Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale: More Good Tidings in 2010?

As the Sallee Horse Vans and other transporters bring their precious charges to the corner of East Avenue and George Street, anticipation grows.  Neighbors who aren't usually curious peek out their windows to get a look at the 900-pound babies who gingerly descend the ramps onto the black padding.  Anne looks out her office window at Saratoga Publishing, and gleefully awaits that first "tinny whinney." Today they are babies, year-old horses who have a case of the nerves, for this is their coming out party.  In two years, one among them may become a Triple Crown Winner. Life is sweet at Fasig-Tipton these days:  with a new owner, renovated facilities and the 202 most promising Thoroughbreds arriving at their newly-painted doorstep--can there be a downside?

The 2009 Saratoga Selected Yearling Sales were an oasis in an otherwise dreary economy:  while Wall Street sweated it out, Saratoga offered a beacon of hope--at least inside the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion.  One might have thought that no recession had trashed the American economy only months before. 

Every number was up from 2008: 

Number of horses sold:    160:  
up 31.1 percent from 2008.

Gross Revenue:    $52,549,500:  
up 45.6 percent  from 2008

Average Price:              
$ 328,434:  up 11 percent from 2008

These are staggeringly good numbers, when one considers all the fuss and feathers of the 12 months previous, in virtually every other financial market.

So what will 2010 bring?  We know about the highest bidders and most sought-after sires of 2009.  Medaglia d'Oro has seven colts and four fillies this year:  is another Rachel Alexandra waiting in a green barn here?  Are Eclipse winners waiting in the wings?  Will Horse of the Year for 2012 grace our presence?  
Empire Maker, a personal favorite, is represented by four fillies this year.  Afleet Alex has but one colt and one filly--but as you know, the prospects are thrilling.    All you need to is remember Alex's 2005 Preakness and the focus, single-mindedness and guts it took to win the day to realize that in 2008 he may have thrown at least one Champion--and that child stands among us.

The great Storm Cat has one solitary filly in the Sale:  Hip No. 153.  Appropriately named, The Last Meow, this girl may go for a number that confirms the viability of a  smelling salt concession stand on George Street.  As the great old sire has been pensioned, of course his progeny have been fewer with each sale--The Last Meow might become her new owner's ticket to a Hall of Fame horse.  And really, it's nice to participate in the making of history.  A.P. Indy has five colts and two fillies:  the strong son of the mighty Seattle Slew is known as The Sire of Sires, with good reason:  the list of his big sons includes Malibu Moon, Pulpit and Stephen Got Even. 

What will the great sires bring to this year's table?  Today we invest our hearts and dollars--in a year, perhaps two, that investment may multiply itself by bigger numbers than many can count.  But why spend so much money on a horse with no track record?  It's mind-boggling to think that the yearlings who will take that stage have never run anywhere but their own paddocks.  They began at their mothers' sides, challenging each other to a speed duel.  Other than those paddock runs, they've never raced or even worked out on an oval.
But this is the sport in which hope springs eternal.  Racing in Saratoga was established at the height of the Civil War:  ever since that day, one month exactly after the vicious Battle of Gettysburg, horse racing has been an escape, a joy when no joy is to be found, a source of hope.  This dreamer perspective continues on in 2010:  why else would grown men and women ooh and aah over stomping, neighing Roman horse statues, come to Life?   Love of the horse explains half of the attraction.  Add the fact that the heart needs only the right inspiration to take flight--and no mode of transportation has so much potential to catapult the human spirit to the stars like the wings of Pegasus. 

The test of faith comes in that heart-stopping moment when a Fasig-Tipton alum bests her competitors for the first time.  These are the best of the best, the cream, risen to the top.  2009 was a great year for horse auctions in Saratoga--can 2010 be even half as good?  We predict that, based on the encouragement last year from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and others who (literally) put their money on the line--2010 will shine.  Numbers may not be exaggerated as they were in 2009, but a slow, steady incline after that meteoric rise should confirm that last year's numbers were not a fluke, but rather a trend.  Racing is America's sport, the world's sport--and the world will be in Saratoga on August 2 and 3 to confirm that the racing stars of tomorrow are worth the investment today.