Fasig-Tipton

The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an auction house for Thoroughbred horses founded in 1898. It is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky, Elkton, Maryland, Grand Prairie, Texas, Saratoga Springs, New York, and Ocala, Florida. In 2008, Fasig-Tipton Co. was purchased by Synergy Investments Ltd., a Dubai-based company headed by Abdulla Al Habbai. Of the 12 Triple Crown winners, only two have ever been offered at public auction, both by Fasig-Tipton: 2015 winner American Pharoah, sold at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale and 1975 Seattle Slew, sold at the 1973 Fasig-Tipton July Sale in Kentucky.

The Fasig-Tipton Company, Inc. is an auction house for Thoroughbred horses founded in 1898 by William B. Fasig and Edward A. Tipton. It is the oldest auction company of its kind in North America. Its first headquarters were in Madison Square Garden in New York, and Fasig-Tipton initially sold high-class road and carriage horses in addition to Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing stock.

Fasig-Tipton's main horse auction in the early 20th century was referred to as "Old Glory." Held annually in late November or early December, the Old Glory sale offered a "Grand Aggregation of Thoroughbred Stallions, Mares, Racehorses, Yearlings, and Weanlings," as well as Standardbreds. Shortly after the Old Glory sale of 1907, New York suffered a severe economic downturn, and bank closures threatened the sustainability of the horse sales business. Fasig turned the company over to his assistant, Enoch James Tranter, who brokered a deal with the banks which allowed the young company to survive the financial instability. Tranter's also made dramatic changes to the format of the sales catalogue: originally, the page for each horse offered might list up to 30 generations of pedigree with limited or no produce record, as well as subjective descriptions written by the individual consignors. Tranter changed this so emphasis was placed on the performance and production history of the horse's closest relatives, limiting the page to three to four dams with detailed information about the horse's dam's performance. Tranter also insisted on health certificates for all horses entered into his sales and pregnancy certificates for broodmares offered in foal. Fasig-Tipton was the first horse sales company to do this.

...
Wikipedia