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| USTA/Mark Hall photo |
| Hip No. 35, Rifleman, a trotting colt by Father Patrick-Designed To Be, sold for $330,000 to Courant Inc. |
“We had 13 more yearlings sell for $100,000 compared to last year,” said Randy Manges, co-sales manager. “We are very, very pleased with that, especially since in reviewing the catalogue it did not appear we had an $800,000 or $550,000 horse like last year. We knew we had some extremely nice horses that would sell well, so while the average might be down, we could not be happier with the median. Also, we did not have one horse sell for under $27,000 and last year we did. This is another result we are quite pleased with.”
Despite the presence of stalwart super stallions Somebeachsomewhere and Muscle Hill, who made their presence known immediately and did possess high total price tags at $1.9 million and $2.5 million, respectively, the star of the sale was produced by none other than one of the freshman stallions the sport has been so anxious to witness the progeny of — Father Patrick.
“All the new stallions sold extremely well and there was a lot of excitement about them,” Manges said. “Although people went to the proven stallions in Muscle Hill and Somebeachsomewhere, the fact that the sales-topper was by Father Patrick, shows the new stallions were well-received.”
Striding into the ring as Hip No. 35, Rifleman, a son of the above mentioned world champion and another world champion in Designed To Be, left the arena after being purchased for $330,000 by Courant Inc. The handsome bay, born in January 2016, was the first foal from his dam who hails from a female family that wins on the racetrack then transfers those performances to the breeding shed.
Consigned by Kentuckiana Farms and raised at Walco Farms in Standford, Ky., Rifleman is also a grandson of Donato Hanover, who is establishing himself as a quality broodmare sire.
Calmly swishing her tail as the auctioneer was hard at work, Seaside Bliss, a daughter of Cantab Hall-You Want Me, brought the gavel down for $300,000 to be the second highest-priced yearling of the evening.
Entered into the sale and raised by Peninsula Farm, the filly is the second foal out of New York Sire Stakes champion You Want Me and is a half-sibling to 2-year-old You Know You Do (Muscle Hill, $362,754), this year’s Peter Haughton Memorial victor, as well as a top contender for divisional honors this season.
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| USTA/Mark Hall photo |
| Seaside Bliss brought the gavel down for $300,000 to be the second highest-priced yearling of the evening. |
With Paul Kelley signing the ticket as agent, Seaside Bliss, Hip No. 47, has an extensive pedigree of black type as her fourth dam is Armbro Éclair (Speedy Crown, $187,443). This mare produced three horses that broke the $100,000 barrier and her daughters are responsible for a number of stakes winners.
Kentuckiana Farms and Walco Farms teamed up again to offer the third highest-priced yearling of the night in Hip No. 93, The Dream Lives On. Selected by Jimmy Takter for $265,000 the colt is by Muscle Hill and out of the 2012 2-year-old Dan Patch Award winner To Dream On.
The colt is a half-brother to Chanel Me (Cantab Hall, $14,750), who is currently a 2-year-old and has captured a leg of the Pennsylvania Stallion Series.
The Dream Lives On has a family tree that screams future champion from the catalogue page, as his second dam is Satin Pillows, the dam of another very nice horse in Credit Creation (Credit Winner, $113,251) and from four foals she has three winners.
Satin Pillows is out of Bold Dreamer (Donerail, $531,258), an outstanding racehorse and equally prolific broodmare, as she has foaled champion Pampered Princess (Andover Hall, $1.64 million), O’Brien Award winner Was It A Dream (Striking Sahbra, $713,441) and Nothing But Class (Andover Hall, $134,818).
The sale got off to a quick start when Hip No. 1, Southport Beach, a pacing colt by Somebeachsomewhere-Benear sold for $250,000 to Geoff Martin. Consigned by Vieux Carre Farms, agent, he is a full brother to 2014 Little Brown Jug winner Limelight Beach.
Despite the proven stallions standing their ground and retaining their value within the industry, the four newcomers in Father Patrick, Captaintreacherous, Sweet Lou and Trixton, not only held their own, but illustrated why they will be forces to reckoned with in the future.
Captaintreacherous was just ahead of Somebeachsomewhere in total price for his 18 foals, while the older stallion had 15 offered for sale. The younger horse collected an average of $114,500 for his colts and $103,750 for his fillies.
The five offspring of Father Patrick brought a total of $600,000, but his average was a stout $140,000 for his four colts and his lone filly fetched $40,000.
Sweet Lou also made a splash, as his three fillies averaged $155,000 and his four colts $95,000. His sons and daughters amassed just under $850,000 in the sales ring.
Trixton also was quite successful at the sale as six of his progeny, with only one being a colt, amassed $475,000, with his fillies averaging a healthy $86,000.
A total of 93 head sold for $10,634,000, with the average price being $114,344.
“We are very happy with the opening day of the sale, but I know we are looking forward to the days that come,” Manges said. “This is a strong sale throughout each day, in fact the second day this year appears more solid than last year’s and many buyers are arriving on Wednesday. While it is not the same as last year in terms of those very high-priced horses, we have built a catalogue that has great depth throughout the course of the sale.”
The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale continues until Saturday (Oct. 7) with all sessions opening at 7 p.m.
To view the full results of the sale or the upcoming catalogue, please click here. The event is also being streamed live and can be seen on this link.
Complete recaps of the individual sessions will be available at www.ustrotting.com on the mornings following the evening sessions.
