Yearling Catalogue has a ‘Select Sale’ Feel
The 2023 CTHS Yearling & Mixed Sale gets underway on Wednesday following today's preview session. A small, but high-quality, catalogue should make for some competitive bidding!
A disappointingly thin catalogue numerically, obviously, but what the 2023 CTHS BC Yearling & Mixed Sale lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in terms of quality.
And, as we have recently seen at Century Mile this past Canadian Derby weekend, British Columbia-bred horses are outstanding performers throughout our region. Horses bred here in BC won three of the nine Thoroughbred contests on Canadian Derby Day with two more (AIR FORCE in the Century Casino Oaks and ITSMYDAY in the Speed to Spare Championship) finishing second.
Indeed, this year’s catalogue has an almost “Select Sale” feel with a handful of this season’s top Hastings performers represented by full-, or half-brothers and sisters. More than 40 of the 58 yearlings catalogued are out of mares that have already produced Stakes winners, are themselves Stakes winners or are half- or full-sisters to Stakes performers.
As expected, BC’s leading sires are again well represented. Last year’s leading BC-based sire BAKKEN has eight yearlings catalogued while last season’s Champion first-season sire, COUNTERFORCE, also has eight yearlings on offer. LENT, who was third on the BC sires’ list in 2022, also has eight in the sale, while SUNGOLD (second to Bakken on the list last season) is represented by seven.
BC-based sires SECOND IN COMMAND, FINALITY, POP ARTIST and RALIS are also well represented.
As in most years, there is a smattering of interesting Hips on offer by well-known U.S.-based sires, including: top 20 general list stallion CAIRO PRINCE (Hip #56); DAREDEVIL (Hip #19), sire of two G1 Classic winners in his first crop; leading fourth-crop sire EXAGGERATOR (Hip #24); successful Ontario sire TAMARKUZ (Hip #34); top-ten third crop sire UNIFIED (Hip #32) and top-25 general sire UNION RAGS.
There are also yearlings available by top-ten second-season sire COLLECTED (Hip #10); Eclipse Champion Sprinter MITOLE (#Hip 48), last season’s Champion First Season Sire in California, SMOKEM (Hip #23) and former Champion older male IMPROBABLE (Hip #8), who has his first yearlings this year.
It’s worth noting that of the Hips offered by sires standing outside BC, fillies by CAIRO PRINCE, CREATIVE CAUSE (Hip #35), DAREDEVIL, IMPROBABLE, MIDSHIPMAN and SMOKEM, along with the gelding by MITOLE, are all registered BC-bred.
Possible highlights (based only on the catalogue page) on Wednesday include Hip #5, a LENT full-sister to last season’s champion juvenile and this year’s Chris Loseth Stakes winner LEGACY SQUARE; Hip #6, a BAKKEN half-brother to former Champion juvenile MOUNT ASGARD; Hip #10, a COLLECTED half-sister to Monashee Handicap runner-up RUN LOLA RUN; Hip #12, a SUNGOLD half-sister to BC Champions CLASSIC ALLEY KAT and VICTORY WITH CLASS; a SUNGOLD half-sister to BOLD ARCH; Hip #33, a RALIS half-brother to Monashee Handicap winner WE B THREE; Hip #50; a POP ARTIST half-brother to former Jack Diamond Futurity winner POWER CORRUPT; Hip #51, a SECOND IN COMMAND full-brother to CTHS Sales Stakes winner BUCK IN COMMAND and Hip# 55, a POP ARTIST half-brother to BAYAKOA’S IMAGE.
Less obviously, Hip #37 is a BAKKEN half-sister to BC Cup Nursery Stakes and CTHS Sales Stakes runner-up DIOCLES; Hip #39 is a RALIS half-brother to recent BC Cup Debutante and CTHS Sales Stakes third DONNA WYN as well as former Sadie Diamond runner-up, ABOVE AVERAGE, while Hip #31 is a COUNTERFORCE half-sister to last year’s Jack Diamond third TIME TICKER, out of a half-sister to the former Hastings Horse of the Year, SNUGGLES. Hip #57, meanwhile, is a Sungold half-sister to Monday night’s two-year-old Maiden Optional runner-up, HIGHLINER (Bakken).
Mares with their first foals on offer as yearlings include: B C BEAUTIFUL (Hip #7, by Midshipman), a Discreet Cat half-sister to Stakes winner POHDI POHDI; KODIAK KWIK (Hip #28, by McCracken), an eight-time winning half-sister to Stakes winners SHREWD MOVE and HE’S MUNNIE; Former Stakes-placed performer KRISSY (Hip 29, by Sungold) and LARGO (Hip #30), a winning half-sister to CLASSIC ALLEY KAT and VICTORY WITH CLASS.
Other BC-breds of note include: Hip #17, a COUNTERFORCE full-sister to DAZ LIN FORCE, who is out of former Horse of the Year, DAZ LIN DAWN; Hip #35, a CREATIVE CAUSE half-sister to MAGIC ROAD and Hip #25, a COUNTERFORCE half-brother to Alberta Champion ASYOUBELIEVE and last night’s CTHS Sales Stakes third, ROCKCLIFFE.
Among the most interesting of the yearlings offered by stallions not standing in BC are: Hip #9, a BRODY’S CAUSE half-sister to Stakes winner POPULIST POLITICS; Hip #24, an EXAGGERATOR half-bother to multiple winners out of a half-sister to G3 winner SKYLER’S SCRAMJET; Hip #48, a gelding from the second crop of MITOLE out of RILLA, a half-sister to G1-placed BICAMERAL. Hip #34, a filly by TAMARKUZ out of LUCENT LADY, a daughter of G3 winner ELUSIVE LADY; Hip #32, a UNIFIED half-brother to a winner out of LET’S BE CREATIVE, an unraced half-sister to G2 winner LETGOMYECHO and Hip #41, a UNION RAGS filly out of PEACE LILLY, a half-sister to G1 winner TOM’S D’ETAT.
Withdrawals so far: #4, #7, #13, #18 #43, #53, #59
The sale preview is Tuesday, with the first Hip scheduled to go under the hammer on Wednesday at 3pm. The auction is held at Thunderbird Showpark which is located on the corner of 248th Street and 72nd Avenue in Langley; just 35 minutes from Vancouver and 15 minutes from The Abbotsford Airport.
For visitors taking Highway 1, exit at the 232nd Street exit and take 72nd Avenue East from the roundabout on the North side of the highway. Then drive 3.5 km, over the railroad tracks, past our competitors entrance. Turn right on 248th Street, the spectator entrance is on your right.