Tom McCrocklin picks $380,000 Practical Joke colt as Fasig-Tipton New York-bred sale closes

The final session of the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale concluded Aug. 14 with a Practical Joke colt claiming top honours after Florida pinhooker Tom McCrocklin went to $380,000 to acquire the individual. Consigned as hip 628 by Nardelli Sales, the colt was bred by Donald Michael McCormick.

"We typically try to buy a lot of horses that we see as open company-quality horses that happen to be New York-bred," Tom McCrocklin said. "It's that card in your back pocket you get to play if you have the angle."

The plain dark bay colt is out of Grade 3 winner Golden Mystery, a winner in the Hurricane Bertie Stakes and Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint Stakes, both at Gulfstream Park. The hard-knocking Awesome Again mare logged a record of 9-7-4 in 39 starts and earnings of $540,223 over five years on the oval.

A producer of Canadian stakes winner Apalachee Bay, by Malibu Moon, the mare has a two-year-old Connect colt and an Improbable filly for this year coming down the pike.

"I liked everything about the Practical Joke colt; I thought he was the best horse in the sale," McCrocklin confessed. "Just when Practical Joke was getting a little sleepy, he's come back to life… the filly of Chad's Ways and Means is a legitimate horse."

The juvenile filly, Ways and Means, broke her maiden on August 6 by an impressive 12 3/4 lengths at Saratoga for owner/breeder Klaravich Stables and trainer Chad Brown in a six-furlong maiden special weight.

The esteemed two-year-old consignor found success at the New York Bred Sale when earlier this year, his Arrogate pinhook, last year's $700,000 sale topper, recorded the third-highest price at the March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Ocala Breeders' Sales. Japan's Katsumi Yoshida spent $1,050,000 to purchase the colt, a full sibling to grade 1 winner Cave Rock.

"It's a little bit of trying to look into the future; it's a lot of risk and money," McCrocklin commented. "It worked out last year on a few horses. I always try to explain it as an extreme risk mitigated by expertise. It's not necessarily my expertise, but somewhere in there has to be some expertise."

After this year's sale topper, the next horse in the ring was a Flameaway filly, consigned as hip 629 by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services. McCrocklin, agent for Champion Equine, added the filly to his stash at $200,000.

He added: "Excuse the pun, but Flameaway is so hot. I thought this filly looked lightning fast, and speed kills at the two-year-old sales."

During Monday's session, McCrocklin picked up six individuals for gross receipts of $875,000, at an average of $145,833, to be the session's leading buyer, adding to his Day 1 haul of three purchases. Over the past two days he sourced nine yearlings for receipts of $1,185,000, at an average of $131,667 per head to be the leading buyer of the sale.

"I always spend more money than I expect to, but these guys buying these horses are very smart and sharp," said McCrocklin. "First, you have to find the horse, then jump through all the vetting hoops, but really, your appraisal skills come into play. How much is this horse worth today? How much can I project? And sometimes, you get it right, and sometimes you get punched. I think we are all adrenaline junkies a little bit, so we will play the game."

At the close of business Monday, yearlings by Bee Jersey, Catalina Cruiser, Flameaway, Global Campaign , Honest Mischief, Practical Joke, Speightster and Thousand Words will be loading up and headed south to begin the journey to being next year's stars for McCrocklin.

"I bought a nice Honest Mischief colt yesterday and have been impressed with his first crop," McCrocklin said. "He stands at Sequel and was a good Juddmonte horse, Chad Brown trained him, and I think he's got a big shot. He puts an outstanding foal on the ground. I'd like to see him make it."

Fasig-Tipton reports 160 of the 219 yearlings through the ring on Day 2 were sold for gross figures of $14,751,500, an 11.1 per cent increase year-on-year. The session's yearlings sold for an average price of $92,197 (a decrease of 13.9 per cent over 2022), and the median fell to $68,500, showing a 5.5 per cent decrease. An RNA rate of 26.9 per cent represents the 59 horses who failed to sell.

"We concluded another successful New York Bred Yearlings Sale today," Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning said. "Continuing the strength and momentum we witnessed in recent years at this sale and the Select Sale last week. We had great activity and many outstanding horses on the sales grounds."

Fasig-Tipton's event set a new record aggregateCredit: PHOTOSBYZ

During last year's second session, 124 of the 149 yearlings on offer were sold for a gross of $13,275,000 at an average price of $107,056 and a median of $72,500. There were 25 individuals who failed to sell on Day 2, accounting for an RNA rate of 16.8 per cent.

"We set a new record gross for the overall sale, which is always encouraging," commented Browning. "The average declined slightly from last year, probably due to some additional horses entered in the sale. There is possibly a slight decline in the middle market, last year was a tough year, and pinhookers are being more selective."

Cumulatively over the past two days, 217 yearlings were traded of the 300 on offer for gross receipts of $20,806,000, setting a new record gross for the sale. An average price of $95,880 (down 10.7 per cent from 2022) and a median of $75,000 (an increase of 1.4 per cent from 2022) were recorded. The sale concluded with an RNA rate of 27.7 per cent, representing the 83 yearlings who failed to meet their reserve.

Last year the sale finished with 188 yearlings selling of the 233 through the ring for a gross of $20,175,000. An average price of $107,314 and a median of $74,000 was recorded. There were 45 yearlings who failed to meet their reserve, representing a 19.3 per cent RNA rate.

For all the North American racing and bloodstock news, visit Bloodhorse.