TIMONIUM, MD – Buyers had every right to expect competitive bids at Monday’s first session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale – with normal Maryland buyers joined by bidders excluded from previous sales – and the arena did not disappoint.

As of close of business Monday, 149 yearlings have brought in $ 4,577,300. The average was $ 30,720 and the median was $ 20,000.

In the first sales session in 2020, 122 yearlings sold for a total of $ 2,983,600. The average session was $ 24,456, the median was $ 15,000 and the redemption rate was 24.7%.

“It was a great opening session,” Fasig-Tipton chairman Boyd Browning said on Monday evening. “Crude is up 53%, the average is up 26%, the median is up 33% and the RNA rate is now very low at 16.2%.”

While the 2020 auction was held during the uncertainty of the pre-vaccination pandemic, its numbers remained fairly stable with the opening session of 2019 where 102 yearlings sold for $ 2,680,000, an average of $ 26,275 and a median of $ 15,000.

“[Monday’s results] are really more impressive when you consider that this is one of the sales that, when you compare 2020 to 2019, really hasn’t seen a drop in COVID, ”Browning said. “So ’20 and ’19 were very similar in terms of statistical results for this sale. Some other sales have seen a slight increase in anti-COVID in the United States this year in 2021 compared to 2020. Well, that’s a pretty real increase in terms of statistical performance. Results in 19 and 20 were essentially flat, so this increase in 2021 is even more impressive than it was for some of the other sales. “

Eight yearlings sold six figures on Monday, down from just two a year ago.

A Mendelssohn colt (hip 189) won the highest price of the day in the sale for $ 230,000 at Oracle Bloodstock. A Union Rags colt (hip 113), which also broke the $ 200,000 mark, was sold for $ 220,000 to trainer Mac Robertson. Both were shipped from local vendors, with Dreamtime Stables offering hip 189 and the Dark Hollow shipper / breeder offering hip 113.

“One of the beautiful things we saw today was the support from local ranchers,” Browning said. “It was nice to see the sale overcome by Dreamtime, which is Mike Palmer and his wife and their long-standing association with Herb and Ellen Moelis of Candyland Farm, who have long supported this sale and this region. And the second most expensive horse was that of David Hayden and his Dark Hollow Farm. They both had really legitimate pedigrees with Mendelssohn and Union Rags. It’s really gratifying to see regional ranchers who have quality produce supporting this market, which helps attract more buyers and more successful buyers for sale this year and in the years to come as well.

The highest-rated filly of the day was also a daughter of Mendelssohn with Donato Lanni offering $ 160,000 to acquire the 159 hip.

Cary Frommer, traditionally an active buyer at the Midlantic Fall sale, signed for three yearlings on Monday, including a Twirling Candy colt (hip 78) for $ 115,000. But Frommer agreed that the sled was difficult.

“I feel like I’m paying more than I thought I would,” she said. “For a beautiful horse, it’s still very strong and I was outbid on a bunch of very beautiful horses. I think the market is fair, but it’s just that it’s a spillover effect from the other sale. People couldn’t buy what they wanted. So it’s strong here.

Pinhookers, some of whom aren’t traditional bidders at the auction, were a dominant presence at the sale on Monday.

“I knew they were coming,” Frommer said of the hook buying bench. “I knew everyone had problems from the previous sale. So I knew they would be there and I wasn’t happy.

One of those pinhookers making an unusual appearance in Timonium was Susan Montayne, who bought a filly by Tiznow (hip 76) for $ 150,000.

“We’ve never done this sale before,” said Montayne, who is a regular shipper on the Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training sale. “I never came here to buy horses. We usually focus on Kentucky sales and Ocala doorstep sales, but we’re there. It was very difficult to buy in Keeneland. Fortunately, we have clients who send us horses to go to the races, but with the hook side, it was a bit tough.

The Midlantic sale continues Tuesday with auctions at the Maryland State Fairgrounds starting at 10 a.m.

Mendelssohn Colt to Handal

Conor Foley of Oracle Bloodstock hit the first day of the Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale on Monday to get a Mendelssohn (hip 189) colt for a session exceeding $ 230,000 in the name of a partnership.

“He will go to [trainer] Ray Handal, ”Foley said. “I bought it for a bunch of people.”

Of the yearling, Foley said: “He looks a lot like Mendelssohn. He just looked like an athlete who should be running next year; what surface he can run on, I don’t know. I think horses like him were rare here and he really stood out.

