May 3, 2024

Smart Strike filly leads Fasig-Tipton Midlantic session

Smart Response was the topper in a session dominated by fillies (photo courtesy of Fasig-Tipton Twitter)

Led by a daughter of Smart Strike named SMART RESPONSE, fillies topped the leaderboard on the first day of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Timonium, Maryland, on Monday.

Consigned by Hartley/de Renzo Thoroughbreds, agent, Smart Response was gaveled down to Xavier International Bloodstock, agent, for $525,000. Hip 79, a February 13 Kentucky-bred, had worked one furlong in :10, co-fastest at the distance at her session of the under tack show.

The juvenile is out of the stakes-winning Salty Response, a Cozzene half-sister to multiple Grade 3 winner Salty Strike and the stakes-placed Iroquois Girl and Northern Vacation. She was previously a $275,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling.

Two daughters of Into Mischief each sold for $425,000. The first was Hip 34, purchased by Donato Lanni, agent, from the consignment of Wes Carter, agent for Carolyn Vogel.

Out of Pooh Corner, by Tapit, The March 13 Kentucky-bred had worked a quarter-mile in :21 2/5, co-fastest time at the distance, at the first under tack show session. The filly, an RNA for $39,000 as a Keeneland November weanling, counts as a third dam the Grade 3 winner Katical Ofthestars.

The other Into Mischief bringing $425,000 was Hip 123, a daughter of Grade 3-placed So Long Sonoma, an American Chance mare who is already the dam of the stakes-placed Rastanora. McKathan Brothers, agent, sold the February 4 Kentucky-bred to Speedway Stables.

From the extended family of Grade 1 scorer Track Barron, the filly was previously an $80,000 Keeneland November weanling and a $180,000 Keeneland September yearling. She had worked one furlong in :10 2/5 at the under tack show.

At the conclusion of trading Monday, 162 horses had sold for $11,537,500, an increase of 7.7 percent from the corresponding session in 2016 when 157 juveniles brought $10,715,700. The session average was up 4.3 percent, from $68,253 to $71,219, while the median rose 17.6 percent, from $34,000 to $40,000.

The sale concludes Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. (EDT). Full results can be found at fasigtipton.com.