California Thoroughbred Breeders Association has catalog of 138 for Fairplex sale

Tuesday’s California winter mixed sale at Fairplex in Pomona has a slightly larger catalog than the 2021 auction that had higher average prices compared to the 2020 edition.

The winter mixed sale, conducted by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, has a catalog of 138 horses and consists largely of early 2-year-olds and yearlings, with a fair number of broodmares and racing prospects.

The sale begins at noon Pacific.

Last January, the mixed sale saw 73 horses sell for $575,100, an average of $7,878, according to CTBA statistics. The number sold was down considerably from 2020, when 121 horses were auctioned for $885,400, an average of $7,317.

This is the fourth year the CTBA has held a winter mixed sale, replacing previous wintertime sales held by Barretts Sales, which is no longer in operation.

Tuesday’s sale includes the first crop of 2-year-olds from such stallions as Conquest Fahrenheit, Danzing Candy, Good Samaritan, and Smoke, and the first crop of yearlings from such stallions as Audible, Heart to Heart, and Mitole.

Hip No. 115 is a Kentucky-bred yearling colt by Mitole, the champion sprinter of 2019. The colt, consigned by Checkmate Thoroughbreds, as agent, is out of the multiple stakes winner Kiss Mine.

Most of the 2-year-olds and yearlings are California-breds, including Hip No. 32, a 2-year-old filly by Danzing Candy who is a half-sister to the stakes-placed veteran Psycho Dar, who has earned $335,256; Hip No. 54, a 2-year-old Vronsky colt named Le Vron James whose second dam was the brilliant 1990s sprint mare Soviet Problem; and Hip No. 90, a California Chrome filly who is a half-sister to the veteran stakes winner Bold Fantasy.

Any horse that sells for six figures on Tuesday would reverse a recent trend.

The 2020 sale was led by a 2-year-old Declaration of War filly purchased for $60,000. Named Ida Claire, the filly has won 2 of 11 starts and earned $58,970. Ida Claire was third in a $32,000 claiming race at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 9.

The most expensive hip last year was the mare Chasing Moments, who was listed as sold for $70,000. Chasing Moments was sold in foal to the Uncle Mo stallion Smokem.