By Sarah Mace
The final auction of the 2022 US sales calendar is now in the books, after an eclectic group of horses passed under the auctioneer’s hammer at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed and Horses of Racing Age Sale, which took place on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.
New York-breds of all descriptions changed hands successfully at the single-session auction: weanlings (1), broodmares (2), racing/broodmare prospects (2) and horses of racing age (11). When all was said and done, the leaders of the herd were a pair of racehorses: a hard-knocking 6-year-old turf runner named Call Me Harry, and an up-and-coming juvenile colt by Freud named New York Panther.
Trainer Michael Maker went to $85,000 to purchase Call Me Harry (Hip 217), a dark bay or brown gelding by Street Sense, bred by Newtownanner Stud, who has compiled a solid resume, with five wins, two seconds and three thirds from 22 career starts over four seasons (20 starts on turf). He has earned $334,706 to date.
Call Me Harry won two races for trainer Joe Sharp under jockey Javier Castellano in 2022. He led every step of the way in a $115,000 open allowance contest at one mile on the inner turf at Saratoga Race Course on August 28. His victory earned a $6,325 owner award for Jordan V. Wycoff and a $9,487.50 breeder award for Newtownanner Stud. He scored a repeat a front-running victory on October 13 at the Belmont at the Big A meet, when dangled for a $45,000 tag in a New York-bred allowance/optional claiming race at a mile on the turf, adding another $7,425 to Newtownanner Stud’s breeder awards tally.
Consigned by Marshall W. Silverman, Agent, Call Me Harry is out of Call Me Swift, an unraced Kentucky-bred daughter of Bernardini and half-sister to Warrior Queen, dam of graded winner and sire A. P. Warrior. Offered at auction twice as a yearling in 2017, he RNA’d for $14,000 and $39,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale and Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale, respectively.
New York Panther (Hip 282), a New York-bred juvenile by Freud who is just embarking on his career, sold for $40,000 to Maryland-based trainer Brittany Russell, Agent. He too was consigned by Marshall Silverman.
Bred by Justice Stables LLC and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York, the dark bay or brown colt previously sold to St. Elias Stable and Michael Dubb at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale for $107,000. Jointly campaigned for three starts by Michael Dubb, St. Elias Stable and Michael J. Caruso, New York Panther came closest to breaking his maiden for trainer Todd Pletcher as a beaten favorite at Belmont Park on July 8, 2022, when he finished second in a five-furlong turf dash for state-bred 2-year-olds under Jose Ortiz.
New York Panther is the first foal out of Mo Justice, a winning daughter of Lemon Drop Kid. His third dam, stakes winner Naughty Notions, by Relaunch, is the dam of 2009 Sovereign Award Champion 2-year-old filly Negligee.
Overall, 16 New York-breds sold of 24 offered at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic December Mixed sale, for an average price of $17,500. This nearly matched the sale average of $18,800, which increased over the 2021 figure by 25.7%. The New York-bred median of $10,500 slightly outperformed the sale median of $10,000, which held steady from last year.
