Equine Sales of Louisiana boosts catalog for select yearling sale

Equine Sales Co. of Louisiana has quickly carved out a place for itself in the Southwest market, and when the auction house puts on its second annual consignor select yearling sale next month, the catalog will be significantly larger than last year. There are 233 yearlings set to sell during the Sept. 3 auction at the company’s facilities in Opelousas, up from last year’s book of 174.

“This is a 34 percent increase over last year,” said sales director Foster Bridewell. “The breeders and consignors are gaining trust in Equine Sales Co., realizing we’re trying to do the best job possible to get the bloodstock sold. That’s our goal, of course.”

Equine Sales Co. held its first yearling auctions in 2012, and during its September session, Vicar’s in Trouble, the eventual winner of the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby, sold for $8,000. A year later, an auction-house record was set when an Eskendereya colt brought $140,000 during the inaugural consignor select yearling sale.

Equine Sales Co. expanded again this year by putting on its first sale of 2-year-olds in training in April, topped by a Half Ours filly who brought $69,000. Bridewell said plans are to renew the auction at the same time next year and again include a horses-of-racing-age session.

For the immediate business at hand, the catalog for the consignor select yearling sale features a long list of established sires as well as yearlings from the first crops of Cape Blanco, Custom for Carlos, Drosselmeyer, and Gio Ponti. Several of the cataloged horses sport eye-catching pedigrees, including a Louisiana-bred Notional colt who is a half-brother to multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Thorn Song; a Smoke Glacken filly named Muffaletta who is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Bachelor Blues; and a Sky Mesa filly who is from the female family of Grade 3 winner, Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up, and sire Mr. Greeley.

“There’s such a variety of stallions being offered,” Bridewell said. “It’s over 108 various stallions.”

To access an online catalog, click here.