Led by a $145,000 sale-topper, the Barretts October mixed sale ended Tuesday evening with strong gains across the board.
Day Jewels, a 10-year-old Slew o' Gold mare out of Laday (Lyphard), was the two-day auction's most expensive lot. Magali Ventures, LLC, purchased Day Jewels from Golden Eagle Farm. Day Jewels, in foal to Golden Eagle's millionaire Event of the Year, is a stakes-winning half-sister to Grade 2 winner Big Sur.
The Barretts Equine Limited's two-day October mixed sale in Pomona, Calif., posted gains across the board at its opening session on Monday.
The session sold 213 lots for $1,604,800, up dramatically from the $887,900 for last year's smaller catalog, which grossed from 180 lots sold. This year, the first-day average price rose 53 percent, from $4,933 to $7,534, and the median climbed 23 percent, from $3,250 to $4,000.
Monday's session-topper was the $110,000 broodmare Picturesque Lady, in foal to Event of the Year, that Paula Capestro bought from Golden Eagle Farm.
Bold Ruler is the only stallion in the last 150 years to top the leading sire roster for seven consecutive years, 1963-1969. Standing at Claiborne Farm, he also led the roster when his son Secretariat was 3, in 1973.
What a Pleasure, who stood at Waldemar Farm, Ocala, was Bold Ruler's first son atop the leading sire list, in 1975 and 1976. Two additional scions of Bold Ruler to head the leading sire lists were Raja Baba in 1980 and Seattle Slew in 1984.
Leadership of the Maryland-bred 2-year-old divisions was an open question until Oct. 14, when two well-connected youngsters scored resoundingly in Maryland Fund stakes at Laurel Park.
Bridge Out Again, a colt owned, bred, and trained by Richard W. "Dickie" Small, fought off Maryland Million Nursery winner Cherokee's Boy to win by a half-length in the Rollicking Stakes, completing the seven furlongs in 1:24.19.
In an old Irish song from Dublin, Biddy Mulligan is a "lady of the evening" who was the pride of a part of town called the Coombe.
And, somewhat like her namesake, the equine Biddy Mulligan is a tough, independent female who has always been popular with the fellas.
Biddy Mulligan, a 13-year-old daughter of Geiger Counter, is also a proud mother these days as her 2- and 3-year-old sons, Biddy's Lad and Mulligan the Great, have won stakes races at Woodbine.
The weather was a bit blustery and skies were overcast, but the New York breeding and racing program shined brightly last Saturday at Belmont Park.
Seven stakes worth a total of $1 million were part of the 10-race card, which was devoted entirely to statebreds. In addition to competitive and full fields, there were several non-racing activities held at the track, including a free concert after the races by the Harlem Jazz Festival, a fashion show, sky-divers, a display of antique tractors, and dozens of vendors selling crafts, food, and clothing.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Coolmore's handsome colt Van Nistelrooy will make his first public appearance in America in more than 13 months. When last we saw him, the flashy son of Storm Cat and the Halo mare Halory was selling for $6.4 million at the Keeneland September yearling sale on Sept. 12, 2001. The colt was scheduled to sell the preceding day, but Keeneland postponed selling due to the terrorist attacks.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's October yearling sale concluded Tuesday evening with solid returns from a nearly doubled catalog, posting dramatic increase in gross and moderate declines in average and median prices.
The two-day auction at Fasig-Tipton's Newtown Paddocks in Lexington sold 519 yearlings for total returns of $6,381,400, up 54 percent over last year's auction, which sold 323 for $4,144,800. The average price decreased by 4 percent to $12,296, compared with last year's $12,832; the median dropped 8 percent, from $6,500 last year to $6,000 in 2002.