By Sarah Mace
By the conclusion of the second and final session of Fasig-Tipton’s 103rd Saratoga Sale, held Tuesday evening at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, a handful of top New York-bred yearlings had ably done their part to contribute to a record-breaking auction that established new high bars for gross, average and median, while posting the lowest RNA rate since 2015. With the conversion of a New York-bred RNA from Session 1 into a completed sale, and a pair of star fillies selling on the second night, five New York-breds changed hands successfully at this boutique auction for total receipts of $1,600,000 and a $320,000 average price.
The evening’s New York-bred standout was Hip 162, a bay Into Mischief filly who brought a winning bid of $400,000 from Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation. A third-generation homebred from one of Chester and Mary Broman most productive families, the bay filly was consigned by Sequel New York. Virtual inspection.
Foaled on April 3, 2023 at the Bromans’ Chestertown Farm in Warren County, the filly is the most recent reported foal from Broman-bred Solar Surge, an unraced daughter of Bernardini who has already produced four winners from five foals to start, led by 2018 Maid of the Mist heroine Surge of Pride, by Kantharos. The mare’s stakes performer Donegal Surges, by Candy Ride (ARG), most recently got a catalogue update with a runner-up finish in the Commentator Stakes on Belmont weekend. Solar Surge was bred this year to Golden Pal.
Some very familiar names appear under second dam Unbridled Star, a $115,000 purchase by the Bromans at the 2002 November sale who went on to become one of the foundation mares of this stellar breeding program. In addition to stakes performer Stolen Star ˗ who went on to produce multiple graded stakes winner, millionaire and producer Highway Star, as well as multiple stakes winner Captain Bombastic ˗ Unbridled Star is the dam of stakes winner and sire Friend or Foe, and stakes winner Star Grazing.
The other New York-bred star filly of the session was Hip 193, a bay by Quality Road bred by 3C Stables, LLC and foaled at Hidden Lake Farm in Stillwater on March 1, 2023. Consigned by Mulholland Springs, Agent III, the filly went to Havertz Stables for $350,000 in her first date with the auctioneer. Virtual inspection.
The filly’s dam is Toasting, an accomplished race mare for West Point Thoroughbreds. A multiple stakes winner and graded stakes performer, she amassed an earnings bankroll of $565,000 from ages two to five. Toasting is also a half-sister to stakes winner Riversrunrylee. Stakes winners and producers abound under fourth dam Quilloquick. Toasting produced a colt by Uncle Mo on March 31, 2024 and has been bred to Jackie’s Warrior.
By the time the Session 2 results were posted, Team New York received an added bonus when Hip 47, a Session 1 RNA, was converted to a $250,000 purchase by Patrick Lawley-Wakelin, Agent. The yearling in question, another filly, is a grey or roan daughter of Quality Road bred by Thirty Year Farm in Saratoga, where she was foaled on February 6, 2023. She was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, Agent CX. Virtual inspection.
The filly’s dam is the first foal out of Follow the Flag, a winning daughter of Tapit purchased by Thirty Year Farm for $700,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale. A half-sister to stakes performer Whenthedawnbreaks, Follow the Flag is out of Grade 1 winner and millionaire Mushka. Third dam Sluice is also a stakes winner. Fourth dam Lakeway, by Seattle Slew, was a bona fide star, a four-time Grade 1 winner and runner-up in the 1995 Kentucky Oaks who went on to produce five winners. On March 22, 2024, Follow the Flag foaled a colt by Not this Time and has been bred to Munnings.
The yearling auction spotlight shines next on the most important event on the annual sales calendar for many breeders in the Empire State: the Fasig-Tipton New York Bred Yearling sale, which will take place August 11-12 at the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs. Sunday’s August 11 session (Hips 301-400) will begin at 7:00 p.m. Monday’s session on August 12 begins at 12:00 p.m.
