$300,000 Bodemeister filly sets record at Barretts yearling sale

DEL MAR, Calif. – A family connection led to a record purchase at Tuesday’s Barretts select yearling sale at Del Mar.

Prominent owner Samantha Siegel paid $300,000 for a California-bred filly by Bodemeister, the most expensive yearling purchased at a Barretts sale since the company was formed in 1990.

Siegel owns the filly’s 2-year-old half-brother – Take the One O One, a colt by Acclamation who is scheduled to make his stakes debut in Sunday’s $100,000 Del Mar Juvenile Turf. Siegel bid on the Bodemeister filly through trainer Brian Koriner.

“We’ve got the brother,” Koriner said. “She’s by Bodemeister, and he’s a hot stallion. We think Take the One O One will be a stakes horse.”

The Bodemeister filly is out of the 9-year-old mare North Freeway, the winner of the 2012 Winter Melody Stakes at Delaware Park who earned $273,610.

“It’s a young mare, and I think the family will get better and better,” Koriner said.

The previous record for a yearling purchase at a Barretts sale was $290,000 in 2005 for Swift Demand, who won 4 of 28 starts and earned $97,520 in a four-year career from 2007-10.

Overall, prices rose in key categories at Tuesday’s sale, with 53 horses selling for $2,177,000, an average of $41,075. The median price was $32,000. There were 27 horses listed as not sold, and seven withdrawn, according to data released by Barretts.

The gross rose 27.3 percent from the 2016 figure of $1,710,000, while the average price increased 10.4 percent from the 2016 average of $37,174. The median rose 18.5 percent, from $27,500 in 2016.

“I was pleased all the way through, since we started our selection to showing,” Barretts general manager Kim Lloyd said.

“We are very pleased with the results. We’re trying to establish a market for high-end California-breds.”

Siegel was the leading buyer, acquiring one horse. Harris Farms, agent for Tom Bachman, was the leading consignor, selling two horses for $370,000. Overall, Harris Farms, as agent for various clients, sold six horses for $722,000.

The five most expensive hips were California-breds, including a filly by Unusual Heat purchased for $200,000 and a colt by Mucho Macho Man who sold for $120,000. Those were the only three horses to sell for six figures.

The Unusual Heat filly was acquired by Mike McMahon and Jamie Hill and Radley Equine and will be trained for a partnership by Dan Blacker in Southern California. The filly was consigned by Harris Farms, for prominent California breeder Madeline Auerbach.

“We bought a racehorse,” McMahon said. “We were here for California-breds.”

Blacker said he was attracted to the filly for her bloodlines and physical presence.

“She is really athletic and she’s from an excellent consignment,” he said.

The Mucho Macho Man colt was purchased by the Blinkers On Racing Stable from consignor Kim McCarthy, agent for Barton Thoroughbreds. Koriner advised Scott Sherwood of Blinkers On regarding the purchase and will train the colt.

“Brian Koriner really liked the horse,” Sherwood said. “He looks fast. He’s correct.”