Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale kicks off local season

The brief yearling sale season in California begins on Tuesday with the Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

Conducted by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, the Pleasanton sale is the first of two yearling sales in the state. Fasig-Tipton will conduct a yearling sale in Pomona on Sept. 26. Barretts Sales ceased operation last year after 28 years in the California market.

The Pleasanton sale has 157 yearlings and 27 horses of racing age. Sale organizers are planning a supplemental catalog of late entries.

Last year, the most expensive horse was a Ministers Wild Cat colt that sold for $45,000 to Michael Dante. The colt, named Audace, is in training at Del Mar with Mike Puype, but has yet to start.

Overall, the 2018 sale showed lower prices from the previous year, with 102 horses selling for an average of $4,898, a decline of 28 percent from the average of $6,868 in 2017. The median price in 2018 was $2,200, a decline of 26 percent from the 2017 median of $3,000.

Stakes winners Take the One O One and Lakerball have gone through the sale. Take the One O One is a two-time stakes winner who has earned $341,526. Lakerball, who was listed as bought back for $1,000 at the 2017 sale, won two turf stakes for 2-year-old fillies last fall and has earned $162,825.

Lakerball was consigned by Rancho de los Aviadores, which has a seven-horse consignment this year. Barton Thoroughbreds, Easterbrook Livestock Management, Bob Grayson Racing, Harris Farms, Lovacres Ranch and Woodbridge Farm have sizable consignments.

A majority of the yearlings are California-breds, which can be expected for a regional sale.

A few of the notable horses are Hip No. 17, a filly by Govenor Charlie who is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Awe’Some Kitten; Hip No. 30, a Clubhouse Ride colt who is out of the multiple stakes winner Speak Easy Gal; and Hip No. 92, a Tamarando filly who is a half-sister to the stakes winners Majestic Heat and Mensa Heat and the stakes-placed Real Heat.

Tamarando’s first foals are yearlings this year. There are also first-crop yearlings in the sale by Java’s War, Metaboss, Mshawish, and Uptown Rythem.