$50,000 Stay Thirsty colt tops CTBA sale

Despite a significantly smaller catalog, Tuesday’s Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale in Pleasanton recorded higher gross and average prices compared to the 2019 auction.

Led by a Stay Thirsty colt purchased for $50,000, 74 horses were sold for a gross of $575,600 or an average of $7,778, according to sale company figures. In 2019, 103 horses sold for $555,000, or an average of $5,388, meaning the average price rose 44 percent this year.

This year, there were 25 horses withdrawn and 27 listed as not sold from a catalog of 126 horses. In 2019, there were 21 withdrawn and 56 listed as not sold from a catalog of 180 horses.

The sale was conducted by the California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.

Yearlings were the strongest aspect of Tuesday’s sale, with 69 of them selling for an average of $8,142 and five horses of racing age selling for an average of $2,760. Last year, yearlings averaged $5,741 compared to $3,320 for horses of racing age.

The stallion Stay Thirsty led Tuesday’s sale with three colts consigned by Lovacres Ranch, agent, at the top of the market. The colt purchased for $50,000 was acquired by Craig Warren and is a half-brother to Cioppino Pasadino, a winner of 17 of 47 starts and $254,771. A 6-year-old, Cioppino Pasadino has won three of his last four starts racing at the Los Alamitos evening meeting.

Stay Thirsty is the sire of colts purchased for $47,000 by Robert Jones and $40,000 by Templeton Horses at Tuesday’s sale.

By comparison, the most expensive horse of the 2019 auction was a colt by Mr. Big purchased for $45,000.

The sale was held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds and was the first yearling auction in California this year, and first sale of any kind in the state since January.

Fasig-Tipton was scheduled to host a 2-year-olds in training sale in the spring, but the event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Fasig-Tipton has scheduled a yearling sale in Pomona, Calif., on Oct. 19.