A pair of Galileo yearlings were the $233,700 top sellers Monday at the Tattersalls December yearling sale in Newmarket, England. The one-day sale kicked off the annual Tattersalls December auction series with a higher gross but downturns in average and median.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland’s 13-day November breeding stock auction ended Saturday with the market between 10 and 15 percent below last year’s levels, a sign that commercial breeders, hampered by tight credit, remain hesitant to expand their holdings aggressively.
The auction closed with 2,979 horses sold for a total of $147,392,900, down 8 percent from last year’s gross for 2,779 horses. Average price declined 12 percent to $50,322, and the $17,000 median was down 15 percent. Buybacks were 23 percent, up slightly from 22 percent last season.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lookin At Lucky, 2009’s juvenile champion who went on to win the Preakness and Haskell this year, has retired from racing at age 3 and will enter stud at Coolmore Stud’s Kentucky division, Ashford Stud. Coolmore has purchased the colt from owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman.
Coolmore hasn’t yet set a fee for the Smart Strike colt, a leading contender for championship honors in the 3-year-old division this year. If he does earn another Eclipse Award, he will be the first 2-year-old champion to repeat at 3 since Spectacular Bid in 1979.
The Pamplemousse, who won two Grade 3 stakes in early 2009 but was later plagued with injuries, has been retired and will stand the 2011 breeding season at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, Calif.
According to Alex Solis II, a member of the partnership that campaigned The Pamplemousse, the colt was in training when he developed ankle problems.
“He wasn’t finishing as strong in his last two works,” said Solis, the son of the prominent jockey. “It was his ankles. There were no chips. There was some remodeling that was going on. We decided we didn’t want to take any chances.”
Applebite Farms in French Camp, Calif., is closing this winter, former farm manager Duane Griffith said Thursday.
Griffith said he is in the process of overseeing the liquidation of the farm’s property and relocating approximately 100 horses on the grounds on behalf of owner Joan Rogers, a retired attorney from Santa Clara, Calif.
Griffith said that approximately 30 horses owned by Applebite, including the stallion Gotham City, will be offered in a dispersal at the Barretts January mixed sale in Pomona, Calif.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Hill 'n' Dale Farms has lowered all but one of its stallions' fees for 2011 and is offering a 10-percent discount for payment on or before Nov. 15, 2011.
Only Indygo Shiner remains at his 2010 fee of $7,500.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Shadwell Farm's 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt Iqbaal was the leading light Thursday at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale's 11th session.
Trainer Wesley Ward snapped up the Grade 3-placed winner for $70,000 late in the afternoon to top the session on a day that saw more declines. Iqbaal is out of Storm Cat's daughter Queen's Lady and is from the family of graded winner Jeano and champion Folklore.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – As New York Thoroughbred breeders and owners anticipate the arrival of casino-style gaming at Aqueduct, Kentucky’s Vinery Stud has announced it will take over management of Empire Stud in Hudson, N.Y., under the name of Vinery New York.
This is the way Keeneland auctioneer Ryan Mahan remembers it: Thoroughbred owner Jerry Crawford once brought Mahan to Iowa to conduct a greyhound auction. A year later, Crawford was bidding on a yearling at Keeneland.
"He bids $95,000, and somebody else bids $100,000," Mahan said. "He stands up to leave, I say, 'Whoa, sit back down. This ain't no dog.' He turned around and smiled and bid $105,000. And that horse was Paddy O'Prado."
