$400,000 colt leads terrific Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale for Vekoma

With a trio of juveniles bringing at least $250,000, First-Crop sire Vekoma was among the leading freshman sires of the recently concluded Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old sale.

Topping the list for the Spendthrift stallion was hip No. 137, who sold for $400,000 on Monday to J.A.S., with trainer Michael Costa placing the winning bid on the De Meric Sales consignee.

He’s a very athletic horse,” Costa, who is based at Jebel Ali Racecourse in Dubai, said. “This is one that stood out. He breezed really well (:10 2/5). He looks like one that will do well to follow a Derby campaign in Dubai.”

The De Merics purchased the colt for what turned out to be a bargain price of $17,000 at last year’s Keeneland September sale.

“He was an unbelievable horse when we bought him,” Tristan De Meric said. “I was surprised when we were able to get him for what we did. He was a (small) horse at the sale–he’s a May 31 foal–but the angles were all there and he moved like a really good horse. And it all came together for him.”

The dark bay was bred by Spendthrift and is out of the Malibu Moon mare Lightning Twice, whose siblings included grade stakes winners Kauai Katie and Winding Way.

Tuesday session yielded more stellar results for Vekoma, when hip No 285 sold for $350,000 and right afterward hip No. 286 brought $250,000.

The former, a colt consigned by Wavertree Stables Inc. went to Flurry Racing Stables, while the latter, also a colt, sold to Seth Morris, agent for Hit the Bid Racing, from the Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds consignment.

Over the two days of the sale, Vekoma had a robust average price of $167,125, more than 11 times his stud fee.