Glidemaster colt tops sale at $270,000

Just like last year, the sale topper in the opening session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale was an offspring of Pizza Dolce, the 2002 Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year and the dam of stakes winner Bella Dolce. This year's Pizza Dolce offspring, a Glidemaster colt, was bought with a bid of $270,000 by trainer Blair Burgess, who trained the Triple Crown winner Glidemaster, who stands at stud in Pennsylvania.

 

But Pizza Dolce's filly last year brought $415,000, and the price required to purchase the Glidemaster colt certainly reflected today's economic climate. The sale, which got underway with its first session on Wednesday, saw its average decline by 13 percent from last year's opener. A total of 104 yearlings went through the auction ring in the opening session, a few more than last year. The average fell from $89,847 to $78,125.

 

The trotting colt segment of the market was the strongest in last year’s opening session, with 25 yearlings going through the auction ring and generating an average of $107,920. This year, however, 25 pacing colts out-paced the trotting colts by producing an average of $89,440.  A total of 25 yearlings brought prices of $100,000 or more at the sale, with nine pacing colts and nine trotting colts falling into that price range.

 

Last year’s opening session generated a 2.3 percent increase in the average price over the initial 2007 session. But when the 2008 sale finally wrapped up after five sessions, the average had declined by 10.1 percent from the previous year. Given the fact that the stock market had dropped by 600 points the Monday before the 2008 sale, the sale’s final numbers were considered solid, especially since they were up 15 percent from the 2006 sale, when the average price for a yearling was $39,117.

 

Other highlights from this year's opening session were a trio of yearlings who brought prices of $200,000 or more.

 

Another colt from a sire's first crop brought $250,000. Hip 89, Marquis Lindy, a colt from the first crop by Chocolatier, was bought by horseman Tony Alagna, who was acting as agent. Alagna, who has been a top assistant to Erv Miller, is opening his own stable in New Jersey this fall. The Chocolatier colt is out of Classic  Lindy, a daughter of the prolific Classic Casette, the dam of such top performers Cayster, Giant Hit and Program Speed.

 

Alagna hails from Illinois, and two Illinois horse owners bought two yearlings for $200,000-plus. John Carver signed the sales slip for hip 70, a Yankee Glide colt, for $215,000, while Carver and Ron Michelon put their name on the slip together for hip 84, Someheartsomewhere, the full sister to pacing great Somebeachsomewhere.

 

Click here for the link to the sale results.