The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week.
‘Remarkable evening’ at F-T breeding stock sale
North America: Fasig-Tipton’s November Sale established a new record gross, selling more than $100 million in the single session for the first time in the sale’s history, including 26 fillies and mares selling for $1 million or more.
Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning admitted the auction house’s flagship breeding stock sale was “so fortunate to have a tremendous group of horses”, which created a “remarkable evening”.
G1 producer Magical World, in foal to Into Mischief, sold for $5.2 million to Whisper Hill Farm and Three Chimneys Farm to top a sale marketed as the ‘world's premier breeding stock event’.
Kentucky Oaks winner Shedaresthedevil topped the racing/broodmare prospects on offer, selling for $5 million to Whisper Hill Farm, Flurry Racing and Qatar Racing from the consignment of Hunter Valley Farm, agent.
Eclipse champion Swiss Skydiver was the top broodmare prospect, selling for $4.7 million to Katsumi Yoshida from the consignment of Runnymede Farm, agent.
“Our friends from Japan have become a major component of this sale,” said Browning. “We live in a global world and we're fortunate that we have a global marketplace here.”
Overall, 149 horses changed hands for a sale-record gross of $103.7 million, a 15.9 percent increase over the previous highwater mark, set in 2018, when 141 horses sold for $89.4 million.
The average rose 23.2 percent to $695,966 from $565,049 in 2020 and was good for second-highest average in sale history. The median was $300,000, up 50 percent from 2020 and good for third-highest median ever at the November sale. The RNA rate was 21.1 per cent.
Results are available here.
Frankel fee up to £200,000
Europe: Juddmonte have announced the 2022 nomination fees for their five stallions standing at Banstead Manor Stud near Newmarket, with increased fees for Frankel and Bated Breath.
World #4 Frankel, who provided Classic winners Adayar and Hurricane Lane and is champion sire-elect, now demands a career-high price of £200,000, up from £175,000, his fee for the past four years.
He also reached a historic milestone in 2021 when he became the fastest stallion to 50 Group winners ever and achieved 20 G1 winners.
The operation’s other star Sire, Kingman, will be kept at his 2021 fee of £150,000. The world #5 sired G1 winners on three continents in Palace Pier, Domestic Spending and Schnell Meister among 18 stakes winners in total. Oasis Dream’s fee also remains unchanged for a price of £20,000.
Bated Breath goes up to £15,000 from £12,500, while Expert Eye is cut to £10,000 from £12,500.
Knicks Go starts off at $30,000
North America: Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and new world #1 Knicks Go will stand the upcoming breeding season at Taylor Made Stallions for $30,000.
The son of Paynter is the likely U.S. Horse of the Year after winning five of seven starts, including the Whitney Stakes and Pegasus World Cup.
Winner of the 2020 BC Dirt Mile, he is the sixth horse to win two different Breeders' Cup races and now boasts a lifetime bankroll of $8,673,135 for owner Korea Racing Authority.
Knicks Go will be available for showings beginning on November 12, as will the rest of the Taylor Made roster, which includes Not This Time and Tacitus, who are available for $45,000 and $10,000 respectively.
Dubawi well clear on Darley roster
Europe: World #2 Dubawi heads the Darley European stallion roster for 2022 at an unchanged fee of £250,000 after a year in which he was the world’s leading sire of Group winners, with 23, and stakes winners, with 37. Only this weekend, the 19-year-old son of Dubai Millennium became the first horse ever to sire three Breeders’ Cup winners in the same year.
Palace Pier will stand alongside Dubawi at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket at £55,000, the fee his sire Kingman began at when he was retired in 2015.
Too Darn Hot and Pinatubo remain at £45,000 and £35,000 respectively. 2008 Derby winner New Approach’s price is listed as private. Fellow Epsom heroes Masar and Golden Horn are available for £14,000 and £10,000 respectively
Across the Irish Sea, Night Of Thunder’s fee remains €75,000 after siring two 2021 G1 winners. Space Blues, Dubawi’s fastest stallion son, who rounded off his racetrack career with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday, will stand at Kildangan Stud at €17,500. Victor Ludorum retires to Haras du Logis at €15,000.
For the full list of fees, click here.
Breeders’ Cup handle hits a new high
North America: The Breeders’ Cup has confirmed a total all-sources common-pool handle of $182,908,409 for last week’s meet at Del Mar, a new record for the 2-day ‘world championships’.
The total represents a 4.7 percent increase over the previous record of $174,628,986, set in 2019 at Santa Anita, and a 14.0 percent rise from the total handle of $160,472,893 at last year’s iteration at Keeneland.
Total common-pool handle on Saturday's 12-race card was a record $121,562,392, while the $61,346,017 on the ten-race Future Stars Friday was also a new record for a BC Friday.
BC president and CEO Drew Fleming pointed to the event being a “truly global event”, with winners from three different continents, calling it an “extraordinary two days of racing showcasing the best [international] Thoroughbreds”.
The event returns to Keeneland in 2022.
Golden Eagle purse overtakes the Melbourne Cup
Oceania: After a prize boost by Racing New South Wales (NSW) to the Golden Eagle of AU$500,000 to AU$8 million, the Melbourne Cup has fallen to third in Australia’s list of total stakes with $7.75 million on offer.
This means that Sydney’s spring racing carnival now boasts the two richest races in the nation with the Golden Eagle behind only The Everest, which is valued at $15 million.
The Melbourne Cup had been the nation’s leading prize money race for most of its 161 years. The Golden Eagle was introduced in 2019 as part of Sydney’s enhanced spring carnival program - two years after the Everest – and ten percent of all prize money goes to various nominated charities.
Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding hailed the increase to be “befitting of its position as Australia’s premier 4-year-old race and one of the highlights of the Sydney spring racing carnival”, adding that he felt that the race had “clearly resonated with the racing public”.
Meanwhile, a report in Australian industry digest RSN says Racing NSW is at risk of being removed from Racing Australia’s Pattern and denied Group status for its races should it continue to refuse to collaborate with Racing Australia, Racing Victoria and the other states.
More here
Elsewhere in racing …
North America: Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is pursuing an injunction to stop Santa Anita from banning him from having runners there. More here
North America: More than $140,000 has been raised for the New Vocations racehorse adoption program through a Breeders’ Cup pledge. More here
Oceania: Owner Brae Sokolski has acquired Melbourne Cup third Spanish Mission in partnership from Team Valor and will keep the 6-year-old in Australia. More here