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Hudson purchases daughter of Union Rags during final session of Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale
Listed winner Saguaro Row (Union Rags) was purchased by Catherine Hudson, who was acting on behalf of an undisclosed client, for US$500,000 during the final session of the Fasig-Tipton Winter Mixed Sale on Tuesday.
Catalogued as Lot 675 and offered by Blake-Albina Thoroughbred Services as a racing and breeding prospect, the daughter of Union Rags (Dixie Union) is out of the winning Indian Charlie (In Excess) mare Charlie Girl and is therefore a half-sister to fellow stakes winner Pinnacle Peak (Yes It’s True).
Charlie Girl herself is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner My Wandy’s Girl (Flower Alley) and further back this is the same pedigree as Grade 3 scorer Storm Star (Storm Bird).
Earlier on in the afternoon, St Elias Stables secured stakes winner Whoa Nellie (Orb) for $450,000.
Catalogued as Lot 625 and offered by Taylor Made Sales as agent for Fox Hill Farms as a broodmare prospect, the five-year-old mare won six times and also placed at Grade 3 level and is out of dual winning Medaglia d’Oro (El Prado) mare Allegheny Angel.
Allegheny Angel herself is a daughter of Grade 1 winner Awesome Humor (Distorted Humor who is also the dam of stakes winner Thetrashmanscoming (Take Charge Indy).
The mare’s third dam is Horns Gray (Pass The Tab) - the grandam of Grade 1 scorer Emcee (Unbridled’s Song), Grade 2 winner Surfer (Distorted Humor) as well as Grade 3 winner Spring Party (Smart Strike).
During the two-sale sale, 425 horses sold for a gross of US$12,506,700, up 28 per cent from US$9,777,100 for 368 sold in 2020. The average was US$29,428, an 11 per cent increase over last year's average of US$26,568. The median rose 18 per cent from US$8,500 in 2020 to US$10,000 this year. The RNA rate fell 6 per cent from last year to 18.9 per cent.
"Obviously, the sale was dominated by the highlights later in the sale, but we had quality horses throughout the sale. It's the same story over and over, quality sells," said Fasig-Tipton president and CEO Boyd Browning.
"The demand for quality offerings is tremendous. Two things that were most encouraging today were the breadth of bidders on the quality offerings—there was activity all over the house on many horses—and it was also nice to see a couple new names on the sheets that have not been traditional buyers at this sale. It's encouraging. We've got to continue to grow and introduce new buyers to the game.
"Anyone would have to be thrilled to see the increases over a year-to-year basis. I caution that the quality of the catalog does change from year-to-year for a mixed sale, so it's virtually impossible to compare those results, but clearly there was healthy trade and commerce that took place on these sales grounds. There was enthusiastic bidding and participation. There was also depth to the marketplace which results in a low overall RNA rate. I think it gave sellers confidence that they can bring a horse to the February sale and be rewarded. We all know in the sales world that being a bigger fish in a smaller pond can be a very effective marketing and sales tool. Folks were well rewarded for bringing quality horses to these sales grounds."
