Though not a registered New York-bred, the first New York-foaled 2-year-old to go under the hammer at public auction in 2012 – a bay colt by Broken Vow out of the Touch Gold mare Gold Muff – sold for $280,000 at the Barretts March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training on Monday at Fairplex Park in Pomona, California.
Bred by Dr. Frank Ariosta and purchased by Brett Lindenbaum (agent) from the consignment of SGV Thoroughbreds (Steve Venosa, agent), Hip 89 worked a furlong in 10 seconds flat in the training preview. (Click here for a link to the preview video). First sold to Roundhouse Farm as a short yearling at the 2011 Keeneland January sale for $11,000, the colt was purchased later in the year by SGV Thoroughbreds for $27,000 at last year’s OBS August sale. Monday’s $280,000 price tag made him the fifth highest-seller of the evening.
Ariosta’s Skytop farm and Peter Kirwin purchased the colt’s unplaced dam Gold Muff at the 2009 Keeneland November sale for $30,000. Gold Muff, producer of two winners from four starters, is out of French Muff (Roberto), a sister to stakes-winner and graded-performer Cryptic and to Kiva, a multiple graded-stakes producer.
Barretts March, which in prior years followed the Florida 2-year-old sales, was scheduled this year to precede the Florida sales and to coincide with Saturday’s running of the Santa Anita Handicap. The sale showed improvement from last year in most major indicators, including an increase of in the average price to $109,429 (from $100,709). According to the Barretts website, SGV Thoroughbreds (agent) was the leading individual consignor, selling four horses for $665,000.
