Terrific results at Timonium..
Vibrant F-T Midlantic Sale Posts Increases
By Deirdre B. Biles
Everything moved in the right direction at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training May 17 in Timonium, Md. The number of horses sold and gross revenue increased 7.9% and 23%, respectively, from a year ago. The average price and median price rose 14%, and 8%, respectively. And the buy-back rate dropped to 12.5% from 21.2% in 2009.
“It was a very strong sale; there were bidders at every level,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “It was the first time in quite some time that I’ve seen the depth of buyers that participated today, and the buy-back rate, which was indicative of that, was phenomenal. Horses traded in the $10,000 range, the $50,000 range, and the $100,000 range, and the big money was there for the right horses, too. It’s was a very vibrant market. It felt good leading up to the sale, and it felt even better today.”
The final results included a gross of $13,099,500 for the 273 horses that sold. The average was $47,984, and the median was $27,000.
“We’ve seen a little building of momentum throughout the 2-year-old marketplace this year,” Browning said. “I think people are more comfortable, generally speaking, with where they are finiancially. There is a higher level of confidence in the economy, and there is a little more stability in the world that we’re living in. This region still continues to feed (horses to) a number of very viable racetracks. It’s a combination of those factors.”