'It is a big blow' - two-year-old sale on hold due to declining number of horses

Fasig-Tipton will not hold a select two-year-olds in training sale in south Florida this year, with no clear indications short-term that the sale will return to Gulfstream Park.

The Lexington-based sale company has been holding its boutique two-year-olds sale at the Hallandale, Florida racetrack since 2015, following a three-year run at Palm Meadows Training Center and one at Frank Stronach's former Adena Springs South farm near Ocala.

Fasig-Tipton's president Boyd Browning Jnr said: "We were unable to keep our lease at Gulfstream. They have a situation that made it impossible for them to provide the stalls to us for the 2023 sales year.

"There was no room at the inn for us to have a sale there this year. We've had a long relationship there and there may be the opportunity to go back there in the future."

Several consignors who have regularly sold at Fasig-Tipton's Florida sale said they were not surprised to see the sale shelved, particularly because this year's edition held March 30 sold only 35 horses of 52 offered. The number offered this year is the lowest since the sale moved to Gulfstream and 40 per cent less than the smallest number previously offered of 87 horses in 2017.

"For me personally, it is a big blow," said Ciaran Dunne, owner of Wavertree Stables, the sale's leading consignor this year with $3.92 million in gross sales from nine sold.

"That sale has been good to us through the years, and it's a great venue. The two-year-olds market is consolidating and that means fewer chances to spread our horses out. One of the things we have always tried to do is showcase horses in certain spots. You can't just lump them all together, but the writing [for the Gulfstream sale] has been on the wall for a couple of years."

Prior to 2010, the former Calder racecourse was Fasig-Tipton's home for the Florida select sale. The sale offered on average 210 horses during 2005-2009, which slid to 145 its last year at Calder in 2010. The first sale at Gulfstream offered 132 horses but subsequent sales would equal or exceed 100 horses offered only twice since 2015.

"Without the Gulfstream sale, I don't think it changes anything at all," said consignor Niall Brennan. "Fasig-Tipton has been struggling to put a catalogue together; they were not attracting enough horses. It is expensive to go to Miami and that is not Fasig-Tipton's fault, that is just the reality.

"Logistically, it is a huge advantage for the consignors based in Ocala to sell in Ocala — expense-wise, time-wise, stress-wise, staff-wise —it is just a lot easier."

Dunne said he thought The Gulfstream Sale provided several benefits to consignors.

"It was almost a Saratoga-like venue, a boutique venue," he said. "It was at a mile dirt racetrack in a race setting, so it created an atmosphere. You have most of the top trainers in the country stabled there, so it is easier for them to get out and see the horses.

Ciaran Dunne: 'When you stamped a horse as a Gulfstream horse, it meant you believed he could stand up to the stress of competition'Credit: Fasig-Tipton

"Also, the smaller catalogue allowed horses that might not have had the quickest of works to still get serious consideration.

"When you stamped a horse as a Gulfstream horse, it meant you believed he could stand up to the stress of competition. It gave buyers confidence that you thought it was a nice horse before you put him on a van and sent him down there.

"If you had a nice horse that wasn't necessarily the fastest —like Independence Hall — there was a market for them."

Independence Hall was bought back at The Gulfstream Sale in 2019 on a final bid of $200,000. Wavertree got him sold privately to Robert and Kathleen Verratti, who later became partners with Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables. The colt became a multiple Graded stakes winner and earned $881,500.

Training and breezing on a dirt track can be important to buyers.

"I think it's huge," said consignor Tom McCrocklin, the second-leading consignor at this year's Gulfstream sale with $2.52m in gross sales from four sold.

"I've seen way too many horses breeze great on the synthetic but then that talent level doesn't translate to dirt. Now, I understand the synthetic track at OBS to deal with long breeze days and big rain days. I'm also a believer in variety and a believer in competition."

Ocala Breeders' Sales has a one-mile track with a synthetic SafeTrack surface that was installed in 2007. The all-weather surface allows the sales company to be able to keep under tack shows going even after multiple days of heavy rain.

"We have seen torrential rain where you couldn't see and 30 minutes later we're back breezing," said Brennan. "It is a very safe surface that is consistent, which is especially important with young two-year-olds.

"Today it is all about speed. You have to go flat out or no-one looks at them; there is no going back on that. You have to have the most consistent surface for them and that is the biggest reason for that surface at OBS."

Recognising the value of showcasing juveniles on dirt, another change Fasig-Tipton made for next year is to add a June sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, where the sale company already holds a May two-year-olds in training sale.

"We've been over-subscribed in recent years for the May sale and had some pressure in that regard, so we think we can serve the marketplace with a lot of regional horses," Browning said of the new June sale.

"At that time of year, there are three or four race meets within three hours of Maryland, so it seemed like a logical addition to the schedule and allow sellers to avail themselves of that opportunity."

Boyd Browning Jnr: door not closed on Gulfstream but no future guaranteesCredit: Enzina Mastrippolito/Fasig-Tipton

Browning added that he still believes Gulfstream Park is a viable venue but could not say if 2023 will be a one-time break.

"Under the right circumstances, yes," he said about the sale returning to Gulfstream. "However, I don't know what the situation is going to be on their end going forward. Everyone evaluates their sales schedule every year, looking for opportunities to tweak it and improve it.

"This year we are going to concentrate our all efforts on two-year-olds sales at Timonium. We still believe there is a great advantage for buyers to have the opportunity to breeze and train on a dirt racetrack and the results from our sales graduates bears that out."

McCrocklin said he is sceptical how successful the new Midlantic June sale might be but does see some potential.

He said: "People have a lot of sales fatigue at that point. The sellers are tired and the buyers are tired. By the time you get to late June, people have had enough.

"I do think it will be an opportunity to sell horses that had a setback earlier in the year or were bought back in OBS April. It will give you one more shot to get your money back, but no-one is going to be pointing for that sale."

Without a Gulfstream sale on the schedule, McCrocklin does see an immediate benefit to OBS — right from his own barn.

"I'm the poster boy for that," he said. "I've got pinhook purchases from $200,000 to $700,000 bought as yearlings, and a majority were going to Miami, so just from my consignment OBS has already been the benefactor of no Miami sale."

Tom Ventura, president of OBS, said he expects to pick up a few horses for the March Two-year-olds in Training Sale that would have gone to South Florida but that those horses are not going to appreciably affect an already high-quality sale.

"Over time, the quality of both March and April, and June for that matter, have grown dramatically and buyers have a lot of confidence in the market here," he said.

"I think that continues. The number of horses these sales offer attract a deep buying bench; these are sales the buyers target."

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