The colt was bred by Classic Thoroughbred XXIX and presented by Dreamtime Stables. He is from Tasha’s Moon (Malibu Moon) and is a half-brother to juror number four (Into Mischief) and the family of multiple winner Tasha’s Miracle.

Hip 189 was one of two yearlings from the first generation of Grade I winner Mendelssohn to reach six figures on Monday at Timonium. Earlier in the session, blood agent Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Caroline and Greg Bentley, acquired the most expensive filly of the day at $ 160,000 for a daughter of the stallion Coolmore (hip 159) .

Union Rags Colt in Novogratz

Coach Mac Robertson, bidding on behalf of owner Joe Novogratz, bought a colt by Union Rags for $ 220,000 on Monday from Timonium. The bay colt was bred and presented by Dark Hollow Farm and is descended from Safe Journey (Flatter), who is also the dam of several Stakes winners O Dionysus (Bodemeister) and Joy (Pure Prize). The yearling’s second dam is Safe at the Plate (Double Zeus), a half-sister to sprint champion Safely Kept.

“Safe Journey is a really good mare for this sale,” Robertson said after signing the 113 hip ticket. “She has four or five really good horses that can win where we want to go. And I thought for one. Union Rags, he was long enough to be a very good horse.

Several times a major owner of Canterbury Park, Novogratz was a linebacker for the Pitt Panthers and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings. He is the founder of IDI Distributors Inc., an insulation distribution company.

Robertson coached multi-stakes winner Amy’s Challenge (Artie Schiller) for Novogratz. The mare, second to GI Madison S. and third to GI Humana Distaff S. in 2019, was purchased for $ 20,000 at the Fasig Midlantic Yearling sale in 2016.

“I thought he would make between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000 when he checked it out and measured it right,” said Robertson of the yearling’s final prize. “Until your guy controls it, you don’t really know.”

Also on behalf of Novogratz Monday, Robertson bought a Malibu Moon filly (hip 158) for $ 95,000.

The competitive market came as no surprise to Robertson.

“It’s really strong,” he said with a rueful smile. “But I’m not surprised. I was in Keeneland – I’ve never seen an 80% elimination rate in my life. There are people who didn’t get what they wanted in Keeneland, so of course they came here.

A filly from Tiznow likely for 2-year-old sales

A filly from Tiznow (hip 76) is likely destined for a return to the ring next spring after being sold for $ 150,000 on offer from Ocala rider Susan Montanye.

“She looks like a chic two-round filly,” said Montanye, who signed for the pinned partnership in the name of her training and SBM sales, of the yearling’s appeal. “She’s a bit of a later filly, but she had all the right angles and all the pieces. She checked very well for me. I watched her and loved her walk, a great reach on her. What’s not to love about her? “

Regarding the final price of the filly, Montanye said, “Look, if you want them now, it looks like you’re going to have to pay them. She is a filly from Tiznow and she has a pedigree, so $ 150,000, I feel comfortable with that.

The yearling was presented by Sabrina Moore’s GreenMount farm and bred by Moore in partnership with Tiznow Syndicate. She is from Pinkprint (Not For Love), a half-sister to the winner of the GI Breeders ‘Cup Dirt Mile and probably Knicks Go (Paynter), favorite of the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Filly adds for Newtownanner

Ron Blake loved a Cloud Computing filly when he bought her as a little yearling for $ 40,000 at the Keeneland January sale earlier this year and he still loved the bay yearling (hip 11) when he sent it through the sales ring to Timonium on Monday. He advised his clients, Samantha and Maurice Regan’s Newtown Anner Stud, to buy the bay for $ 145,000.

“We’ve always loved her,” Blake said. “We bought her at weaning and from the day we bought her I thought she was beautiful. She has become a very pretty filly. She is a late colt and I think taking that into account you can see what she might become. She is from a first year stallion and she was a late foal so maybe she looked a bit short to some people. But because she is a 20 May filly, we thought she would be a very nice filly. We advised our customer to buy it.

The yearling is descended from Martini and is a three-quarter sister to the winner of Stakes Dirty (Maclean’s Music).

“I just think she has so much quality,” Blake said. “We think she will be a good racehorse. She will return to the farm and will be able to grow a little. We’re going to give her some time off before we break her up, and then go ahead with her and see what she can do.