TOBA yearling sale, inaugural dinner this weekend

A total of 158 lots will be offered in the annual Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association of Jamaica (TOBA) yearling sale to be held in the official car park at Caymanas Park on Sunday, November 15, starting at 10 a.m.

Lots are available for inspection at 8 a.m., and the accepted opening bid for any lot shall not be less than J$100,000.

Prompted by TOBA for the umpteenth year, the sale usually attracts a significant number of buyers from the Eastern Caribbean, notably Trinidad and Tobago.

In the past decade, the Trinidadians have been responsible for a number of record-priced yearlings with a view to racing them in Trinidad. Some have become champions, notably two-time 'T & T Horse of the Year' BIGMAN IN TOWN, who raced here early in his three-year-old career before he was shipped off to Trinidad by his high-profile owner, Baskaran Basswah. The rest is history.

Yearlings from some of the island's leading stud farms and from private breeders will be on show. They include leading stud farms such as HAM Stables Limited, Everglades Farms Limited, Orange Valley Estates, Lakeland Farms, Spring Park Stud Farm, Y.S. (1955) Limited, New Blue, and Argyll Farms.

record price

Last year, a chestnut colt by Performing Magic out of Sea Treaty, bred by Everglades and purchased by noted Trinidadian owner Vishan Ali, fetched the record price of $4 million, surpassing the previous record of $3.8 million paid for BALLON D'OR in 2013.

Meanwhile, TOBA and the Breeders Association of Jamaica, in association with Driveline Enterprises, has joined hands to host the inaugural pre-yearling sale awards dinner tonight at Jade Gardens, Sovereign Centre, starting at 7 p.m. Contribution is $5,000.

- O.C.