Smarty Jones' Dam may have sold for US$5m and multiple Gr1 winner & stallion prospect Toccet(winner of the 2002 Gr1 Champagne Stakes & Gr1 Hollywood Futurity) may have fetched US$3.35 million but the headlines "Fasig-Tipton Nov: Average Up 17.7%" which splashed their way across this morning's media are somewhat deceptive. If you put aside the hype over Smarty's dam then the small print is actually quite sobering: 201 horses sold (84% of 239 offered) for US$20,685,800 (an increase of 300.9% from last year’s US$5.16m ... hardly surprising given last year only 59 horses were sold).

The all important barometer is however the MEDIAN. It was only US$27,000 (down 40% from US$45,000 last year).