A daughter of Harlan's Holiday sold for $700,000 to Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables to top the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training. Coming off a record 2007 May sale, this year’s auction, held May 13 in Pomona, Calif., averaged $53,173, down 15.06%, though the sale topper eclipsed the $650,000 topper of last year’s sale.
Consigned by Murray Smith, agent, the sale topper is out of the unraced Septieme Ciel mare Leading the Way. The second dam, the Fit to Fight mare Fit to Lead, was a multiple stakes winner and earner of $595,776.
Jess Jackson, the majority owner of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, easily led all buyers, not only successfully bidding for the $700,000 sale topper, but getting three others at $300,000 each. He said the Harlan’s Holiday filly would go to Curlin’s trainer, Steve Asmussen, at Churchill Downs.
“She’s beautifully conformed, has great speed, and is a two-turn prospect,” Jackson said. “We want to baby her. We’re hoping for a two-turn horse that runs into her fourth year.”
Smith pinhooked the sales topper from the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale. She bought the filly there for $150,000.
“I’m a huge Harlan’s Holiday fan,” Smith said. “He’s a solid racehorse sire. I saw her in July last year and fell in love with her.”
Jackson went to $300,000 for a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Fusaichi Pegasus out of the His Majesty mare Majestic Legend from the consignment of Ricky Leppala, agent. Majestic Legend’s foals include Bedazzle, the dam of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense .
Overall, the sale grossed $7,816,400 for 147 sold, with a median of $24,000. Buybacks numbered 74 (33.48%). Compared to last year, the gross dropped 31% and the median fell 4%.
In 2007, 181 horses grossed $11,331,300 for a median of $25,000. The buyback rate last year was 31.7%.
“We were right on our internal projections,” said Jerry McMahon, Barretts’ president and general manager. “We knew we didn’t have the depth of last year. There was a lot of money here for good horses, but it was weak at the middle and the low end. The buyers here are pretty selective.”
Jerry Bailey Sales Agency as agent led all consignors, selling seven for $1,009,000, including another of Jackson’s $300,000 purchases. That colt, a son of Mr. Greeley, is out of the Belong to Me mare Private Feeling from the family of champion Wait a While. Harley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds was the second-leading consignor, selling eight for $985,000.
