Buyer interest strong as Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale opens in Maryland

Buyer interest held firm at the Maryland State Fairgrounds as Fasig-Tipton opened its Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale under a new preview format that erased the stopwatch from the equation.

The two-session auction is set for Monday and Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Timonium, with hips 1 through 300 scheduled for Monday and the rest to follow Tuesday. Fasig-Tipton catalogued 593 horses, a larger book than last year’s 550, and the company’s own reading of the market is that stronger numbers and deeper sire power have kept the sale among the most important juvenile tests of the spring.

That confidence was visible on the grounds Sunday morning, where buyers were out in force and the business looked steady rather than tentative. Bob Baffert was among the recognizable horsemen on site with longtime client Michael Lund Petersen, whose Midlantic purchases have included champion Gamine. Their presence mattered because this is the kind of sale that still draws serious players when the horses, not the clock, have to do the talking.

Fasig-Tipton’s new under-tack setup, held May 12-14 at 8 a.m., did not record or publish official times. Riders were also required to keep both hands on the reins, part of a change the company says was designed to create a safer, more consistent and fairer racetrack. About 250 horses went over the surface on the first day, with consignors choosing everything from gallops to full breezes, and buyers had to lean harder on what they could see: body type, pedigree and the way each youngster handled the Maryland dirt.

That shift is being watched closely because time has long driven the 2-year-old market, especially in a venue like Timonium where fast works can make a horse jump off the page. Fasig-Tipton moved away from that model after seeing how heavily published times can shape buying decisions, and the company has already pointed to last year’s results as proof the market can still function without them. The 2025 Midlantic May sale set records for gross, average and median, produced four seven-figure juveniles and was led by a $1.1 million Girvin filly, even after rain turned the final under-tack session into a gallop-only, untimed preview.

The sale also carries recent-graduate momentum. Straight No Chaser, a Midlantic alumnus, is the reigning Eclipse Champion Male Sprinter, and this year’s catalog cover features Explora, A Fine Chardonnay, Charlene’s Dream, Ground Support and Mendelssohn Bay. With the 151st Preakness Stakes having run Saturday at Laurel Park, Fasig-Tipton now gets its turn to show whether demand for 2-year-olds is still strong when the market has to judge horses by presence instead of published clockings.