Tapit Weanling Tops Barretts Final Day

A Tapit   weanling colt brought a session-topping $60,000 at the second day of the Barretts October mixed sale Oct. 28. Broodmares and weanlings made up most of the sale’s second half, which saw 100 horses gross $379,500 and average $3,795.

The average for the two-day sale was $3,770, down 61.29% from last year’s average of $9,740.The 2007 sale had two strong dispersals from Stan Fulton and Golden Eagle Farm. A total of 243 head sold this year for $916,100, with a median of $1,700. Of the 436 that went through the ring, 193 (44.27%) failed to sell.

“The bottom end of the breeding-stock market is very soft right now,” said Jerry McMahon, Barretts’ president and general manager. “That said, the Tapit colt was a very solid price, which shows that when the product is here, the market is here.”

McMahon cited the rising costs of keeping horses in training and breeding stock in California.

“The economics at the bottom of this business are just not there to support it anymore,” he said. “This has been creeping up on us for a few years.”

Kjell H. Qvale bought the $60,000 weanling, who is out of the stakes-placed Ruhlmann mare Mydaddysthemann. Havens Bloodstock Agency Inc. consigned the colt for Shields Thoroughbreds Inc.

That colt was the sale’s second-highest price overall. During the Oct. 27 session, a yearling daughter of Exchange Rate  —Our Dear Helen, by Bates Motel, sold for $80,000 to top both the first session and the overall sale.