Villa Margurite, an unraced full sister to multiple stakes winner Hugh Hefner, sold for $120,000, the highest price of the Barretts winter mixed sale, held Jan. 22-23 at Fairplex Park in Pomona. Offered third from the end of the second session Jan. 23, the 5-year-old daughter of Bertrando was the only six-figure price over the two days.
According to Barretts, the second session grossed $969,300 for 165 sold for an average of $5,875. The median was $4,000.
The sales company reported that during the two-day sale, 354 horses sold for $2,225,900 and averaged $6,288, a decrease of 34.12% from the 2007 average of $9,544, when 438 horses grossed $4,180,400. The median was $3,200.
Last year’s sale included a sale-record price of $560,000 for Selvatica from the Granja Vista del Rio dispersal, one of four dispersals at that auction.
“Those dispersals were the difference between the marketplace this year and last year,” said Jerry McMahon, president and general manager of Barretts. “This year was attended pretty well, and we sold a lot of horses to Canada, Korea, India, the Phillippines, and many of the western states.”
River Edge Farm consigned Villa Marguerite as agent for the estate of the late Edward Nahem, and River Edge owners Martin and Pam Wygod bought the mare. Nahem campaigned champion Bertrando in the 1990s and continued to race horses until his death last Oct. 31. Villa Marguerite sold in foal to Benchmark, who like Bertrando stands at River Edge.
A colt from the second crop of Marino Marini topped the yearlings, selling for $70,000 to Dr. Patrick Sheehy’s Super Horse. Matt and Barbara Butterworth’s West 12 Ranch, as agent, consigned the youngster, who is out of the Avenue of Flags mare Storybook Fair.
McMahon noted that the sale’s strength came from the yearlings, which averaged $7,514 for the 97 sold. Averages for the other categories included $5,628 for 138 broodmares, $7,306 for 71 2-year-olds, and $4,393 for 45 horses of racing age.