Big declines for Washington sale

AUBURN, Wash. A filly who sold for $92,000 provided the highlight in an otherwise grim renewal of the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Associations annual summer yearling sale on Tuesday.

The sales topper, a daughter of Cherokee Run and Silver Echo and thus a full sister to Barbara Shinpoch winner Cherokee Echo, was purchased by Dave and Jill Heerensperger of Bellevue, Wash., from the consignment of Northwest Farms.

Preliminary figures showed that 114 yearlings sold for $1,279,500 for an average price of $11,224. Gross sales were down 41 percent from last year, while the average declined 25.8 percent and the median price of $6,500 represented a drop of 45.8 percent.

Of the 215 yearlings cataloged, 199 went through the ring but 85 failed to attain their reserves. The percentage of buybacks, 42.7 percent, was an all-time high for a WTBA sale.