California Fall Yearlings and Horses of All Ages (2021) | Fasig-Tipton (fasigtipton.com)
By Bloodhorse.com
POMONA, Calif. (Sept. 28, 2021) – Fasig-Tipton comes into its third California yearling sale with an enviable track record in many categories. The sale already has a history of graduates that have won or placed in stakes company. Its numbers have been strong, especially given the pandemic circumstances of the 2020 edition. And this year’s catalog offers a wealth of live, active families coupled with sire strength.
The 2020 edition of the sale saw 166 yearlings sell for gross receipts of $3,735,700, achieving an average price of $22,504 and a median of $10,000. Of the 256 horses cataloged, 90 failed to meet their reserve. Leading buyer by gross, purchasing 5 yearlings for receipts of $420,000 was Naseer Fasihuddin.
Grade-1 stakes-placed, Finneus embodies much of the sale’s success. The 2-year-old California-bred son of Stay Thirsty out of My Fiona, by Ghostzapper , topped the 2020 sale at $200,000. A winner at Santa Anita Park in June second time out, the colt proceeded to earn placings in the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1) and Best Pal Stakes (G2). Finneus has a full brother in the 2021 catalog, and the pedigree has continued to improve, as My Fiona is also the dam of June 19 Melair Stakes captress Fi Fi Pharoah (American Pharoah ).
Terry Lovingier’s Lovacres Farm has consigned Finneus’ California-bred full brother consigned as Hip 21 to the sale, which will be held at Fairplex in Pomona Sept. 28 beginning at 12 p.m. PT.
Mike Machowsky, Fasig-Tipton’s California representative, said that foot traffic has been brisk at the sale grounds in the days leading up to the sale.
“It’s a solid group of horses,” said Machowsky. “It’s been pretty busy, with quite a few trainers looking. Most of the yearlings are California-breds, and if you want to race a Cal-bred, this is where you need to buy them. It seems like the breeders of California support selling yearlings a lot more than 2-year-olds. I’m also impressed with the number of people who have brought in Kentucky-sired Cal-breds.”
Those Kentucky stallions range from proven sires to new prospects. Munnings , among the current leading sires, has a Cal-bred daughter of the stakes-placed Exchange Rate mare Well Blessed in the catalog. Adrian Gonzalez’s Checkmate Thoroughbreds has consigned the filly, Hip 125, who was a $67,000 buy-back at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale.
Checkmate is also the consignor of Hip 161, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Malibu Moon and a half sister to Panamanian champion Bellamy V.
Nyquist is another proven sire with a Cal-bred yearling in the catalog. Sue Greene’s Woodbridge Farm is offering Hip 83, a son of Nyquist out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Soul Crusader. Since the catalog was published, There Goes Harvard, the mare’s 3-year-old by Will Take Charge , finished second in the Aug. 15 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby.
Tom Bachman’s Fairview consignment has a Cal-bred daughter of Lookin At Lucky out of the stakes-winning Henny Hughes mare My Due Process, cataloged as Hip 20. Fairview’s group also includes Hip 30, a son of California leading sire Square Eddie out of the stakes-winning Jump Start mare North Freeway. The Cal-bred colt is a half brother to stakes winner Take the One O One and a full brother to stakes winner Square Deal.
Bruno DeBerdt’s Excel Bloodstock has a Cal-bred daughter of champion West Coast , whose first foals are yearlings of 2021. Excel is offering the filly, Hip 63, for PT Syndicate #1. The filly is out of the stakes-placed More Than Ready mare Sandi’s Ready and is a half sister to stakes winners Sandy’s Surprise and Mourinho.
Other leading sires with yearlings in the catalog include Paynter , American Pharoah, and I’ll Have Another .
The Fasig-Tipton sale has been well represented by winners that have been sale graduates or have had siblings in the catalog at both the recently concluded Del Mar meeting, and at Los Alamitos Race Course, the Southern California meet that ended Sept. 26. On Los Alamitos’ closing day, sales graduate Thirsty Always won the Royal Owl Stakes, representing the sale, sire Stay Thirsty, and consignor Lovacres Ranch.
Stay Thirsty stands at Lovacres in Warner Springs, Calif. Lovacres has consigned 20 yearlings by the stallion in the California Fall Yearling Sale, which include Hip 246, a filly named Bus Buzz out of the graded stakes-winning Bring the Heat mare Lost Bus. A full brother to Bus Buzz, Erebus , sold for $110,000 at the sale last year.
While the Fasig-Tipton sale is primarily for yearlings, it will also offer horses of all ages, including broodmares, broodmare prospects, and weanlings. The stakes-winning mare Barbara Beatrice, consigned as Hip 257, is one such broodmare prospect. John Harris’ Harris Farms has consigned the 9-year-old daughter of Grazen, who is in foal to California stallion Smiling Tiger .