Fasig-Tipton's Marquee November Sale Shines Bright

The marquee bloodstock event of the season, Fasig-Tipton's Night of the Stars, Nov. 7, showcases the most coveted pedigree, athleticism, and star power a buyer can dream of purchasing, and this year's catalog of 271 individuals is again chock full, leaving little to be desired. "We're very excited by the overall quality of the catalog," Fasig-Tipton's president and CEO Boyd Browning stated. "You go through it, year after year, and you think, what do we do for an encore? We've got another fabulous catalog again in 2023. There are some special offerings." Of the most coveted families for buyers to add to their stable include two-time Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) champion Goodnight Olive; ELiTE consigns the 5-year-old Ghostzapper mare as Hip 237. Another exciting filly coming off results from the weekends is 2022 Canadian Horse of the Year Moira, by Ghostzapper. Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa offers the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) third-place finisher as Hip 156 in Barn 4. Browning added: "Leading into the sale, it's an emotional rollercoaster to go through when you're dealing with the type of product that the owners want to have, and so do the buyers. It's a little bit of a conundrum always in that regard." Broodmares in foal with current form success include the dam of Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) runner-up Muth. The Uncle Mo mare, Hoppa, is offered by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa as Hip 257. She sells Tuesday carrying a full sibling to her grade 1-winning son by Good Magic. Belle's Finale, dam of Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) second Up to the Mark, will also head through the ring. The mare sells carrying a full sibling to her grade 1-winning son by Not This Time as Hip 212 with the Taylor Made Sales Agency. "We are very pleased with the overall quality that we've got," Browning said. "Our in-foal mares for this year are way stronger than they've been in the past, and we've got some exceptional younger horses that will be offered. It's a tremendous group of bright young racing and broodmare prospects, and the quality is really deep." The dam of Valiant Force, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) runner-up, will be offered by Mill Ridge Sales as Hip 198. The Quality Road mare, Vigui's Heart, sells in foal to Vekoma on a March 28 cover. Her Mitole weanling filly also sells with Mill Ridge as Hip 72. ELiTE sales offers Toni Tools as Hip 254; her Candy Ride (ARG) 2-year-old, Candied, finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Friday. Third-place finisher in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), Locked will be represented by his weanling Tiz the Law half sister, consigned by Eaton Sales as Hip 15. Browning added: "It's always a nerve-wracking, apprehensive sale because there's a lot of expectations and pressure that we put on ourselves and the owners put on us, expecting us to deliver." Racing or broodmare prospects coming into the sale offer endless options either to continue on the oval or retire and breed in 2024, and this year enticing mares and fillies include 2022 champion 3-year-old filly Nest. She comes forward with an impressive $2.17 million in earnings in 14 starts including wins in the Ashland Stakes (G1), Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), and Alabama Stakes (G1). Highgate Sales consigns the Curlin filly as Hip 163. Wonder Wheel, 2022 champion 2-year-old filly, was victorious in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) last year. Owner D J Stables sells the Into Mischief filly, Hip 200, as a broodmare prospect with Taylor Made Sales Agency. The hard-knocking Arrogate filly Secret Oath will be up for grabs; she captured three graded events including the 2022 Kentucky Oaks (G1) for her Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas and owner/breeder Briland Farm. She sells as a broodmare prospect with Bluewater Sales from Barn 8 as Hip 180. He added: "You have to have a quality horse to sell well in November; it's the first breeding stock sale of the year. You're competing against top pedigrees and physicals; the last thing we want to do is put somebody in the wrong spot. Some of the horses that may have sold okay in the past on the weanling side of things, we tightened the selection criteria, and as a result, we have fewer weanlings. I think buyers will love the quality of weanlings overall, and we couldn't be more excited." This year, the sale offers 138 weanlings selling as the opening act on Tuesday; last year, 188 weanlings were cataloged for the single session. During last year's sale, 170 horses changed hands of the 240 through the sales ring, recording a gross of $101,289,000, suitable for an average of $595,818 and a $250,000 median. An RNA rate of 29.2% represents the 70 horses that failed to sell. Champion female sprinter Gamine, a six-time grade 1 winner, was sold last year to Coolmore's M V Magnier for a sale-topping $7 million. Hill 'n' Dale Sales consigned the mare carrying her first foal by Quality Road for owner Michael Lund Petersen. Paramount Bloodstock purchased the evening's highest-priced weanling, a $1.35 million Uncle Mo filly and the first foal out of multiple grade 1 winner Bellafina, consigned by Eaton Sales during last year's sale. The night saw 31 horses command $1 million or more and was dominated by Magnier, who signed for three purchases totaling $16 million. Taylor Made Sales Agency sold 33 of their 42-horse draft for a gross of $21,447,000, at an average of $649,909, to be the leading seller. "The interest seems strong," commented Browning. "It could be there's some insulation, hopefully, in the market segment our November Sale serves. I think it's going to be highly competitive, but I think we also need to be realistic as we look at the entire marketplace. The same trends we saw in the yearling and 2-year-old marketplace will continue at the broodmare and weanling sales. You better have quality—if you don't have what's top quality, have holes in your produce, or your covering date or sire is undesirable, you will need to be realistic as you approach setting your reserves and what your expectations are." The action begins at 2 p.m. ET at the Newtown Paddocks in Lexington Nov. 7.