Numbers drop at Evangeline sale

OPELOUSAS, La. - A bay son of Holy Bull named Holy Shazaam brought $70,000 as the sale-topper in Sunday's John Franks Memorial 2-year-olds in training sale held at Evangeline Downs. Cathy Deville, acting agent for Crazy C Ranch, made the top bid.

The colt, a registered Kentucky-bred, is out of the multiple-producing Green Dancer mare Fletch. He is Breeders' Cup nominated and, as are all of this year's sales graduates, eligible for a division of the $100,000 John Franks Memorial Sales Stakes to be held at Evangeline in late July.

A total of 134 juveniles passed through the ring this year for a total of $1,045,700. This year's average of $7,809 per head was a decline of more than 10 percent from last year's average of $8,727, when a total of 199 2-year-olds brought $1,736,700.

"Given the current economic conditions and the unexpected cold weather, we were not surprised at this year's numbers," said Charlotte Stemmans Clavier, president of Stemmans, Inc, the sale's administrator. "The figures compare favorably with some of our earlier sales here, and we experienced less of a decline than some other 2-year-old sales held this year."