18 Horses Sold at Hastings Paddock Sale
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Multiple stakes-placed Merlot and 3-year-old filly Color Me Gold netted the co-highest price of $30,000 at the March 26 paddock sale at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The track reported 18 Thoroughbreds of racing age were sold for a total of $150,000 at the auction under the direction of paddock sales manager Mike Heads and track announcer Dan Jukich.
Merlot, a 4-year-old by Rosberg who finished third in the $50,000 Chris Loseth Handicap last season and was second in the 2014 Jack Diamond Futurity, was purchased by Richard Yates, manager of Hastings Racing Club Two.
"My limit was $30,000 and not a dollar more," a relieved Yates said later with Merlot's new trainer, Nancy Betts, standing at his side.
Prominent horse owner Peter Redekop, a member of the British Columbia Horse Racing Hall of Fame and a four-time winner of the BC Derby at Hastings, was outbid on Merlot and purchased Color Me Gold later in the sale.
A 3-year-old Washington-bred daughter of Harbor the Gold who recorded a third-place finish for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer in a $25,000 maiden-claiming race at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California March 15, Color Me Gold will be trained by Anita Bolton. She was the trainer of Alert Bay and Title Contender in BC Derby victories for Redekop in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
Heads said he was pleased with the result of the sale organized by the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and British Columbia Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association.
"The concept is to keep as many horses as we can racing at Hastings Racecourse and staying in British Columbia," Heads said.
The 2016 Thoroughbred racing season begins April 17.