106 set to sell at Washington sale

This year’s Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association’s summer yearling and mixed sale has a smaller catalog than last year’s, but one representing sire power both locally and nationally.

The sale is set for Tuesday at the WTBOA’s Morris J. Alhadeff Pavilion at Emerald Downs. The catalog comprises 106 horses, down from last year’s 137 entries. There are 102 yearlings cataloged, with four horses of racing age entered. Those yearlings are eligible for two bonuses through the WTBOA sales incentive program after their owners pay the applicable fees. Graduates who win their first race in an Emerald Downs maiden special weight, allowance, or stakes race will earn their owners a $2,500 bonus, while winners of a maiden-claiming race with a tag of $25,000 or more can earn $1,000.

Grade 2 winner Atta Boy Roy, who stands at Blue Ribbon Farm in Buckley, Wash., leads Washington’s general sire list after having finished second to Parker’s Storm Cat last year. A Washington champion and Emerald track-record setter, Atta Boy Roy has 14 yearlings in the sale catalog.

Kentucky stallions represented include classic sire Awesome Again, with a halfbrother to Grade 3 winner Tiz a Minister. Also represented is Breeders’ Cup Mile and French classic winner Karakontie, who is part of this year’s strong class of firstcrop yearling sires.

The WTBOA sale produced Grade 1 winner and successful young California sire Smiling Tiger. The auction also is a consistent producer of top runners in Washington, including Stryker Phd, voted the state’s horse of the year in 2014, 2015, and 2016, and reigning horse of the year Mach One Rules.

The yearling portion of last year’s WTBOA sale finished with 92 horses sold for a gross of $1,204,600, down 16 percent from the 2016 yearling session, when 84 horses brought $1,431,400. The average sale price declined 23 percent, to $13,093 from $17,040, while the median was cut in half, to $7,500 from $15,000. The buyback rate finished at 21 percent, compared to 22 percent the year prior. The mixed session sold just one horse from three offered.

Last year’s sale was topped by Baja Sur, a gelded son of Smiling Tiger sold for $67,000 to John and Janene Maryanski. He has won both his starts, including the King County Express Stakes last month at Emerald.