The average of $24,334 was up 0.48 per cent, but the gross of $3.1 million was up 24 per cent from a year ago. Rene Allard bought the sale topper, Hurricane Beach for $110,000.

by Brett Sturman

The 2017 Tattersalls Summer Mixed Sale saw huge gains in the average price from the year prior, and in the 2018 sale held Sunday in the paddock at the Meadowlands Racetrack continued the trend of a strong average.

Excluding 14 sale “outs,” a total of 130 horses walked through the sales ring for an average of $24,334 per horse. The average was right on par with last year’s average of $24,218 — up 0.48 per cent — and once again up considerably — up 52.5 per cent, to be exact — when compared to the average of $15,846 from the same sale two years ago. And with 130 horses selling this year compared to only the 105 that sold last year, gross sales were up from $2.5 million to $3.1 million.

Two horses sold for six digits, including $110,000 sales topper Hurricane Beach who went to Rene Allard. Consigned by Preferred Equine Marketing, the 4-year-old by Somebeachsomewhere—Blazing Yankee carries a lifetime mark of 1:50.3 and most recently was raced timed in 1:50.4 in an overnight race at the Meadowlands on Saturday’s Pace night.

Allard has enjoyed success most recently with 2017 Summer Mixed Sale graduate Maxdaddy Blue Chip, and it seems as though the conditioner see’s similarities in Hurricane Beach.

“I watched him race many times and he’s got high speed,” Allard said. “He’s well-bred and he’s a good-looking horse and fits some classes where he should be able to get some money back pretty quick. I was expecting him to be between $80,000 and $100,000, but you overpay at this sale a little and I still think he’s a really nice horse. He’s sound, and he can race at a number of places within 45 minutes from my barn and in a month from now he’s going to race for $200,000 hopefully.” Allard was referencing the rich Prix d’Ete in Quebec.
In addition to Hurricane Beach, Allard purchased three other horses including a 3-year-old colt by Muscle Hill named Bautista. Asked why he felt the horse went for “only” $31,000, Allard thought that “maybe people are a little gun shy of Takter (who previously trained the horse), but he seems like he’s got enough talent and for that kind of money we figured we’d take a chance.”

Preferred Equine Marketing consigned the next two highest priced horses in the sale, including the other horse to sell for six digits. TJ Blast sold for precisely $100,000, and went to Richard Banca. Trained by Ron Burke up until the point of sale, TJ Blast entered the sales ring winning seven in a row consisting of extremely fast wins in the Northfield Open and most recently in a N/W 8 at Yonkers where he won in 1:51 flat. For the 5-year-old, he’s earned more money in his current spree than he did in his entire career prior to the start of the winning streak.

Bob Boni’s Northwood Bloodstock consigned the fourth highest selling horse, and the highest 2-year-old of the sale. The unraced 2-year-old filly named Kadabra’s Temple (Kadabra—Armbro Temple) sold for $72,000 to Mitchell Skolnick of Bluestone Farms. The nicely bred 2-year-old previously sold for $144,000 as a yearling.

Preferred, the sale’s leading consignor with 85 horses sold, grossed $2.1 million with an average of $25,538. Northwood Bloodstock was the second leading consignor and sold 37 horses for a gross of $853,500, along with an average of $23,067.

Tattersalls sale manager and president of Preferred Equine Marketing, David Reid was once again pleased with the sale results. “Overall, I’m very happy with the sale,” Reid said. “Presale, we kept stressing that horses coming into the sale were not only racing, but racing quite well and from a lot of jurisdictions. That was represented by the buyers and also reflects the horses being offered. We had good participation from Canada, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and obviously the surrounding metropolitan area.”

Reid noted the gross sale improvement since last year and more than that, he liked what he saw in the way the sale was conducted. “The pulse of the sale was pretty good and I thought that the flow was very good. We appreciate the participation from everyone and it’s a good time to buy and sell horses with all of the racetracks open right now,” he said.

Boni echoed Reid’s sentiments.

“It was a good sale. Like every sale, there’s some that are hit or miss, but if you’ve got a nice horse they’re going to sell well because people want them,” said Boni. “It’s not complicated. It’s very basic. Horses that are good and look good and have reasonably decent lines – you’re going to get fair value. The market is good for something that suits the environment. If a horse has a place to go and fits certain conditions then it’s going to sell very well. If there’s not a place to race for a horse or it doesn’t show the right kind of lines, then it’s not going to sell well, nor should it.”

Boni said he was happy with how many in his consignment sold.

“I sold a number today that went for significantly more than I thought they would have went for. But again, if they fit certain conditions and can go somewhere, people will do their homework and find those types of horses,” Boni said.