The average price increased 6.4% to $50,000.
The difference in figures is almost entirely due to peak sales that set a record $3.55 million last year, which pushed the auction to an all-time high of 37,297. .700 dollars.
“We almost match [record] total, but last year we had a $3.55 million horse,” said Bennett. “That’s what we missed this year. So we are very pleased with the results.”
From catalog 603, 437 horses crossed the ring. With 62 unsold leopards, the buyback rate is 14.2%. That was 18.9% a year ago.
Blood dealer Kerri Radcliffe, auctioning on behalf of an undisclosed customer, saw off Donato Lanni to win the auction’s highest-priced item, his $1 million daughter. the late champion Arrogate. The first seller was consigned by the Thoroughbred Hartley/de Renzo.
Radcliffe topped the broad buy list, with the top 10 lots being bought by eight different buyers at last year’s auction that made the GI Kentucky Derby winning Mage (good magic).
“Buyers come from all over the place,” says Bennett. “Every year we see new buyers and that is very rewarding. People know they can get runners here and we proved it on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs. It is exciting to see this acquisition succeeding on the path we are seeing.”
Arrogate Filly sets off Midlantic fireworks
A Dirty of Arrogate (hip 552), the most heavily advertised horse on a full-week sales basis, appeared in a sales round on Tuesday when it was sold for $1 million to blood supply dealer Kerri Radcliffe, representing a undisclosed client based in London. Radcliffe, who had bid while sitting in the stall, defeated blood supply agent Donato Lanni, who was bidding in reverse, for chestnuts from the purebred Hartley/de Renzo shipment.
“She is for my new client,” Radcliffe said of the multimillion-dollar girl. “It’s JDL Capital SARL. I won’t name him, but we have horses in England and America, mainly in America. I think I bought eight from March. He is based in London. This is more for investment purposes and to have a little fun as well. This was his first foray into racing. So let’s hope it’s good luck for him.”
Of the plan for the dirty girl, Radcliffe said, “I’m not sure where she’s going. So any coach wants to call me, they can.
Hip 552 does not belong to Twixy (Mutakddim) and is a half-sister to multi-stakes winner Twixy Roll (Roll Hennessy Roll) and belongs to the family of winner GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile Caleb’s Posse (Posse).
“For me, she was the star of the sale,” Radcliffe said. “I met her in January and I met her in March and April. And I wait for her. I didn’t know I was going to pay her that much, but it’s a big sale and the good horses are making money.”
The salesman worked long in a copper bullet :10 flat in the under-tack show last week.
“She came in: 10 and out: 23 and changed,” Radcliffe said of the job. “It’s not much better than that. And obviously, she’s the last of the Arrogates, so it’s good to have her.”
Bred by Dale Taylor, Sr., she was purchased by Randy Hartley and Dean de Renzo for $255,000 during the Keeneland sale last September.
Hartley recalls: “We bought her in Book 1. “She looked exactly like she did today. She’s the same, just bigger. The reason I think we got her is because Book 1 is a difficult book in Keeneland. It’s all about the top pedigree. The mare is a good mare, but she hasn’t produced a Class I winner or anything yet. And I think people with large pedigrees don’t care. But when we saw her, she was just the filth we had to be.
Hartley said he had hoped to focus on buying fillings during last season’s annual sale, but that plan didn’t work out.
“At the beginning of the year, I said we would basically buy fillets because we felt it was a safer market,” says Hartley. “We ended up buying only one because they were very difficult to buy. But she is the right one. From the moment we bought her, we were ecstatic.
Among Hartley and DeRenzo’s partners is Rich Mendez, who owns Miami-based music label Rich Music.
Represented by Hartley and de Renzo at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company spring sale, Mendez purchased an Into Mischief pony for $1.3 million.
Now that he was buying and selling a seven-figure young, the racing novice was asked which was more interesting.
“I think selling a horse is worth millions of dollars, I wouldn’t lie,” Mendez said. “Just adrenaline is different. I’ve known this baby for seven months now. I watched her grow and I approached her. She is an amazing girl.
Mendez admitted he gave her a supportive talk before she entered the ring on Tuesday.
“I went into her booth and talked to her,” he said. “I told her, ‘You’ve done great so far. Now let’s be the top seller.’ And I just sit in it [in the pavilion] and I talked to her [as she was selling]. So that’s why I think selling is a little bit more adrenaline for me.”
When it was pointed out that his pony Into Mischief could go on to win the Kentucky Derby in his shirt, Mendez laughed, “Then that will be different.”
