TIMONIUM, MD – Camille Booker, who first made her presence known in the Thoroughbred industry as a bidspotter at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale in 2023, became the first woman to auctioneer for the sales company when she took to the rostrum Tuesday at the Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale in Timonium. While it may have been a first for Fasig-Tipton, it was far from a first sale for Booker, a third-generation auctioneer from Washington.“It was fun. It was great,” Booker said in between stints on the stand Tuesday. “I think it took a little bit to understand some of the little differences that are at a horse sale versus other events that I work at. But once I processed all of that, it went smoothly.”Booker's roots in auctioneering go back to her grandparents and father, who started Booker Auction Company in Washington in 1980.“That was where I got my start,” Booker said. “I went to auction school when I was 16. My brother, dad, and I run the Booker Auction Company now. We primarily sell heavy agricultural equipment, construction trucks and trailers. Still to this day, that is what we do full time back at home. So, I have to give a shout out to my team back home because they are still holding down the fort when I am here.”Booker won the International Auctioneer Championship in Orlando in 2011 and soon began diversifying her auctioneering portfolio.“I started doing contract work shortly after I won the International Auctioneer Championship in 2011,” she said. “That gave me the opportunity to start traveling and working with other auctioneers. I have been blessed to work at car sales with Barrett-Jackson and then started working here [at Fasig-Tipton] a couple of years ago. And I have done some fundraisers internationally with different companies.”Asked what the biggest difference she's encountered in her move to the horse sales, Booker smiled and said, “You can't say, 'Sold.' If you've been doing this your whole life and you always sell out, making that transition of not saying sold is definitely not easy.”Regardless of what she is selling, Booker said she has one constant goal.“The biggest thing is you want people to trust you,” she said. “Buyers and sellers. I think that takes a little bit for them to get comfortable with my chant, as well as my style. But most importantly, I want them to feel reassured that, 'Hey, she sees us.' And at the same time the sellers are happy with what they are receiving out of it, too.”Booker sees her role as a facilitator in a vital process for both sides of the ledger.“At home, we deal with retirements or estates or bankruptcies and I always tell people, while we sell equipment for a living, I always feel like for most of the people, we are helping make a transition,” she said. “So a lot of times you are helping them through that process. At a car sale, they are bidding on a car that is maybe their dream car or a childhood favorite. So being part of that is pretty exciting.”Of her newest challenge, Booker said, “I am still learning with the Thoroughbred market. It's very transactional, I feel. It's amazing the dollar amount these horses continue to bring. But I know there are so many stories behind each horse. It still fascinates me how the sales line up. How one just takes off based off his dam and sire. It still intrigues me.”Booker Auction Company already has its fourth generation lined up.“My son, who is 15, is an auctioneer,” Booker said. “He just had a sale Sunday. I worked the ring for him as the bid assistant. That's a great way to get him started.”Booker's future appearances at Fasig-Tipton are still to be determined.“I had on my calendar always to come back to work the floor, at least, at the November sale,” she said. “We will see where this one takes me. It has to fit in my schedule because there is a lot going on at home. And we will see what they thought of all of it, as well.”The post For Camille Booker, A Fasig-Tipton Auctioneering First Years In The Making appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.