The Breeders Sales Co. of Louisiana's annual yearling sale is set for Sept. 23 at the Ike Hamilton Center in West Monroe, La.
The auction starts at 11:00 a.m. CT.
The Breeders Sales Co. of Louisiana is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
"The yearling sale is 'the' marketplace for our membership to sell their product within our state borders," said Brett Brinkman, chairman of the sales committee and LTBA board of directors member. "In doing so, money is generated for the services that the LTBA provides for its members. Our sale helps us fulfill our mission and purpose to ensure a stable environment for breeders' awards and incentives. We are here to protect and serve the industry as a whole. Simply, our sales company is here to serve the membership and no one individual or board of directors member."
The sale company has generated an average of $24,000 per year in management fees to the LTBA in last three years alone. "Management fees are paid to the LTBA after all sales expenses have been covered," said Roger Heitzmann, secretary/treasurer of the LTBA. "The (Breeders Sales Co. of Louisiana) has become an extremely stable platform in which to sell our yearling foal crops with our sales average increasing each year for the past three years."
"We had lots of new traffic last year," said Darren English, sales director for the Breeders Sales Co. of Louisiana. "Buyers showed up from Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and more. We worked hard to make sure that our consignors had a good audience for the sale."
Last year, 202 yearlings were cataloged for the sale and produced a gross volume of $2,000,300. The average sale price for 104 horses sold was $14,288. There were 17 outs and 45 buy-backs.
"I told several people when the catalog was published that we had 'broodmare power,' " said English. "The sale topper and several other purchases validated that outcome."
"This sale is an indication of the popularity of Louisiana-breds and a credit to our breeders," Heitzmann said. "We had a big audience at the sale and online through our webcast. Last year was one of our best sales."
A chestnut yearling colt by Awesome Again out of Clear Sailing, by Empire Maker , fetched $210,000. The colt was bred and foaled by Coteau Grove Farms in Sunset, La., and purchased by Brittlyn Stables.
"It was a very good sale," said Heitzmann. "It was the highest quality of yearlings in recent years with nearly 200 consigned to our sale."
"We have one of, if not the, strongest programs in the country. Because of that we've had an influx of new stallions, we've had better mares entering our program, and therefore, we're producing better horses. This was reflected in our 2013 yearling sale and we expect the same for our 2014 sale."
Consignment forms are currently being processed, but you can still download one from the website. Click here to download a PDF of the form.
For more information about previous sales go to louisianabred.com.
