Villa Margurite, a 5-year-old mare who never raced, topped the Barretts January mixed sale in Pomona, Calif., on Wednesday, attracting a bid of $120,000 from prominent California owner-breeders Marty and Pam Wygod.
Villa Margurite was the most expensive horse sold at the two-day sale, which showed declines from the 2007 sale that was dominated by significant dispersals.
Overall, 354 horses sold for $2,225,900, an average of $6,288. The average fell 34.1 percent from the 2007 average of $9,544.
Prices fell in all major categories at Tuesday's opening session of the Barretts January Mixed Sale in Pomona, Calif., a sale that does not feature the important dispersals that boosted prices in 2007.
Tuesday's session saw 187 horses sell for $1,220,900, an average of $6,526.Gross receipts were down 52.5 percent, while the average was off 43.2 percent from the corresponding session last year.
FRANKFORT, Ky. - The ownership of Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year, remained unchanged Tuesday after a circuit court judge declined to grant a motion of foreclosure against William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr., the jailed lawyers who are 20-percent partners in the horse.
The National Steeplechase Association plans to hire a full-time chief executive officer and restructure itself in an attempt to address complaints of two steeplechase meets that declined the organization's sanction for 2008.
According to the association's president, Francis Abbott, the group has created a search committee that will attempt to hire a full-time CEO within the next several months. In addition, the association has created a committee to discuss the concerns of the meets that will run without the association's sanction.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - One year ago, Curlin was nearly two weeks away from the first start of his life. But in less than nine months, Curlin went from an unstarted maiden to the winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic, with victories in the Arkansas Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Jockey Club Gold Cup en route. That ambitious, successful campaign received its proper coronation on Monday, when Curlin was named Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old male for 2007 at the 37th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel here.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Nearly one year after Barbaro's death, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner's two full brothers, 2-year-old Nicanor and an unnamed yearling, are doing well. But it's too soon to say whether either will be able to fill his brother's shoes.
Gross, average, and median increased Thursday at Day 2 of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s winter mixed sale in Ocala, Fla.
The second of three sessions, and the first open session, sold 184 horses for $1,158,600, up from the gross of $1,124,000 for 183 horses at last year's equivalent session. The 2008 average was up slightly, from last year's $6,142 to $6,297. The median was $4,350, up from $4,000 last year. But buy-backs also rose, from 28 percent to 31 percent.
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s winter mixed sale opened Wednesday in Ocala, Fla., with mixed results as gross increased but average and median declined.
Wednesday's consignor-preferred session sold 109 horses for gross receipts of $2,544,700, up from a total of $2,542,500 for 75 horses at last year's first of two consignor-preferred sessions. The average price fell from $33,900 to $23,346, a decrease of 31 percent, and the median price dropped from $21,000 to $16,000, a 24 percent decline. The 2007 buy-back figure was not available as of 6 p.m.
The New York Racing Association and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association have reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the horsemen's group that alleged NYRA was illegally withholding purse funds, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
