Central Kentucky’s two biggest breeding stock sales for 2015 posted solid numbers in November, indicating that the Thoroughbred sales industry is maintaining the steady growth signaled at the yearling auctions this summer and fall. Fasig-Tipton conducted its one-day sale Nov. 1 with a number of multimillion-dollar horses, while Keeneland wrapped its longer breeding stock auction Nov. 13 with solid growth from the sale’s 2014 edition.
Fasig-Tipton’s one-day sale, traditionally held in the day or two after the Breeders’ Cup, is a one-evening event known unofficially as the spot to pick up a filly or mare that ran in the championships. In total, the sale, which included broodmares, racing/broodmare prospects, and weanlings, saw 14 seven-figure horses from its catalogue of 200 head. A total of 92 horses sold for $43,666,000, compared with 108 horses selling last year for $63,678,000. Average price of $474,630 was down 19.5 percent, while median rose 17.5 percent to $235,000. The rate of horses not attaining their reserve was 34.3 percent, up from last year’s 28.9 percent.
Despite decreases, sale officials told the media after the event that the auction felt consistent with last year’s in terms of demand for top horses. The theme of post-sale conferences with Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning for the past year has been that buyers, both domestic and foreign, are beginning to flex their bidding muscles again after clamping down on spending during the last recession. That doesn’t mean that they’re taking just anything, however; horses that bring top prices tend to be those with strong families, race records and conformation. Those that fail to check all three boxes may sell but won’t see fireworks in the ring, which is a change from earlier bullish phases of the market when buyers were less discerning.
Fasig-Tipton’s auction was led by 3-year-old Bernardini filly Angela Renee, which raised $3 million for Nicholasville-based consignor Taylor Made Sales. Don Alberto Corp., a Chilean-based entity that purchased the old Vinery farm property in Lexington, was the buyer. Angela Renee contested the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2014 and retired a graded stakes winner with earnings of $462,000.
Mares by Kentucky Derby-winner Street Sense occupied the next three top prices, as Grade 1 winner Callback brought $2.8 million from Elevage Bloodstock; Aubby K, a Grade 1-placed mare in foal to Tapit, brought $2.4 million from Three Chimneys Farm; and Sweet Reason, two-time Breeders’ Cup runner and earner of over $1.4 million, raised $2.7 million from Japanese purchaser Katsumi Yoshida.
Across town at Keeneland, 22 horses topped the seven-figure mark, led by Eclipse Award-winner Take Charge Brandi, which brought the country’s record price at a public auction for 2015 at $6 million. Keeneland’s auction focused on broodmares and broodmare prospects, but included horses of all ages, and included a few stallion prospects.
Numbers from the much broader Keeneland sale were a little more consistent. Total sales of $218,959,400 were up 6.34 percent over 2014, when the auction spanned 11 days instead of 12. This year, 2,575 horses sold for an average of $85,033, up 3.74 percent. The median of $30,000 was down 14.3 percent from 2014. The buyback rate finished at 25.2 percent, up slightly from 21.8 percent last year.
“The market continues to show stability; however, the strength of this sale was built on the depth and breadth of buyers assembled at Keeneland,” said Keeneland director of sales Geoffrey Russell. “Keeneland’s international development strategy continues to bear fruit. Our year-round recruitment efforts have established Keeneland as the world’s leading provider of horses and buyers at every level of the market.”
Take Charge Brandi, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, was very much in demand as a daughter of top broodmare Take Charge Lady, making her a half sister to two Grade 1 winners. Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency consigned her on behalf of owner Willis Horton, who campaigned the filly on the racetrack after buying her as a yearling for $435,000. Hill ‘n’ Dale’s John Sikura liked the mare so well that he purchased her himself.
“She was top to bottom on any metric of the way you want to measure value, she had it: pedigree, performance, champion, temperament, active family, by the right sire,” Sikura said afterward. “Complete A to Z, first class. I got excited. I wanted to own her so bad we kind of jumped our own bid.”
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf runner Photo Call (IRE) brought the second-highest price for a mare at $3 million to J.J. Crupi of Crupi’s New Castle agency. The daughter of popular Irish stud Galileo was consigned by Denali Stud.
Besides the high-priced mares, Keeneland’s November sale also saw a record price for a weanling sold at public auction in North America. Hip 451, a half-sister to Take Charge Brandi by commercially popular sire War Front, raised $3.2 million from Mandy Pope’s Whisper Hill Farm. The price surpassed the record set last year when a Tapit filly brought $3 million at the 2014 Keeneland November auction.
The next public Thoroughbred auction in central Kentucky will be Keeneland’s January Horses of All Ages Sale, which runs Jan. 11-15.