Texas Thoroughbred Association adds horses of racing age session to yearling auction

The Texas Thoroughbred Association has announced both the addition of a horses of racing age session to its annual yearling auction Aug. 24 at Lone Star Park and consignor incentives for the sale.

The horses of racing age session replaces broodmare and yearling offerings at the sale and is open to racing prospects 2 years olds and up. The change was made because of the coronavirus-caused cancellation of the 2-year-olds in training sale in April, according to a press release.

“After talking to consignors, we found there was strong demand for a horses of racing age session, especially for 2-year-olds,” Tim Boyce, sales director, said in the press release. “We realize these are unique times for consignors and buyers, so we are working to support them by being flexible with the format of this sale. For any 2-year-olds who have published works, we will include those on the sale website along with any videos that consignors wish to provide. And if we have enough demand for an under-tack show, we will work to make that happen prior to the sale.”

The entry deadline for the sale is June 15.

There will be incentives for consignors. According to the press release, a new Texas law has provided the funds to rebate as much as half of the $400 consignment fee for all horses passing through the ring.

“We know that these are challenging times for horsemen, so in order to adapt to the current situation we rolled over the consignment incentive to this sale and changed the format to give consignors an option for selling 2-year-olds and other horses of racing age,” said Mary Ruyle, executive director of the Texas Thoroughbred Association.

Lone Star Park was scheduled to open its meet Thursday night, but it has been postponed until at least May due to the coronavirus pandemic.