Fasig-Tipton Digital concluded its April Sale Wednesday with Bluegrass Thoroughbred Services selling four broodmares with foals and a yearling colt as part of a significant Merriebelle Stable reduction. Crimson Frost (Stormy Atlantic) (hip 12), offered with her Forte colt, topped the group at $240,000, purchased by Gracie Bloodstock.
“A few weeks ago, I learned we needed to address our budget for the next year or two rather aggressively,” said Bluegrass Thoroughbred’s Sandy Stuart regarding the Merriebelle reduction. “My first call was to an appraiser we have always used, John Donaldson, and his advice was, ‘You need to call [Fasig-Tipton President] Boyd [Browning] and use their new digital system. That’s where you are going to save a lot of time and generate the demand you need.'”
The Merriebelle band reduction will occur in three phases, beginning with mares with young foals not yet bred back.
“In talking with Fasig-Tipton and learning about the whole process at this time of year, what we needed to do was offer a mare who has not foaled, or has recently foaled and not yet been bred back, or wait until about 45 days pregnancy and offer them,” Stuart explained. “So we have three rounds of sales in mind. We are going to use the May sale and the June sale.”
Stuart acknowledged concerns about selling mares during this atypical calendar period.
“Offering foals that are one to three weeks old, I worried that the normal immaturity in angular limb conformation angles could be a significant detractor to buyers,” he said. “But not in Kentucky with the depth of experienced horseman. During a call about a mare and foal that had RNA’d, I texted a foal’s walking video taken that morning to a buyer who has raised thousands of foals in his career and within a minute, we had a deal.”
The young foals adapted quickly to the sales environment, according to Stuart.
“Theatrical is a good way to describe two- to three-week-old foals performing for the camera,” he said. “It was fun to see the difference from the day we did the first photos and videos and then the final day. I got a couple videos of foals to send to people and it would have taken five inspections to get a video this good on day one and in a short amount of time, these little foals became trained sales horses. It was really cool.”
Recent storms in Kentucky complicated showings, but Stuart praised the team at Merriebelle’s Chanteclair Farm for their efforts. Merriebelle partner Charlie Noell and his family now race under Bell Tower Stable, which owns Chanteclair Farm.
“Once the weekend downpour slowed, Declan Burke and his team at Chanteclair accommodated about 30 mid-day inspections of yearlings, mares and foals,” Stuart said. “It was helpful that Fasig-Tipton postponed the sale by one day.”
The Merriebelle breeding program received a timely boost during the auction when graduate Take Charge Milady (Take Charge Indy) finished second in the GI Ashland Stakes at Keeneland Monday.
“The Ashland result was neat,” Stuart said. “It helps highlight that some of the goals for the program are to support stallion shares like Take Charge Indy. We enjoyed a little bit of a celebration Monday. It was a rewarding race on a weekend where we were otherwise getting into something of a dispersal.”
Stakes winner and graded-placed Crimson Frost headlined the April offerings, receiving a timely update when her first foal, ‘TDN Rising Star’ Crimson Light (City of Light), won at Aqueduct Saturday, improving to two-for-two in his career.
“She makes very good physicals,” said Chris Gracie, who purchased the mare for an undisclosed client. “The Forte at her side was exceptional. She is a mare with a bit of pedigree and she has a very nice foal at her side. And she makes a very good physical. So when you want horses that can make those kind of babies, you have to pay for them.”
Stuart added, “Crimson Frost drew a lot of visitors to the farm and the colt showed great. It turned out to be a good result.”
The Merriebelle reduction continues with the Fasig-Tipton Digital May Sale. Offerings will include 4-year-old mare Bonaqua (Tonalist), in foal to Justify.
“I am just trying to offer any mares that I think will have commercial appeal and will bring a significant amount of revenue,” Stuart said. “Fasig was pretty great about making it all happen. We will hope we can get some good results in the May and June sales.”
