ITOBA Fall Sale brings in large crowd, 57 horses

“There’s a lot of people here!”

“I know. There’s a lot more than there were for the 2-year-old sale!”

Those remarks were among the many at Sunday’s Indiana Thoroughbred Owner’s and Breeder’s Association (ITOBA) Fall sale. At Indiana Grand, right a 2 p.m., the first gavel fell on one of 57 horses ranging in age, sex, state of birth, and previous racing experience. And while some younger horses went for just hundreds of dollars, another topped the sale at $17,000.

Hip 8, a chestnut colt by Smarty Jones out of a Jeblar mare, was the first to break the five-digit mark, and quickly brought $17,000 for consignor Indy Dancers Training Center, which had eight horses total. The training center was among the top three consignors with the most entries, the most being Justice Farm with 10, while Elliott Ventures bested Indy Dancers Training Center by one entry.

Despite the number of entries into this year’s fall sale, the prices that horses went for dropped dramatically from the ITOBA Spring 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale that was held on June 11, also at Indiana Grand. The June sale 14 horses total with an average of $5,583, while six sold for $33,500 a piece.

Few sires were as prevalent in the fall sale as were Lantana Mob, with five, and Sangaree, with five. Lantana Mob, who was born in 2005 and  ran until he was five, was a multiple graded stakes winner, his most notable win coming at 2007 Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park. Sangaree, a son of Awesome Again, enjoyed his biggest win in the 2010 Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita. He now stands at R Star Stallions in Anderson, Indiana.

Overall, though the average sale prices of the horses were down, though the increasingly large number of attendees at the sale is promising. More than 150 people were squeezed into the end of Indiana Grand’s receiving barn, and various horsemen immediately noticed the rise in people.

“There’s quite a few people here,” said Jason McBride, who helps train horses at Indiana Grand with his mother, Barbara. “That’s good. It’s just what this sport needs.”

Photos by Madison Jackson