Fasig-Tipton's Texas yearling sale got under way Monday morning with a $130,000 Tejano Run colt the early session leader in Grand Prairie, Texas.
The auction house cataloged 407 lots to the sale this year, up dramatically from last year, when about 100 fewer horses were in the catalog. The rise in numbers this season was partly attributable to more than 50 Louisiana-bred yearlings.
Records fell nearly across the board at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's recent four-day yearling sale in Ocala, Florida, with new marks set for gross receipts, average price, and top price.
The sale included one select session, on Monday, and three open sessions, from Tuesday through Thursday. The select session, which broke records for gross receipts, average price, and median price, established momentum for the open sessions, with strength in the market from top to bottom.
TORONTO, Ontario - The late Don McClelland, who bred several Canadian champion racehorses, was one of five Thoroughbred industry inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the Toronto Congress Centre, near Woodbine racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario, on Thursday night.
"I know my Dad would have been so pleased with this honor," said McClelland's son, Ian. "We would like to thank all the buyers over the years who had the faith to purchase
D.G. McClelland-bred yearlings."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A business meeting that took place about 15 years ago turned into a successful racing partnership that has produced a very promising New York-bred 2-year-old.
Galloping Grocer, a son of New York-based sire A. P Jet, impressively won a statebred maiden race at Saratoga last Sunday in his career debut. Galloping Grocer, a chestnut colt, won the five-furlong race by 11 3/4 lengths under a hand ride and covered the distance in 56.88 seconds, just .17 seconds off the track record. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
When the filly Lovely Afternoon shipped back to her home state of Pennsylvania and won the Blue Mountain Juvenile Stakes last fall, her powerful victory as odds-on favorite barely registered as a blip on the radar screen for followers of local 2-year-olds.
That's because all of the attention was focused on the winner of the another stakes for statebred youngsters - a rocket-fast colt named Smarty Jones.
The bloodstock equivalent of a home run is to buy low and sell very high. For Benedict Mohit and his wife, Gita, a pair of small-animal veterinarians from Dade City, Fla., their first experience with pin-hooking came last fall when they decided that the time was ripe to invest in Thoroughbreds.
The initial step was for Benedict Mohit to contact a Kentucky veterinary school colleague. This, in turn, led to a network of savvy people in the horse business and to a pair of weanlings, a gray colt by Anet purchased for $4,700 and a bay colt by Pikepass at a cost of $2,700.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Disturbingthepeace, the champion California-bred sprinter of 2002, is likely to be retired after running poorly in two starts this summer, trainer Darrell Vienna said Friday.
Wednesday at Del Mar, Disturbingthepeace finished fourth as the 8-5 favorite in an optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs. Disturbingthepeace was near the front for the first half-mile but faded through the stretch. He was eligible to be claimed for $40,000, but there were no takers.
A Florida-bred filly by Monarchos sold for $90,000 on Thursday afternoon at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company yearling sale in Ocala, Fla., topping the last day of the sale as of 5 p.m.
The filly, the first foal out of the Dehere mare Shop Here, was consigned by Summerfield Sales, agent, and purchased by Murray Smith Training Stables. Smith had pinhooked Monarchos, the filly's sire, in 2000, one year before the horse won the Kentucky Derby.
LAS VEGAS - Bianconi was destined to be a good sire. For a son of Danzig, whose international influence was established long ago by his many sons who became superior stallions (Danehill, Green Desert, Polish Precedent, Chief's Crown, Anabaa, etc.), Bianconi went to stud with little fanfare in this country, standing for only $7,500 because he only won one race in England, a Group 2 stakes, as a 3-year-old. But his two victories in Ireland and a second in the Phoenix Sprint Stakes was enough for him to be named a champion at 3 in Ireland.
A Florida-bred colt by Snuck In was the highest-priced yearling to sell as of 5 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday at the second open session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company August yearling sale.
The colt, out of the Deputy Minister mare Full Approval, sold for $70,000 to W.D. North, agent. The colt was consigned by Cookson Thoroughbreds, agent.
The Wednesday session was the second of the sale's three open sessions.