Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's three-day Eastern fall yearling sale was the region's biggest horse auction. Gross receipts totalled $11,289,300 for 566 horses sold. An additional 159 (22 percent of those through the ring) were recorded as buy-backs. Nineteen sold for $100,000 or more -- also a record at Timonium.
In more sales news, Fasig-Tipton Midlantic was expanding the December mixed sale to three days. Included in the catalog were 373 broodmares. The Thoroughbred Charities of America's benefit auction, held at Herb and Ellen Moelis' CandyLand Farm in Middletown, Del., would be held one day before the Timonium sale and was expected to offer more than 300 stallion seasons, including those standing in Kentucky, Maryland, California, Florida and New York.
Max's Pal, a 3-year-old son of Marquetry trained by Ben Perkins Jr., dominated the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships series. He contested all six races in the 3-year-old, sprint, dirt division, winning five. His lone defeat came in the Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup-G3 at Monmouth Park, in which he missed by a nose to Disco Rico. Max's Pal earned the $100,000 overall bonus for owner Raymond Dweck of Oakhurst, N.J., and a $50,000 bonus for Perkins.
Fox Hill Farm's Jostle, considered the top 3-year-old filly in the country, put on a show for her hometown fans at Philadelphia Park when winning the $200,000 Cotillion Handicap-G2 with ease. The daughter of Brocco trained by John Servis was making her first start at her home track. In her prior dozen starts, her seven victories included the Coaching Club American Oaks-G1 and Alabama Stakes-G1.
The Mid-Atlantic region lost one of its finest horsepeople with the death of Joy Valentine at age 96. She was a highly successful breeder of flat runners, and an even more accomplished member of the steeplechase community. She and her husband Miles, who died in 1978, maintained Knockmuira Farm in Unionville, Pa. "Valentine horses won four runnings of the American Grand National and three Maryland Hunt Cups, and at least one renewal of practically every other major steeplechase event."
