WHILE there are no comparisons with last year, when the sale was not held, this week’s renewal of the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale of selected two-year-olds returned a set of figures that were about the same as those recorded three years ago.
The features were a number of spectacular pinhooking successes, and a trio of seven-figure colts by top two-year-old sires Nyquist and Uncle Mo, and one from the first crop of horse of the year Gun Runner.
A colt by Eclipse champion juvenile Nyquist topped the sale when he sold for $2,600,000 to Jamie McCalmont, acting as agent for M.V. Magnier. Offered from the consignment of Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables, the bay worked a furlong in 9.4 seconds, matching a record set in 2019 by graded stakes winner and multiple Grade 1 placed Donna Veloce, and Grade 1 placed Wrecking Crew.
The colt is the first foal out of a granddaughter of Grade 1 winner Victory Ride. He also provided connections with an incredible reward, being purchased at Fasig-Tipton last September for $160,000 by Redwings.
Another colt by Nyquist sold for $900,000 to Spendthrift Farm and West Point Thoroughbreds from the consignment of Eddie Woods, the Irishman acting for the Paul Pompa dispersal. The colt more than doubled his Keeneland September purchase price of $400,000. He is the second foal out a Malibu Moon half-sister to graded stakes winner Javerre.
The much anticipated first crop by Three Chimneys Farm’s champion and six-time Grade 1 winner Gun Runner includes a colt who sold for $1,700,000 to Gary Young. He was the star of the consignment of Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds who bought him for just $140,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October Sale last year. He is the second foal out of nine-time stakes winner Needmore Flattery, a daughter of Flatter.
Home run
Another home run was hit by Ciaran Dunne and his team when they sold a colt by champion sire Uncle Mo for $1,300,000 to West Bloodstock and Jamie McCalmont, again acting on behalf of M.V. Magnier. Another who was very professional in his workout, going a furlong in 10 seconds flat, he sold for almost a million more than his $335,000 purchase price at Keeneland last September. He is a full-brother to Dream Team, a juvenile Grade 1 winner and graduate of this sale.
The day’s top filly came in the form of a daughter of Uncle Mo, sold for $825,000 to West Bloodstock on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low. She also worked a furlong in 10 seconds flat. The filly is a half-sister to stakes winner Pico D’Oro and is out of a Bernardini daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Champagne D’Oro. She left a nice profit as she was a $380,000 Fasig-Tipton yearling purchase by Autry Bloodstock.
Overall, 67 juveniles changed hands for $25,360,000 and an average of $378,507, the fifth-highest in the sale’s history. The median was $300,000, tied for the second-highest ever.