The Tattersalls December sale kicked off on Monday with a one-day yearling auction, which saw five horses sell for 100,000 guineas ($168,300) or more but posted overall declines compared with the first session in 2011.
Tattersalls reported 167 horses sold for $6,050,060, a 4.5 percent decline compared with 2011. Average price of $36,230 declined 14.3 percent, and the median of $21,877 fell 36.6 percent. The buy-back rate increased from 24.2 percent in 2011 to 28.9 percent this year.
Broodmare of the Year Oatsee, who saw two of her foals win graded stakes races in as many days over the holiday weekend, will be among the mares in unbeaten champion Frankel’s first book next spring.
The 15-year-old Unbridled mare is currently undergoing a 30-day quarantine and mandatory tests prior to her planned trip to England. The quarantine is taking place at Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Ky., where she is boarded for owner Leonard Riggio’s My Meadowview Farm.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The fastest way to win a stakes for older California-breds this month is through the claim box.
On the weekend of Nov. 17-18 at Betfair Hollywood Park, the former claimers Killer Bear and Going for a Spin won stakes months after being claimed by owners who were previously involved in their careers.
Ramsey Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., announced Thursday that champion Kitten’s Joy will stand the 2013 season for $50,000 when the foal stands and nurses, the same fee as in 2012.
Kitten’s Joy is represented by 12 stakes winners and the earners of more than $5.6 million this year. He currently ranks eighth on the North American turf sire list and 15th on the synthetic sire list, after ranking second and third in those respective categories in 2011.
On Nov. 5, Mandy Pope of Whisper Hill Farm paid $10 million for 2011 Horse of the Year Havre de Grace at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky selected fall mixed sale. The following day, Pope paid $4.2 million for 2011 Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., announced Tuesday that Mr. Sekiguchi, Canada’s leading freshman sire in 2011, will relocate to New York for the 2013 breeding season and stand for a fee of $2,500 live foal. The nine-year-old son of Storm Catstood the 2012 season at Park Stud in Orangeville, Ontario, for a fee of $2,500 (Canadian).
“He is the number three second crop sire in Canada,” said Joe McMahon, “so we really see a great deal of potential in this phenomenally bred son of Storm Cat.”
Group 3 winner Bullet Train, a three-quarter-brother to unbeaten champion Frankel, has been retired and will enter stud in Kentucky in 2013. The 5-year-old Sadler’s Wells horse is scheduled to arrive in New York on Nov. 22 to undergo quarantine. Complete details on stud plans, including the farm where he will stand and his 2013 fee, will be announced on Dec. 1.
California-based bloodstock agent Bob Feld and international agent Hubert Guy brokered the deal with Juddmonte Farms, which campaigned Bullet Train as a homebred.
Grade 1 winner Courageous Cat will stand the 2013 breeding season at Questroyal North in Stillwater, N.Y. Questroyal, located just outside of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., will stand the 6-year-old Storm Cat horse in partnership with Lane’s End, where he entered stud in 2012 at a fee of $10,000. His 2013 fee has been set at $6,000 live foal.
Australian bloodstock sales company Magic Millions announced on Tuesday that international wagering company Betfair will become a major sponsor of Magic Millions beginning Jan. 1.
The sponsorship deal takes effect before the start of the Jan. 9 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling sale. Giles Thompson, chief executive officer of Betfair Australasia, said that the commercial sponsorship with Magic Millions reflects Betfair’s support for two primary stakeholders in Australian racing: bettors and owners.
