Northern California sale looks to continue momentum

The Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale, which will be held Wednesday at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, has become a more expensive auction in recent years.

After a 2018 auction that had average price of $4,898 for yearlings, average prices rose to $6,018 in 2019, $7,217 in 2020, and $9,977 last year. The average price in 2021 was the highest since 2015, according to the sale sponsor, the California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.

This year’s sale has a catalog of 151 horses, a figure that includes six supplemental entries, compared to 126 horses in 2020 and 140 last year. The 2019 auction had a catalog of 180 horses.

Last year, the CTBA reported that 92 yearlings sold for $917,900, with 14 withdrawn and 26 listed as bought back. Three horses of racing age sold for an average of $4,167. The most expensive hip last year was a filly by Stanford purchased for $45,000. She has yet to start.

This year’s sale has yearlings by seven of the top 10 stallions in California by progeny earnings. Stay Thirsty, who led the list through Sunday, has a remarkable 20 yearlings in the auction. Smokem, the leading first-crop stallion in California this year, is represented by six yearlings.

Stanford has three yearlings, including Hip No. 50 a filly who is a half-sister to Pretty Point, who was third in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita in 2019.

Mr. Big, the sixth-leading stallion in the state by progeny earnings has three yearlings, notably Hip No. 54, a colt who is a full brother to Big Returns, who won the Graduation Stakes for California-bred 2-year-olds at Del Mar in 2019.

A Stay Thirsty filly who is a half-sister to the stakes-placed runners Roses for Laura and Time for Angie sells as Hip No. 115.