Equine reproductive technology garnered headlines last night, when Smart Look Classic, a 4-year-old unregistered clone of The Smart Look, sold for $97,000 at D.R. Horton’s Strawn Valley Ranch Dispersal, produced by Western Bloodstock, at Silverado Arena in Weatherford, Tex. The price, according to Western Bloodstock officials, was by far the highest ever paid at auction for a clone.
In addition, 25-year-old The Smart Look, #4 all-time leading producer of cutting horse money earners, sold for $85,000, along with her weanling filly by Metallic Cat. Julie Wrigley purchased The Smart Look, who at the time of the sale was at Colorado State University, where she has benefited from intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), the process that produced her weanling filly.
Bobby and Dottie Hill, who paid $700,000 for the NCHA show mare Stylish Martini at the Marvine Ranch Reduction Sale, also produced by Western Bloodstock, last October, purchased Smart Look Classic, who sold with two embryos by Metallic Cat and Dual Rey, and whose two weanling fillies by Dual Rey sold separately for $9,500 and $8,500.
Although clones and their offspring from registered horses are not recognized by the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), the case against exclusion is currently under litigation. In addition, it is not necessary for horses to be registered in order to be shown in National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) competition.
The sale topper, at $120,000, was 2-year Smart N Metallic, by Metallic Cat out of the Smart Look. The red roan colt, in training with Phil Rapp, was purchased by Jeffrey Neidhart, Farmington, NM. Cats Lookin Smart, a 4-year-old mare in training with Ronnie Rice, sold for $100,000. The High Brow Cat daughter, out of The Smart Look, was purchased by Erin Russell, Fort Worth, Tex.
The Strawn Valley Ranch Dispersal of 40 lots, including 17 sons and daughters of The Smart Look and 12 offspring of her daughters, unofficially grossed $1,088,200, with an average of $27,205.
For official results and more details, including a catalog of the Strawn Valley Ranch sale horses go to: www.westernbloodstock.com