$2.2M mare leads Tattersalls

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Zibilene, a half-sister to 1994 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Barathea, brought $2,236,500 on Wednesday at the penultimate session of the Tattersalls December mare sale in England. The price was the highest so far at the four-session auction, which opened Monday.

Barouche Stud on the Isle of Man bought 4-year-old Zibilene, sold in foal to Machiavellian. Gerald Leigh's Eydon Hall Stud consigned her. The mare is by Rainbow Quest out of the Group 1 winner Brocade (Habitat).

The Wednesday session sold 191 lots for $19,833,282, yielding an average price of $103,838 and a median price of $40,257. Gross and average were down 14 percent and four percent, respectively, from the equivalent session last year, when 214 horses sold. The median price was up 8 percent from last year's figure.