Coolmore buys $US16 million colt
Published March 2nd, 2006
Boosted by a $16-million Forestry colt, the most expensive Thoroughbred ever sold at public auction, the Fasig-Tipton Florida select sale of 2-year-olds in training rocketed into the record books Tuesday at Calder Race Course.
The gross revenue of $62,187,000 and the average price of $403,812 for the 154 horses sold were the highest ever in history for a juvenile sale, exceeding the former marks of $50,132,000 and $341,034 that were established at this auction last year. Meanwhile, the median price of $200,000 equaled the world record for 2-year-olds in training that also was set during the Calder sale’s 2005 edition.
In another major development, the buy-back rate dropped significantly, from 44.9% last year to 32.7% this year.
‘It was obviously a phenomenal horse sale,’ said Boyd Browning, Fasig-Tipton’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. ‘You always want to see the average up and the buy-back rate down, and both of those were accomplished in this sale. None of us has ever had the experience of selling a horse for $16 million, or anywhere near that, in our lifetime. That was fantastic; that was wonderful; and that was extraordinary. But even without that, it was still a great horse sale. That was kind of the icing on the cake. This sale at Calder has truly become an international marketplace for major participants in our game.’
According to Terence Collier, Fasig-Tipton’s director of marketing, the group of buyers at the Calder auction was its ‘deepest and most diverse’ ever. There were more shoppers than usual from California and Europe along with a large contingent of Japanese buyers.
