D A Lets Boogie, Gridiron Seelster Top London Sale
The second annual London Classic Yearling Sale wrapped up on Wednesday, Oct. 18 with a pair of yearlings selling for $200,000 to top the two-day sale held at the Western Fair District Agriplex in London, Ont.
D A Lets Boogie, Hip 170, and Gridiron Seelster, Hip 224, were the overall sale toppers, both purchased during Wednesday's session by Determination of Montreal, Que.
Consigned by Dean & Ashley Wilson, D A Lets Boogie is a son of first-crop sire Dancin Lou out of the Sportswriter mare, Sports Beauty. He is half-brother to freshman colt D A McDreamy, a multiple Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots winner.
Gridiron Seelster, from the Seelster Farms consignment, is a Bettors Delight colt out of the Jeremes Jet mare, Glamour Seelster ($228,293 - 1:52.1s). He is a three-quarter sibling to filly Grandeur Seelster ($126,868 - 1:51.1s), a Grassroots Championship winner at two and runner-up at three.
Parlay King, Hip 266, was among the top sellers on day two of the sale with a final bid of $87,000, going to Charles Lawrence of Grimsby, Ont. Consigned by Twinbrook Farms, the Bettors Delight colt is the first foal out of the Big Jim mare, Boadicea, a multiple Ontario Sires Stakes Gold winner with a mark of 1:49 and a half million in purse earnings.
Sassy N Sweet, Hip 284, was purchased for $85,000 by Eddie Green of Ohsweken, Ont. from the Preferred Equine Marketing consignment. The filly is by Musical Rhythm out of the Angus Hall mare, Cool Creek Breeze ($188,571 - 1:56.2s). Sassy N Sweet is a half-sister to this year's Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final sophomore colt champion Ghostly Casper ($619,179 - 1:53s) and Cool Clifford ($342,015 - 1:54). She was the only yearling offered from her sire.
Determination also purchased Kankoon, Hip 308, who rounded out the top five highest priced yearlings of the day with an $80,000 price tag. Also consigned by Preferred Equine Marketing, the Trixton filly is out of the Yankee Glide mare, Karoon, and is a full sister to Warrawee Whisper ($302,716 - 1:52.2f) and half-sibling to Ontario Sires Stakes champion and multiple Grand Circuit stakes-placed Warrawee Roo ($894,280 - 1:51.2).
Stonebridge Alien, the Shadow Play half-brother to Grand Circuit stakes winner Stonebridge Helios, garnered the highest bid during the first session on Tuesday. To read the complete recap from the opening session, click here.
A total of 284 yearlings were sold at this year's London Classic Yearling Sale over the course of two days for $7,579,000. The average price was $26,687, down from the inaugural sale average of $35,682 from 186 yearlings that grossed $6,637,000 in 2022.
Pacing colts led the way with an average price of $32,297 from 76 sold followed by trotting fillies with 57 averaging $31,273.
For sires with multiple yearlings sold, Bettors Delight offspring boasted the top average of $44,391 from 23 sold. Leading the way for trotting stallions with multiple yearlings sold, 25 offspring from the first crop of Green Manalishi S averaged $37,500.
"Overall, we were happy with this year's sale," London Classic Yearling Sale manager Greg Blanchard told Trot Insider. "The average dipped which we expected with a large increase in entries. There was a much wider range of prices so there was something for everyone. And to have a pair sell for $200,000 today was exciting and shows that the buyers are willing to pay for those higher end pedigrees.
"We thank all of the sellers, consignors and buyers for their tremendous support of this year's London Classic."
To view the complete sale results, click here.
