Positive signs precede CTHS Ontario sale

The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s Ontario division Canadian premier yearling sale has been the top sale in the country for decades, and the preferred spot for Canadian breeders to sell their best yearlings. One of four late-summer yearling and mixed auctions throughout Canada, the Ontario sale is set for Thursday at Woodbine’s sales pavilion. Canada’s top sires are represented among the 275 yearlings cataloged.

Thursday’s sale will be followed by the CTHS British Columbia yearling and mixed sale on Sept. 11 and the CTHS Alberta Thoroughbred sale on Sept. 19, and was preceded by the CTHS Manitoba yearling sale on Aug. 19.

The Manitoba auction, led by a Going Commando colt sold for the equivalent of $15,337 U.S., had 10 yearlings sold for an average of $6,787, a spike of 48 percent from 2017.

While the surging average price at that sale was a promising sign for the Canadian summer yearling market, the Manitoba sale is a smaller venue with a different group of buyers than the Ontario sale. Perhaps an even more positive indicator for the upcoming Ontario sale was the high demand for Ontario-breds at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale earlier this month. Ten of the 11 Ontario-bred yearlings sent through the ring met their reserves, averaging a strong $460,500. The group was led by a $1.2 million American Pharoah filly and a $635,000 Medaglia d’Oro colt.

While this week’s Ontario sale lacks that level of sire power, Canada’s leading stallions are well represented in the catalog. Silent Name leads the general sires list among stallions with Canadian-sired progeny after finishing second on that list last year. He has a baker’s dozen cataloged this week. Old Forester, who led the general sires list last year, is represented by 24 yearlings. Giant Gizmo and Milwaukee Brew, who round out the top four sires, have 22 and 15 yearlings cataloged, respectively.

The 2017 Ontario sale concluded with 203 yearlings sold for a total of $2,863,803, an average of $14,107 and a median of $7,922. Last year’s sale was topped by three yearlings that each brought $67,337 – two colts by Victor’s Cry, and one by Not Bourbon.

Recent graduates of the Ontario sale include multiple Grade 1 winner Heart to Heart, a $25,348 purchase by Terry Hamilton in 2012, and Canadian Horse of the Year Pink Lloyd, a $28,446 purchase by Frank Di Giulio Jr., as agent, in 2013.