Although he has not raced on the track for several years, the horse continues to win, this time in the sales arena.
At the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s select yearling sale Monday, Lion Heart emerged as the leading first-crop sire, his second victory in that category at a major yearling sale this year.
With one selling as high as $175,000 and another as low as $40,000, Lion Heart was represented by five yearlings sold for a total of $495,000. The stallion’s sale average of $99,000 was highest among stallions represented by their first yearlings of 2007 in the OBSC select catalog.
Including strong sales for other first-crop sires (minimum of three sold) such as Spanish Steps ($80,000 average/7 sold) and City Place ($76,000 average/5 sold), the group as a whole were competitive with the more established sires represented at the OBSC one-day sale.
Stallions who entered stud in 2005 and had yearlings from their first crop sell Monday averaged $56,444, compared with the sale average of $57,961. Based on a review of stallion statistics with three or more sold Monday, the first-crop sires’ average of $61,367 was considerably better than the sale average $57,629 (three or more sold) and all other sires who had three or more sell ($53,050) for sires who entered stud within the past five years.
Previously, Lion Heart had emerged as leading first-crop sire at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale ($148,667 average/15 sold) and second-leading first-crop sire at the FT Saratoga selected yearling sale ($224,000 average/5 sold).
Lion Heart stood his first season at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky., in 2005 for a $30,000 fee. According to the Live Foal Reports compiled by The Jockey Club for that year, the stallion had 187 registered foals from his first crop. His 2007 fee was listed at $25,000. --Ron Mitchell
