Mendelssohn Colt Tops Historic Renewal of Midlantic Fall Yearlings
TIMONIUM, Md.—Midlantic Fall Yearlings kicked off Monday afternoon with significant increases in gross, average, and median over the first session of the last two editions of the sale (2019-2020) and the lowest RNA rate since 2016.*
A colt from the first crop of Mendelssohn topped Monday’s session, fetching a bid of $230,000 from buyer Oracle Bloodstock, agent (video). The bay colt was offered as Hip 189 by Dreamtime Stables, agent. Out of the Malibu Moon mare Tasha’s Moon, a half-sister to Grade 2 placed stakes winner Esmeraldina, the colt hails from the immediate family of Grade 1 winner Off the Tracks and Grade 2 winner and sire Concord Point. Hip 189 was bred in Kentucky by Classic Thoroughbred.
HIP 189 (Fasig-Tipton/Eclipse Sportswire)
Earlier in the session, a son of Belmont S. (G1) winner Union Rags sold for $220,000 to Mac Robertson, agent for Novogratz Racing Stables (video). Dark Hollow, agent, offered the colt as Hip 113. Out of the winning Flatter mare Safe Journey, the colt is a half-brother to four winners, including O Dionysus (Bodemeister) and Joy (Pure Prize), both multiple stakes winners on the mid-Atlantic racing circuit. Hip 113 was bred in Maryland by Dark Hollow Farm.
Mendelssohn was also responsible for the session’s top-priced filly, which sold for $160,000 to Donato Lanni, agent for Caroline & Greg Bentley (video). Offered as Hip 159 by Northview Stallion Station (David Wade), agent, the filly is a half-sister to a pair of winners out of the winning Curlin mare Split It. Bred in Maryland by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds, Hip 159 is from the immediate family of champion filly Epitome and multimillionaire War Story.
Rounding out the top five were a pair of fillies with strong pedigrees:
Hip 76, a daughter of Tiznow out of a Not For Love half-sister to four-time Grade 1 winner and two-time Maryland Horse of the Year Knicks Go, which sold for $150,000 to SBM. The filly was bred in Maryland by GreenMount Farm & Tiznow Syndicate and consigned by GreenMount Farm, agent.
Hip 11, a filly from the first crop of Preakness S. (G1) winner Cloud Computing, who is a three-parts sister to course record-setting stakes winner Dirty (Maclean’s Music), which sold for $145,000 to Newtown Anner Stud. The Maryland-bred filly was consigned by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent.
Over the course of the session, 149 yearlings sold for a gross of $4,577,300. The average – $30,720 – marked 25.6% and 16.9% increases over 2020 and 2019’s first sessions, respectively. The median rose 33.3% to $20,000 from the first-session median of $15,000 achieved in both 2020 and 2019. Eight horses sold for $100,000 during the session, compared to two sold at or above that price point in 2020 and five in 2019. The RNA rate was 16.3%.
Results are available online. The sale resumes Tuesday, October 5 at 10 AM.
*Compared to full sale results.
Mendelssohn Colt Tops Historic Renewal of Midlantic Fall Yearlings
The 2021 Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale ended Tuesday evening in Timonium, MD, with numbers greatly surpassing those posted in 2020. Steady, enthusiastic trade over the course of the two-day sale resulted in new all-time sale records in average and median.
HIP 415 (Fasig-Tipton/Eclipse Sportswire)
For the second day in a row, the session topper was a colt (Hip 415) from the first crop of Breeders’ Cup champion Mendelssohn. Scanlon Training & Sales purchased the chestnut colt for $235,000 from the consignment of Northview Stallion Station (David Wade), agent (video). Hip 415 is out of Grace Is Gone, a Malibu Moon daughter of Grade 1 placed winner Grace Anatomy, and hails from the immediate family of champion Soaring Softly and Grade 1 winner Plenty of Grace. The colt was bred in Kentucky.
A pair of well-related fillies sold for $200,000 during Tuesday’s session to tie for that top spot. The first through the ring was Hip 295, a daughter of Street Sense purchased for $200,000 by Charles Zacney’s Cash Is King and consigned by Chanceland Farm, agent (video). The filly is out of Belterra (Unbridled), a Grade 2 winner who has produced four winners to date, including this filly’s full sister, stakes winner Taketheodds. Hip 295 is also a half-sister to Sheave (Mineshaft), dam of 2016 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Cathryn Sophia, who was purchased by Zacney at this sale in 2014. The Maryland-bred filly was produced from a similar cross to Cathryn Sophia, by that classic winner’s breeder Robert T. Manfuso.
A daughter of last year’s leading first-crop sire Nyquist, offered as Hip 441, also sold for $200,000 (video). The bay filly was purchased by Cary Frommer from the consignment of Becky Davis Inc., agent. Hip 441 is the second foal out of the winning Not For Love mare How My Heart Works; her first foal is Maryland Million Classic winner and graded stakes placed Monday Morning QB (Imagining). The immediate family includes Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Well Armed, as well as Grade 1 winner American Patriot. Hip 441 was bred in Maryland by Bowman & Higgins Stable.
Rounding out Tuesday’s top five were a pair of yearlings by well-established sires:
Hip 378, a filly by Hard Spun out of Fairytale Ending (IRE), which sold for $125,000 to P. Lawley-Wakelin, agent for Cambus-Kenneth Farm, from the consignment of Audley Farm Equine. The dark bay or brown filly is a half-sister to recent Brookmeade S. winner Urban Fairytale (Distorted Humor), from the immediate family of Group 1 winners Airwave (GB) and Churchill (IRE). Hip 278 was bred in Kentucky by the consignor.
Hip 506, a colt by Munnings out of the Pioneerof the Nile mare Compulsion, which sold for $120,000 to New Day Training Center from the consignment of Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services, agent. The gray or roan colt hails from the immediate family of multiple Grade 1 winner Spoken Fur. Hip 506 was bred in New York.
Over the course of the two sessions, 381 yearlings sold for $11,269,400 – the sale’s fifth highest gross all-time and its best since 2007, when 574 horses sold for $13,331,400. The gross rose 23.6% over receipts of $9,120,700 in 2020. The average was $29,578, a record for Midlantic Fall Yearlings, good for a 22.9% increase over last year’s average of $24,065. The median, also a record, held steady at $20,000 throughout the sale, and marked a 42.9% increase over last year’s median of $14,000. The previous records for both categories were established in 2013, when 289 yearlings sold for an average of $25,847 and a median of $17,000. The RNA rate was 16.4%, the lowest at this sale since 2013.
Full results are available online.
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Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale News Release
