Shopping for a future champion at exclusive Saratoga horse sale

Each summer, horse racing fans head to Saratoga Springs, hopeful they’ll witness thoroughbred racing history.

Many top-class horses racing around the world get their start sold at auction as 1- or 2-year-olds at the Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion, located just down the road from Saratoga Race Course.

They then train for the chance to become part of an elite group.

It’s the premier auction for yearlings in the country, where potential breeds success. Preakness Stakes winners National Treasure and Seize The Grey were purchased here.

“This sale is like the NBA draft, so you’ve got all these people out here trying to scout out, figure out, which one is the best horse, which one is gonna be the Kentucky Derby winner, you know? And everyone is looking for that same horse,” said  Duncan Taylor, senior thoroughbred consultant for Taylor Made.

“Hey fellas, we wanna see a couple of horses,” said Steve McPherson, owner of the Thoroughbred Investment Group. “We want to see 79 and 25,” referring to the horse’s hip numbers for the sale. 

He started the Thoroughbred Investment Group, advising, buying and selling racehorses to clients after falling in love with the sport more than 35 years ago.

“You’re trying to find an athlete, trying to find something that maybe somebody else doesn’t like,” McPherson explained. “So you get them at a discounted price, and they turn out to be a fabulous racehorse, and it makes you look like you know what you’re doing.”

McPherson looks for what sets apart athletes from champions, like body style, stride length, hip and shoulder width and pedigree.

“The number one thing that we’re looking for is how much reach they have and how much free movement they have up front. We want free swingers that have a lot of reach, a lot of stride length,” he said.

It’s what brought the big bucks out Monday on opening night at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale.

“I think the mission is to introduce the game to as many people as we can, and for them to have as much as fun as they can,” McPherson said.

Fasig-Tipton will showcase New York yearlings at its state-bred sale scheduled for 7 p.m. Sunday and 12 p.m. Monday.

There are 300 entries for sale with more than $65 million distributed in purse money, incentives and awards planned for New York breds in this year of horse racing.