Filly From Gormley’s First Crop Tops Louisiana Sale

A yearling filly from the first crop of Gormley  was purchased by J. Stevens Bloodstock for $70,000 to top the Aug. 20 Equine Sales Company’s Consignor Select Yearling and 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The auction was co-sponsored by the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

Bred in Louisiana by Ken Clark, the sale topper was offered as Hip 68 by KP Sales, agent for the breeder. The Jan. 31, 2019, foal is out of the unraced Afleet Alex mare Homestake, a half sister to Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) runner-up Broken Spell. Second dam, the stakes-winning Exploit mare Rich Find, is a half sister to stakes winner Away, the dam of grade 2 winner Eight Belles, and stakes-placed Escape Route and All Hands.

Equine Sales reported 133 horses sold for gross receipts of $1,515,900, an average price of $11,398 and a $6,000 median. The 34 that went unsold represented an RNA rate of 20.4%.

The figures are almost identical to the 2019 sale in which 133 head grossed $1,518,500, with an $11,417 average and $6,000 median. The RNA rate was 20.4% with 34 unsold.