Louisiana sale Saturday offers 131 yearlings

There are 131 yearlings catalogued to the Breeders Sales of Louisiana auction to be held Saturday in Opelousas, La.

The one-day sale begins at 10 a.m. Central at the Equine Sales of Louisiana complex. A mixed session featuring 19 broodmares and eight weanlings will follow the yearling session.

The LTBA is sponsoring the sale. The average last year was $13,000 and the median $8,000. There was no Breeders Sales of Louisiana auction from 2015-20.

Yearlings on offer include sons or daughters of such stallions as Always Dreaming, Breaking Lucky, Coal Front, Custom for Carlos, El Deal, Exaggerator, Goldencents, Half Ours, Keen Ice, Midshipman, Orb, Sharp Azteca, and Star Guitar.

Yearlings with interesting pedigrees include:

*Hip. No. 23, a colt by Half Ours out of Smitty’s Sunshine, a multiple stakes winner of $532,219

*Hip No. 25, a filly by Custom for Carlos who is a half-sister to stakes winner Free Drop Maddy, who topped the Texas 2-year-olds in training sale in April at $200,000

*Hip No. 32, a filly by Custom for Carlos out of stakes winner Synapse, who is a daughter of Sarah Lane’s Oates

*Hip No. 37, a filly by Army Mule from the Grade 3-winning mare Victorina

*Hip No. 58, a filly by Tapiture who is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Chu Chu’s Legacy

*Hip No. 91, a colt by Gormley out of Grade 3 winner Go Forth North

*Hip No. 94, a filly by Midshipman who is a half-sister to Ghost Hunter, a Grade 3 winner of $866,323

*Hip No. 104, a colt by Gormley who is a half-brother to stakes winner Janet Is Ready

*Hip No. 118, a filly by Clearly Now who is a half-sister to Hollis, a multiple stakes winner of nearly $600,000

The list of consignors includes Blanchet Farm, Brehon Farm, Brown’s Thoroughbred Farm, Clear Creek Stud and K P Sales.

Officials are hopeful the climate is right for a strong sale Saturday, according to comments posted on the LTBA website from its magazine, Louisiana Horse.

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“Louisiana-breds have been very popular at the sales around the country,” said Roger Heitzmann, secretary and treasurer of the LTBA. “Now with the introduction of sports betting and the coming of historical horse racing machines, we anticipate that purses for the accredited Louisiana-breds will increase dramatically. We expect the value of, and demand for, Louisiana-bred yearlings to increase substantially as well.”

Tom Early, sales director, echoed the sentiment.

“I expect this year’s sale to continue the momentum that started with the sale last year and anticipate an increased interest from both consignors and buyers,” Early said. “The increase in purses is due to be evident by the time this year’s yearling crop [reaches] racing age.”

Saturday’s sale will be live streamed on the website of the LTBA.

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