THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 FASIG-TIPTON RETURNS BIDDING TO KEENELAND, FASIG-TIPTON FAIRPLEX THURSDAY by Jessica Martini PUSH BACK NOVEMBER The inaugural Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale will be SALES held Thursday at Fairplex in Pomona, with bidding on the first of 285 catalogued yearlings scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. PT. The Fairplex sales grounds, which last saw auction action with the CTBA sale in January, was crowded with shoppers Wednesday morning. “It’s been a ridiculous amount of traffic,” said Adrian Gonzalez of Checkmate Thoroughbreds. “We were swamped Tuesday and they are already hitting us pretty hard this morning. It’s super, super encouraging seeing the turnout so far and we still have a whole other day to go.” With training hours still underway on the West Coast, Gonzalez said, “Mostly we’ve been showing to pinhookers. We haven’t seen very many California guys here yet, so it’s been mostly out-of-towners doing all-shows here so far.” Cont. p3 Private jets at Bluegrass Airport during the IN TDN EUROPE TODAY 2015 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland | Getty Images NO NAY NEVER COLT STARS AT TATTS IRE Both Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton have pushed back the starts A colt by No Nay Never topped the two-day Tattersalls of their respective November breeding stock sales by one day to Ireland September Yearling Sale when selling for €165,000 on allow participants extra time to travel from the Nov. 1 and Wednesday. Daithi Harvey has the scoop. Click or tap here to Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita to go straight to TDN Europe. Kentucky. Fasig-Tipton’s one-day November sale will now be held Tuesday, Nov. 5, while Keeneland’s sale will begin Wednesday, Nov. 6 and run through Sunday, Nov. 17. “In keeping with Keeneland’s mission, we continually strive to do things that better the entire industry,” Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. “We listen to our customers and we respond; that’s what Keeneland does. We adjusted the September Sale format based on feedback from horsemen and produced the fifth-highest gross in that sale’s history. This change to the November Sale start date and our continued focus on quality guest experiences and hospitality are further evidence of how much we value our partnerships with owners, consignors and buyers, and respond to their needs.” He continued, “We recognize the importance of being flexible With two marquee industry events within days of each other, this allows our customers to enjoy both the Breeders’ Cup and the Keeneland November Sale to their fullest. We are excited to continue the energy and positive momentum from the September Sale and upcoming Fall Meet into Breeders’ Cup and the November Sale.” Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Thursday, September 26, 2019 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Enable with Frankie Dettori in the irons and Imran Shahwani. The two-time Arc heroine Director of Customer Service completed a fast piece of work over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket Wednesday Vicki Forbes morning, as she bids to become the first triple G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner. [email protected] Click on the photo to watch the work and an interview with John Gosden. | Emma Berry Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Director of Information Technology FG ADJUSTS DERBY PREP DISTANCES 5 Ray Villa Fair Grounds has made some changes to its GI Kentucky Derby preps, [email protected] including extending the distance of the GII Louisiana Derby from 1 1/8 miles Bookkeeper to 1 3/16 miles for 2020. Terry May [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION TODAY’S GRADED STAKES International Editor EST Race Click for TV Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN 9:45a Denny Cordell Lavarack & Lanwades Stud Fillies S.-G3, GOW -------------- TVG [email protected] 10:35a Tattersalls S.-G3, NMK -------------- TVG European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 November Sales cont. from p1 In a subsequent release, Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said, "We have advocated for this schedule change for many years, and we are pleased that other industry participants have recognized the need for this change. Buyers will be able to enjoy the Breeders' Cup, and then have ample time to work through The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton, the world's premier breeding stock event." Immediately following the final session of the Keeneland November Sale on Sunday, Nov. 17, Keeneland will host a champagne reception followed by the seventh annual Sporting Art Auction in partnership with Cross Gate Gallery. Fasig-Tipton California cont. from p1 Fairplex sales grounds | Fasig-Tipton photo Fasig-Tipton conducted its first Santa Anita 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in June and the catalogue included a very limited number of Florida-based consignors. With a strong group of pinhookers shopping ahead of the yearlings sale, Gonzalez is hoping some might return as sellers next spring. “I kind of have that feeling, that they might be looking for something to bring back to the training sale here,” he said. Between the activity at the barns and the strength of the catalogue, Gonzalez is looking for a strong sale Thursday. “Personally, I brought some horses that I really, really like, so I am hoping that it will be pretty strong,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve looked through the catalogue and it seems like there are quite a few very well-bred horses through different consignors’ barns. So I am hoping they brought some really nice stock as well. If it’s a strong sale, that should rise all tides.” Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM THURSDAY • SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Fasig California cont. While California-based sires are well-represented, there are also a large number of Kentucky-based sires with yearlings in the catalogue and many of those yearlings by Kentucky sires are California-breds. The success of Thursday’s sale could go a long way towards determining the direction the state’s breeding industry goes in the future, according to Gonzalez. “I think what you can see in this catalogue is a lot of Kentucky- sired Cal-breds that came here as a result of a few new stallions standing in California a couple of years ago,” Gonzalez said. “People bought mares in Kentucky or had mares back there that they purposefully brought to California to breed to some of these new horses. So what you’re seeing is the result of a couple of stallions who drew these mares here and now you’re seeing a little bit better yearling crop. So I am hopeful that, if those breeders are rewarded with these yearlings, then they will continue to bring their good mares here. Because almost every farm I know out here has a string of mares that resides in Kentucky as well as here. And they swap them back and forth to make these Kentucky-sired Cal-breds. But if nobody gets paid for them--I don’t want to be negative--but they won’t do it again if these don’t sell well. That part of the program has made this catalogue strong and I hope it continues.” For years, Fairplex was the regular home of the now-defunct Barretts, which held its final auction in Pomona last October. The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association hosted a stop-gap sale on the grounds in January and Gonzalez said he was happy to be back. “There is not a better sales barns in the country than this venue,” he said. “I love being here. These barns are amazing. The horses show great here. There is plenty of room to see everything. For ease on the horses and my crew and the buyers, this a lovely place to be. Of any place that I’ve sold, this facility is the best.” It has been a quick turnaround for the Checkmate team, which was active throughout the 13-day Keeneland September sale that concluded Sunday in Lexington. “It’s a little rough on all of us,” Gonzalez said with a chuckle. “We literally had one travel day in between to repack and get to a new sale. My crew all works in Kentucky at those sales and we got here on fumes. But we’re sales prepped, so we are ready for this. As far as the calendar date, we knew what it was going to be, so our horses are ready. It’s just, for us humans, we’re just a little fried at the moment. But a good sale will help ease that pain.” max speed The Fastest 2YO Of 2018. Beyer MAXIMUS MISCHIEF 98 MAXIMUS MISCHIEF 97 Game Winner 97 Vekoma 97 Improbable 96 NEW FOR 2020 max strength The Fastest Remsen-G2 Winner In Recent Years.