F-T Perseveres For Remarkable Midlantic Sale

There were moments during the last week when Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning Jr. wasn't sure how he and his team could pull off its Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Timonium, Md. Excessive rainfall last week deteriorated the condition of the track, leading to breezing being canceled and replaced with galloping, plus the number of outs forcing the sale to be condensed into one day left more questions than answers. And whenever there was the expectation of relief from the weather, Mother Nature would send more torrential rain, wind, and even tornado warnings. It's enough to let doubt seep into the minds of even the most ardent believers. So when the nearly 12-hour marathon of a sale concluded May 20, the tears that made their way from Browning's eyes were not of relief or even exhaustion. Instead, they were out of appreciation for the determination of his team, the buyers, and consignors who made Tuesday one for the record books. "I think it shows the resilience of the consigners," Browning said. "It shows the resilience of the buyers. It shows how adaptive horse people are under difficult circumstances, and when you kind of sometimes least expect it, and you think things might be really difficult, people tend to kind of step up and fill the voids and... try to take advantage where they perceive as opportunity." Typically, comparing a sale to its previous iteration gives some indication of the market and its trends. But because of the conditions of this year's sale lead-up, it was not an identical experience for every horse. The sale is typically held over two days, but this year, all of the extenuating circumstances resulted in Fasig-Tipton condensing the sale into one day. Still, the results were sterling regardless of format. According to the auction company, Tuesday's gross sales of $44,192,500 were 18.5% better than its previous best of $37,297,500 (2022). The average was also in a new neighborhood. This year saw a mark of $135,560, up 42.1% from last year's average of $95,425. The median was also up, going from $50,000 last year to a 20% bump of $60,000 in 2025. The RNA rate was 24.2% One of the unknowns going into the sale was what impact, if any, would the change in under tack show programming have on the in-ring proceedings. Even with many in the industry espousing the benefits of the gallop-only approach, the sales results certainly bore out an advantage to those who had the opportunity to breeze. "I may be in the minority, but maybe I'm not. … But I will say this: I see millions of dollars being spent on horses that walk," said Marquee Bloodstock's Ramiro Restrepo. "And the old joke is, I don't see any walking races. Horses show that athleticism, and it's up to the horsemen to analyze them in motion and see if they think that a horse has all the qualities that deserve a big price. I know that in the 2-year-old sales, there is a big place for tools and data-driven stuff, which has an incredible place in horse racing, metrics, and things like this. But at the end of everything, I think your horsemanship has to come to the forefront and make that decision." Buyers were putting a premium on those that breezed for obvious reasons. "It's just very hard to differentiate," said trainer Bhupat Seemar. "The horses that just galloped, they could be good horses, but who knows how much talent they have." There were exceptions. For example, Hip 544, a Violence colt, didn't breeze but drew $1,050,000. Roughly two-thirds of all horses that sold for more than $300,000 had breezed. With many of the horses that did breeze toward the front half of the sale, April Mayberry, who signed for two of the higher-priced horses Tuesday, wasn't surprised to see more vigorous bidding. "I don't think so. I don't think I am surprised. … It wasn't a deficit. People come in here to buy nice horses, and I think you know where to find them," she said. Heading into Tuesday, many consignors predicted the sale would prove to be a buyers' market. They looked prophetic. If there were marketing campaigns for purchases at horse sales, bloodstock agent Kerri Radcliffe might have a second career waiting in the wings. "So get the Memo with AMO," she said moments after signing the sale ticket for $1,100,000 for Hip 368, a Girvin filly, that was bought for Memo Racing and AMO Racing—the first purchase for that team up. It proved to be the sales topper. "I know (AMO Racing's Kia Joorabchian) from home, and I would do a bit of work for Kia," the British Radcliffe said of how the partnership developed. "We chatted and we said, 'This is the best filly in the sale.' Memo have only been buying colts, so we needed to get a filly." Radcliffe, who worked with Alex Elliott, representing Memo Racing, signed the ticket. Radcliffe and Memo have been active recently, including a pair of $1 million buys at the 2025 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The filly will be heading to the stable of trainer Chad Brown. At the end of the day, Browning's big takeaway isn't the records. "Nobody believes me. I don't care about records," he said. "This wasn't about setting records. This was about perseverance. And I think that we and our customers persevered."