$120K topper in B.C. sale

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Nick and Pauline Felicella paid a record $120,000 for a yearling colt by In Excess at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's yearling and mixed sale, held Tuesday at the Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, British Columbia. The previous record for a yearling bought at a sale held by the British Columbia division of the society was $98,000 in 2000. The sale-topper is out of Ashwood Tie, by Black Tie Affair.

The Felicellas were the top buyers at the sale for the second straight year. They spent $245,000 to purchase three yearlings, including $91,000 for a half-brother to B.C. Derby winner Spaghetti Mouse. The Felicellas bought Spaghetti Mouse, a 4-year-old son of Archers Bay, out of the 2003 CTHS sale for $21,000 and he recently went over $500,000 in earnings with his win in the S.W. Randall Plate Sept. 4.

A total of 128 yearlings were sold for gross receipts of $1,556,850, down from last year's total of $1,787,000 for 130 yearlings. The average price of $12,163,was also down from last year, a decline of 11.5 percent from the $13,746 at the 2005 sale. A total of 138 horses went for $1,589,350 this year compared with $1,872,000 for 158 sold in 2005. The overall decline in the average price was 2.8 percent, from last year's $11,848 to this year's $11,517.

"I think there were a lot of bargains out there," said Dixie Jacobson, president of the horse society's local division. "The high end was strong, but people are still nervous about when and if the slots are coming to Hastings, and I think that hurt horses in the middle range of the sale."

Another In Excess yearling colt brought the third-highest price in the sale. Hip No. 20 was bought by Jeff Sengara for $90,000.