CTBA winter mixed sale ends with increased gross sales

Average prices declined at Tuesday’s California winter mixed sale in Pomona even though the number of horses sold, gross receipts, and median price showed increases over the corresponding sale in 2023.

According to statistics released by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, which conducted the sale, 111 horses sold for a gross of $951,100, or an average of $8,568 and a median price of $6,500. There were 37 horses withdrawn and 25 listed as not sold.

Last year, 90 horses sold for $821,400, or an average of $9,127. The median price in 2023 was $5,000.

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The 2022 sale saw 113 horses sell for $1,306,500, an average of $11,562. The 2021 sale had an average of $7,878.

On Tuesday, the most expensive hip was a 2-year-old filly by Sir Prancealot purchased by Harris Farms for $37,000. The filly, consigned by Checkmate Thoroughbreds, agent, is out of the unraced mare Katie’s Heat, a half-sister to Brother Derek, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2006.

The most expensive hip of the 2023 auction was the broodmare Poster Girl, who was sold for $70,000.

Tuesday’s sale was held at a time of uncertainty in California racing.

Golden Gate Fields in Northern California is scheduled to close in June. Racing officials in that part of the state are working to develop a replacement schedule focused on racing at Sacramento or Pleasanton, but have not made a formal announcement.

Tracks in Southern California have cut purses in the last year because of a decline in handle, and are likely to do so again in coming months, officials told the California Horse Racing Board in mid-January.

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