Radcliffe made three purchases for her new customer during the two-day Midlantic sale. She went to $350,000 for a horse by Map of Liam (hip 127) and up to $170,000 for a pony by Responsible Indy (hip 80).
King adds a pair of bullets to his stable
Gus King, bidding alongside trainer Ron Moquett and agent Jeff Mackor, went up to $510,000 to buy a small dog by way Responsible Indy (hip 361) from the De Meric Sales shipment at the start of the third session of the May sale in Midlantic.
“She has a good lineage and we liked her physicality, so we decided to give it a try,” King said after signing the ticket on the dirty man.
Teenager flies out of Perfect Paula (Songandaprayer) and is a half-sister to GIII Forward winner Gal S. Take Charge Paula. Bought by Tami Bobo’s First Finds for $100,000 during a November 2021 sale in Keeneland, she worked longer last week on a copper bullet :10 flat.
King admitted that he went over his projected budget on Dirty Tuesday.
“No,” he said emphatically when asked if he was going to spend that $510,000 on that filth. “These guys convinced me to join,” he said, pointing at Moquett.
Later in the session, King added another pony to his racing stable at a price of $325,000 for one of Cruiser Catalina (hip 568). Consigned by LG, dealer, minor who worked a quarter mile last week in a copper bullet :21 2/5.
King, owner of Alabama-based packer ColorMasters LLC, has been racing for about 15 years and currently has seven horses in training. He’s upgraded his program, and recent purchases include Into Mischief’s son (hip 292) was acquired in Keeneland last September for $600,000. Now named Maravich, the 2-year-old recorded a three-part piece at Churchill Downs last Friday.
“We have some good 2-year-olds,” says King.
When asked why he decided to raise the money to buy horses, King laughed and said: “I want to win some big races.”
Seemar’s world tour stops in Maryland
Bhupat Seemar, coach of Dubai-based Zabeel Stables, has been hitting 2-year-old sales globally in recent months and landed this week in Maryland for sale for the May sale. in the Midlantic.
“We bought through resellers, but this is my first time here,” said Seemar, who wrote the yen for Summer is Tomorrow (summer front) in the 2022 GI Kentucky Derby. “We usually go to Europe and I’m basically chasing all these deals. I’m new from France, from Arqana, and before that I was in Newmarket selling Guineas. And then I will go to Ireland to sell again. I don’t know what time zone I’m in at the moment.”
Regarding the decision to make the trip to Timonium, Seemar explained, “We have a lot of races on land and last year we had a horse that qualified for the Kentucky Derby, which was fantastic. This year, another coach qualified for the GI Kentucky Oaks. There’s a lot of demand for 2-year-olds and a lot of demand for good dirt horses, so what else could you do with this sale because it’s the only place that sells 2-year-olds on the land. “
Seemar made its first purchase in a two-day auction when it spent $150,000 on a pony by Sightstown (hip 254) from Monday’s Top Sales shipment.
“We did a great job with Sightstown,” Seemar said of the pony’s attraction. “It rained [2022 G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen S. winner] Switzerland and before that, my uncle [Satish Seemar] train [2013 Golden Shaheen winner] Reynoldothewizard–two very, very good horses and both Sightstown. When I was at Taylor Made, Sightstown he himself is an aspiration there. So I have a lot of relationships with him and we have had a lot of success. He’s a good model, a nice horse. I think he fits every spec we have.”
In Tuesday’s Midlantic auction, Seemar sold $85,000 for a son of Mendelssohn (hip 397) from Cary Frommer.
“We bought” Mendelssohn pony and him out of a make for curly mare,” he said. “He acted nice. He’s a stamp horse, he’s a very nice horse.”
Seemar worked as an intern at Taylor Made Farm and spent time as an assistant to trainer Bob Baffert. He took the coaching assignment at Zabeel Stables from his uncle last summer.
Seemar’s stable of international 2-year-olds, including a locally sourced group in Dubai at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale in March, where client Dr. Jim Hay bought the top two lots of the auction and four of the top seven lots. Hay paid 543,210 € for a son of gunman (hip 18) and €518,519 for the son of justification (hip 2).
“Normally we get about 25 2-year-olds,” says Seemar. “I have some really good owners and they bought a few during the Dubai sale – we bought nine there. Dr. Jim Hay is a big international owner and he bought several there. I have one from Japan. It will be a great international combination of horses.
Seemar said he is looking for good opportunities at all the sales he has attended.
“For me, a good horse would sell anywhere,” he said. “If you have enough horses – I think they have 600 here – so you can always find value and some good diamonds in the rough.”
