Too Much Bling Yearlings Top Texas Sale

The first yearling sale held in Texas since 2014 was conducted Aug. 29 at Lone Star Park, topped by a colt and a filly by the state’s leading sire Too Much Bling   sold as part of the dispersal of Lane’s End Texas.

Hip 92, produced from the unraced Mineshaft   mare Fast Find and a full brother to Texas stakes winners Scooter’s Choice and Shaded, was purchased by Danny Pish for $105,000 to top the yearling session, which was followed by a mixed session, including some Lane’s End Texas broodmares.

The Texas Thoroughbred Association, which presented the sale and took over after Fasig-Tipton withdrew from the Texas market, reported 91 horses sold for $779,500 total receipts, for an average price of $8,566 and a $2,500 median.

For the yearling portion, 63 head sold for $611,800—an average price of $9,711 and a $2,500 median. The 29 yearlings not sold represented 31.5% of the 92 through the ring, and they were RNA’d at an average price of $14,741.

Sales director Tim Boyce, who had also ran the sale for Fasig-Tipton, said the results were solid considering the overall softness in the yearling market this year. He said the Texas racing and breeding industry supported the resumption of the sale.

"We knew we were going into a marketplace that was was off considering the sales that preceded it," Boyce said. "Given the marketplace, it was OK. I’m not going to jump up and down. It is like starting over, but I had a great response from consignors."

Boyce said the uncertainty that had impacted the Texas horse industry in recent years has now led to a period of stability, albeit at the bottom of the market.

"We are on solid ground here now, because we have hit rock-bottom and there is some security in that," Boyce said. "Lone Star Park has one of the best simulcast facilities in the country and it generates a lot for the purses. You can buy a horse and look at the purses and know what you're going to be running for."

Boyce said the TTA plans to add a 2-year-olds in training sale to its 2017 calendar, likely in early April.

The Monday sale was halted briefly after a major thunderstorm moved through the Grand Prairie area. The TTA responded by making the bar an open bar with free drinks.

Keith Asmussen went to $60,000 to acquire Hip 27, a Too Much Bling filly produced from the stakes-placed Geri mare Red Cell, the dam of multiple stakes winner Infectious and Makeshift, the latter a stakes-winning daughter of Too Much Bling.

Third-highest price was the $50,000 bid from Ken Carson, agent for Douglas Scharbauer Jr., to acquire Hip 97, an Exchange Rate   filly from the offerings of Benchmark Training Center. The filly is out of the winning Street Boss   mare Foxy Boss, a half sister to stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Avenue Shopper.

Top price of $45,000 during the mixed session was paid by Carson for the 5-year-old stakes-placed Valid Expectations mare Paddle Out, in foal to Congaree  . Also from the Lane’s End Texas offerings, the mare produced from the winning Conquistador Cielo mare Top Paddler is a half sister to three stakes winners.

Lane’s End Texas sold all 21 head through the ring for gross receipts of $360,000, an average $17,171, and a $5,000 median. William S. Farish’s farm near Hempstead earlier this year announced it was closing its operation and relocated its stallions—Too Much Bling, Grasshopper  , and Congaree—to Valor Farm near Pilot Point, Tex.