Early September is Sales Season in Upper Midwest

SHAKOPEE, MN – The first full weekend of September will be an opportunity for horse people in the upper Midwest to sell and buy racehorses with both Iowa and Minnesota holding their annual sales as well as a paddock sale at Canterbury Park.

The sales kick off in Iowa with the Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association all ages sale on Thursday, September 5 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Scheduled for a 6 PM start, the sale will include over 50 Thoroughbreds of all ages by a number of well-known sires such as Alternation, Flat Out, Fort Larned, Girolamo, Midshipman, and Woke Up Dreamin.

All horses consigned to the sale may be viewed by prospective buyers on Wednesday, September 4 from 4-7 PM and on the afternoon of the sale starting at 1 PM.

Consignors include Madison County Thoroughbreds, Bryant Thoroughbreds, Eagle Wings Farm (agent for Poindexter Thoroughbreds), Idlewood Farm, Kurt & Melanie Kindschuh, and Iowa State University.

Madison County Thoroughbreds has consigned six head to the sale, four sired by Woke Up Dreamin and two sired by Sing Baby Sing, both Kentucky-bred stallions who were multiple winners on the race track.

The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association will be up next on Sunday, September 8 at the Canterbury Park Expo Center.  The public preview will be the day before beginning at 6 PM.

In 2018 the sale saw a downturn in the number of horses consigned but the sale results were strong, including a record sales topper, eclipsing the $100,000 mark for the first time.  There have been 52 yearling consigned to the sale this year.  If all go through the ring, that will be an increase of 12 over last year.

The MTA Sales Graduate Incentive will again be in place this year. The breeder of each Minnesota bred yearling, who consigns the yearling to the 2019 MTA Yearling Sale, and sells to a new owner during the auction, will receive a Yearling Sale Graduate Breeder’s Bonus when the MTA Sales Grad breaks its  maiden in a Maiden Special Weight or Allowance race.

The sales grad must break its maiden at Canterbury Park. The bonus will be paid to the breeder within 30 days of the race as follows: Minnesota conceived AND foaled MTA sale grads, the breeder will receive a $2,000 bonus. Also, the stallion owner, when foal was conceived, will receive a $1,000 bonus and the Minnesota bred MTA sale grads breeder will also receive a $1,000 bonus. The yearling must sell to a new owner during the auction. Buybacks, horses that do not meet a written reserve, horses that do not receive a bid or those that sell after the sale for whatever reason, are not eligible for the incentive.

The day after the MTA sale, September 9, there will be a paddock sale at Canterbury Park.  This will be an opportunity for not only owners and trainers to pick up stock that may work at their next destination, but for anyone interested in picking up a Thoroughbred to retrain as hunter/jumpers, dressage prospects or even as trail riders.  The public is invited to the sale, which will be the first of its kind at the track.

The 5:00 p.m. sale will be preceded by a public viewing from noon to 5:00 p.m. Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses that are eligible to continue racing and those that are being sold as retired from racing will be included in the sale.