Dam of Polar Expedition to be auctioned for debt

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Wingsea, 21-year-old dam of millionaire and multiple Grade 2 winner Polar Expedition, will be the subject of an unusual auction in Lexington on Wednesday.

Hilary Boone's Wimbledon Farm will auction the mare Wednesday in the lobby of the Fayette Circuit Courthouse in Lexington, because her owner apparently has abandoned her at the farm, according to Brian O'Rourke, Wimbledon's manager.

"We can't find him," O'Rourke said of Wingsea's owner, James B. Cody. O'Rourke said Cody, who also bred and raced Polar Expedition, has not paid any bills for Wingsea's upkeep for the last two years. "He owes us more than $20,000," O'Rourke said. "We've done nothing with the mare for two years, except keep her healthy and have the blacksmith out."

O'Rourke said that the farm and its lawyers have made repeated attempts to contact Cody, whose last known address was in Omaha, Neb. But the farm's attorney, Barry Stilz, said he has received no response.

After Cody failed to respond to a lawsuit Wimbledon filed in Lexington, the farm won a default judgment against him, allowing it to auction Wingsea.

Wingsea is a daughter of the Boldnesian stallion Wing Out and the Snow Sporting mare Snowy Cape. Winless in two starts, Wingsea later produced Polar Expedition, winner of the 1994 Jim Beam Stakes.

The sale will take place at 11 a.m.