An English Channel filly, which is a member of her sire’s first crop, brought the top price of $80,000 during the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association (WTBOA) summer yearling and mixed sale Sept. 7 at Emerald Downs. Todd and Shawn Hansen, who own Scatter Creek Training Center in Tenino, Wash., purchased the chestnut yearling from Terry and Mary Lou Griffin’s Griffin Place, agent.
Bred in Washington by Ken W. Miles, the filly is a half sister to the winner Slim Pickins (by Giacomo). Their winning dam, Time for Magic (by Pentelicus), finished second in the Irish Day Handicap and the John and Kitty Fletcher Stakes in 2004 at Emerald Downs.
Prior to this year, the WTBOA conducted separate sales for yearlings in early September and mixed stock in December. Under the new combined format, the 120 horses that sold grossed $848,700 and averaged $7,073. The median price was $2,500, and the buy-back rate was 29.4%.
The results for yearlings only included a gross of $840,900 for the 109 horses that sold. The average was $7,715. During the 2009 summer yearling auction, the 102 yearlings that sold grossed $848,600 and averaged $8,320. The buy-back rate was 38.6%.