Good Vibes Ahead of F-T Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale

Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale, held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, saw a healthy amount of prospective buyers on the grounds over the weekend. The one-day sale begins Sept. 30 at 11:00 a.m. ET. A total of 225 horses have been cataloged. "We've had a lot of traffic," said Paget Bennett, Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sales director. "The consignors have been very happy with their activity. One consignor even ran out of cards. When asked if the record-breaking Keeneland September sale would have an influence on the sale Tuesday, Bennett said: "I'm hopeful that it will; with the Keeneland being so strong, there are people that didn't get horses, so they have to take advantage of the last few yearling sales, to fill their orders. "Every year we draw somebody new to this sale, and to me, that speaks volumes." Clovis Crane of Crane Thoroughbreds, who brings a consignment of five yearlings, agreed. "Horses are worth a lot of money. It's hard to get your hands on a nice horse. People are here looking," Crane said. The Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale continues to produce top runners each year. The sale's most successful recent graduate is Carter Stakes (G2) winner Crazy Mason. He ran second over the weekend in the Vosburgh Stakes (G3) at Belmont at The Big A. The son of Coal Front was a $27,500 purchase made by Philip Wright from the Vinery Sales consignment. "It's just fun; we get a lot of runners out of this sale," Bennett said. "The folks that support this sale year after year, whether pinhookers or end-users, you can always count on runners from this sale." Other graduates include multiple graded stakes winner and millionaire Post Time, grade 1 winner Leave No Trace, Neecie Marie, and Our Shot. "We had a regionally sired 2-year-old (Live Stream) that won the (Fitz Dixon, Jr. Memorial Juvenile) Stakes at Presque Isle Downs last week that was a Maryland-bred," Bennett said. "That was fun, fun for the family, the daughter rode it, the mother trained it, and the daughter bought it at the sale, so that's one of those feel-good stories, and kind of like a little Cinderella story. That's the kind of stuff we need to have happen here each year, and we can build on it." Live Stream was purchased for $2,000 by Double Trouble Stable from the Northview Stallion Station consignment at last year's Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale. The catalog offers a wide variety of horses by Maryland stallions, including first-crop sires such as Corniche, who had the sales-topper at last week's Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearling Sale, where a filly consigned as Hip 193 sold for $250,000 to Legacy Ranch; and proven sires like Nyquist, Practical Joke, Street Sense, etc. Crane, who is based in Lebanon, Pa. is a strong supporter of the Midlantic sales, as he breeds yearlings to sell, and also pinhooks yearlings to sell as 2-year-olds. Crane's most successful homebred Morning Matcha, who he sold for a modest $18,000 at the 2020 Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale to LC Racing, went on to win several black-type stakes and was multiple graded stakes placed, retiring with earnings in excess of $1 million. Crane credits the Central Banker mare for his group of yearlings he brings to the sale this year. "My whole group is a result of Morning Matcha," Crane said. "The breeders' awards in Pennsylvania, we have been very fortunate to have Morning Matcha, who made over $1 million and was a multiple graded stakes runner. With her success, we went ahead and bought some more mares and had these babies. And all these horses are a result of her success." Following this year's Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Fasig-Tipton announced they will eliminate timed workouts and restrict crop use beginning at the under tack show for next year's Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. They stated the changes are an effort to emphasize the natural athleticism of the horse.. When asked if those changes would affect this sale, Crane responded: " I don't think it affects this sale too tremendously. I've seen the same pinhookers that typically work this sale; they're still here. At this point, and myself as a pinhooker, I just have to move forward and do business as usual. I know I'm going to bring my horses to Maryland (Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale)." READ: Fasig-Tipton Does Away With Timed Workouts at 2YO Sale Last year's one-day sale concluded with 180 horses changing hands for a gross of $4,287,700, including private sales. An average price of $23,821 and a median of $15,000 was recorded. Seventy-one horses failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 28.3%. A Maryland-bred colt by City of Light, consigned as Hip 49 by Becky Davis, agent was the sale topper at $165,000, selling to LC Racing. The colt, who is now named Project Maximus, broke his maiden on debut at Parx Racing Aug. 20, winning a maiden special weight by seven lengths. Davis also sold the top-priced filly—Hip 105, by McKinzie for $120,000 to Gatsas Stables. As of Monday evening, Fasig-Tipton has reported 24 outs.