Texas Summer Yearling And Horses Of Racing Age Sale Posts Across-The-Board Gains

The Texas Summer Yearling and Horses of Racing Age Sale, held jointly by the Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star Park, posted a big gain in gross sales on Monday. The average and median also increased compared to last year, even with a much larger catalog on tap this year.

The sale was held in the sales pavilion at Lone Star Park with appropriate safety measures in place, and online bidding was offered for the first time at the Texas sale.  

For the yearling session, 106 head from 137 offered sold for a total of $1,347,700, compared to 42 of 65 sold last year for $506,000. That represents a 166.34 percent increase in gross sales. The average this year was $12,714, up 5.5 percent from last year's $12,048, and the median rose to $5,100 from $5,000 for an increase of 2 percent. The buyback rate this year was 22.6 percent compared to 35.3 percent last year. 

The format was altered this year to include a horses of racing age session, in part because of the cancellation of the 2-year-olds in training sale earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The session had 15 horses sell from 18 offered for a total of $162,500 and an average of $10,833.  

Last year's summer auction had a traditional mixed session with 12 sold for $31,100. 

“The results of this sale were strong on their own, and especially against the backdrop of a health pandemic,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “With twice as many yearlings as last year, the fact that our average and median still went up shows that there's a lot of demand in this region for quality stock. We were pleased with the response to online bidding as well.”   

Al Pike, agent, bought the three highest priced horses, topped by Hip 218, a Louisiana-bred colt from the first crop of Grade 1 winner Klimt. Consigned by Eaton Sales, agent for Coteau Grove Farms LLC, the January foal is the first out of the unraced Ghostzapper mare Ms. Character and sold for $120,000. 

Pike also signed the ticket on the Hip 203, who sold for $100,000 as the top filly and second-highest overall. Consigned by H & E Ranch, Roger Daly, agent, the Kentucky-bred daughter is also from the first crop of a Grade 1 winner in Classic Empire. She is out of Just Like Pop, by Unbridled's Song, whose only foal to race is a multiple winner.   

Pike also got the third-highest price from H & E Ranch and Daly with Hip 243, a Kentucky-bred Lemon Drop Kid colt for $70,000. 

From the horses of racing age session, the top price was Hip 16, an unraced 2-year-old filly by Twirling Candy. Martin Racing Stable LLC bought her for $27,000 from Eaton Sales, agent.  

Eaton Sales, agent, participating in the Texas sale for the first time, topped the list of consignors with gross sales of $454,800 from 28 sold. Roger Daly, agent, had the top average with eight sold for an average of $31,800.

For complete sale results, go to www.ttasales.com

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Texas Summer Yearling Sale Catalog Available, Online Bidding To Be Offered

A catalog of 175 head is now online for the Texas Summer Yearling and Horses of Racing Age Sale set for Aug. 24 at noon CDT at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie.

Sponsored by the Texas Thoroughbred Association and Lone Star Park, the sale will welcome bidders on site with enhanced safety protocols and for the first time will also offer live online bidding for those who cannot attend in person. Online bidders must be registered at least one week before the sale, no later than noon on Aug. 17.

“We had to cancel our 2-year-old sale due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we've been working since then to ensure we are able to conduct this sale because of its importance to the region,” said Mary Ruyle, executive director of the TTA. “We normally wouldn't have a horses of racing age session at this sale, but we are happy to offer that this year to fill the needs of consignors and buyers. The HORA section is quite impressive.”

Ruyle credited higher purses in Texas and a new consignor incentive program as two of the reasons that this year's sale has twice the number of yearlings as last year.

“In addition to boosting purses in Texas, the passage of HB 2463 allows the horse industry to create new ways to grow, so we were able to provide consignors with a rebate of up to half the consignment fee,” she said. “We saw a great response to that incentive, which resulted in more consignors bringing their horses to sell in Texas.”

The sale will utilize a live online bidding system along with improved online video.

“We made an investment in technology to allow buyers to bid from anywhere,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “Starting in early August, we will allow online bidders to register in advance, so we encourage anyone who is interested to do that on our website.”

The sale will kick off with a horses of racing age session including 2-year-olds in training by top sires such as Too Much Bling, Texas Red, Astrology and Twirling Candy. Among the older horses on offer are Herbs Love, a daughter of Etesaal who in her most recent start won the $75,000 San Jacinto Turf Stakes at Lone Star Park.

The yearling session will include 151 head by leading regional sires such as Too Much Bling, Star Guitar, Flat Out, Court Vision and My Golden Song. Top national sires including Tonalist, Sky Mesa, Bayern, Honor Code and California Chrome are also represented.

The online catalog and more information are available at www.ttasales.com.

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Lone Star To Resume Racing July 19, Adds Two Race Dates

Live racing at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tx. will resume Sunday, July 19 with the first race at 3:05 p.m. The track has COVID-19 guidelines available on its website, including a mask requirement.

Lone Star began its COVID-19-delayed meet on May 22, but it was paused on July 5 when a racing operations employee tested positive for the virus.

Alongside Friday's resumption announcement, Lone Star has announced an 18 percent purse increase, effective Sunday, July 19.  The track will also add two additional race days: Aug. 5 and Aug. 12. The races for those days will be previously cancelled races and brought-back book races.

Both divisions of the $100,000-estimated Texas Thoroughbred (Sales) Futurity have been rescheduled for Aug. 11.  With the necessary changes to the race schedule, the time between running the first and second legs of the Texas Stallion Stakes Series is not feasible, so both divisions of the second leg have been cancelled.  The Texas Thoroughbred Association hopes to run them in January at Sam Houston Race Park.

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