The gross of $4.47 million and the average of $30,838 were both the highest totals in at least 10 years.
story and photos by Dave Briggs / Ontario Racing
By all measures, Wednesday’s (Sept. 2) Canadian Premier Yearling Sale produced the most successful results in years. Gross, average, median and number of Thoroughbreds sold were all up over last year, and both the gross and average were the highest in at least 10 years.
The Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS) auction, held at the Woodbine Sales Pavilion in Toronto, saw 145 yearlings sold (up 8.6 per cent from 133 in 2025) for a total gross of $4.47 million (up 20.5 per cent from $3.638 million last year). That produced an average $30,838 (up 12 per cent from $27,353 in 2025) and median of $17,000 (up 12.5 per cent from $15,000 last year). It was the first time the sale has surpassed $30,000 in average in 10 years and only the second time in a decade it has surpassed $4 million in gross. In 2023, the gross was $4,017,790, but 23 more yearlings were sold that year compared to this year.
This year’s clearance rate was 77 per cent, up 12 per cent from 2025.
Even several incidents of extremely severe weather – which at one point, halted the sale for about 10 minutes – couldn’t curtail the positive commerce.
“I think the staff here, and everyone, worked really hard to get some new buyers,” said David Anderson, the president of both the national and Ontario branches of the CTHS. “We had faces here that we hadn’t seen before, and some old faces that came back. At the end of the day, the breeders put some nice horses in the sale, and they’re the ones that really, truly deserve this, and they need to be rewarded.”
Anderson also credited additional funding from the Ontario government for helping drive the increase in sale numbers.
“The new funding from the government has had a tremendous impact on the whole industry here, and we are thankful for that.”
The son-and-father team of Al and Bill Ulwelling from Minnesota purchased the sale topper, Hip #131, a Mucho Macho Man colt out of Ghost Painter, for $140,000. The colt was bred by Deborah Holmes of Phoe. The Ulwellings, via K and J Bloodstock Agent, also purchased Hip #70, a Reload colt out of Arthemisa from Sherry McLean’s Northern Dawn for $27,000.
Hip #131, a Mucho Macho Man colt out of Ghost Painter topped the 2026 CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale with a bid of $140,000 from American buyers Al and Bill Ulwelling. The horse was bred by Phoenix Rising Stable of Abbotsford, BC and sold by agent Susan Foreman. (CTHS Sale photo)
Al said via text that their trainer, Kevin Attard, picked out the horses, but the additional government money made Al and his father, “much more active in the sale. The extra purse money added to the big races for the auction horses, the extra breeding incentives, and an actual long-term thought plan will keep us racing there forever. Without that money, we probably would’ve had to look at Kentucky as they seem to be the state that is flourishing with racing.”
Foreman, who foaled the sale topper on behalf of Holmes, and has the colt’s “mother and his grandmother and his sisters… all kinds from that family back there with me,” said the Ontario Sired and Bred chestnut colt helped sell himself on the sale grounds.
“This Mucho Macho Man just showed himself like he was the big guns here,” Foreman said. “There was no denying it. At the farm he was just a good-looking guy, but when he got here, he knew how to show himself.
“The professionalism in most of my stock just always blows me away. We practice hard at home, and that’s a key asset. They’re there to stand and be modeled and show and present themselves properly to the people.”
Susan Foreman’s team posing with Hip #191 after the Annapolis filly out of November Tale (IRE) sold for $105,000.
Foreman said the additional government money has provided a boost to herself and Ontario’s Thoroughbred breeding industry.
“It’s really empowering,” Foreman said of the new money. “Telling my breeders, ‘These horses next year are all eligible for the $300,000 Muskoka or the Simcoe,’ is really a great feeling. It gets everybody rolling forward. You feel fun about it. It’s a huge, huge incentive, and we need it.”
Nine yearlings sold for $100,000 or more at the sale and Foreman sold three of them. She also sold Hip #41, a Souper Speedy filly out of Tocco to Gary Barber and Hip #191, an Annapolis filly out of November Tale (IRE) to D.J. Stable for $105,000.
“There’s a lot of preparation to get to this day, and holding them together,” Foreman said. “[Sometimes] we get so close, and then somebody has a cough, or somebody wants to roll too close to the fence. Every day, we are trying to hold the team together. And I have to say that my crew at the farm know how particular I am, and they are happy to do it. I probably drive them nuts a little bit, but they do it, and we genuinely care for [the horses]. All we can do is do our best and see what happens here. And it’s paid off today.”
Not counting her four RNAs, Foreman sold nine yearlings for a total gross of $592,000, an average of $65,778.
“We didn’t have that big highlight horse that was going to blow the average out of the water,” Anderson said of the sale. “But we had a lot of $100,000 horses, and, on those stud fees, especially for the Ontario Sired horses, that’s a great return on investment. And now those buyers have options to run those horses and really make some money, and the whole circle of the of the world goes round.
“We had a great day on Sunday with the Sale Stakes [at Woodbine] and so many people winning. That money came right back into the sale, and that’s what it was supposed to do. That was the whole idea.”
Also, the bidding was strong right through the final horse that went through ring just after 7 p.m.
In the final group of eight yearlings catalogued, three fetched bids exceeding $100,000, including a yearling that tied for the second-highest priced horse sold. Hip #196, a Yorkton colt out of Piper’s Legacy purchased by Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) president Sue Leslie for $130,000 out of the Hill ‘n’ Dale Sale consignment.
Earlier, Hip #157, a Loggins filly out of Leona Vander (GB), also sold for $130,00 to Julia Carey out of the Shannondoe consignment.
Leslie spent $218,000, the most of any buyer, to take home four yearlings. She was followed by agent Donato Lanni, who spent $211,000, total, to buy five horses, and Catherine Day Philips, who spent $198,000, combined, to purchase four horses.
Anderson said the sale results have him bullish on the future of the sale.
He said CTHS members reported that this year’s traffic at the sale preview days was stronger than it has been in probably 10 years.
“We were so busy,” Anderson said. “On Monday it rained all day, and people were still out all day in the rain looking at horses. So, if that isn’t a telltale sign, I don’t know what is. It’s just very encouraging when everybody’s happy – the buyers, the sellers, the sales company, the trainers. It makes really for a wonderful business.
“The word’s out, and we’re going to bring in some nice horses here next year, and we’re going to put this sale back on the map. I think we proved it today that it’s working, and I’m really looking forward to it and excited for the next five years.”
