While financial heads met in Washington DC this past weekend to discuss a growing national economic crisis, the Heritage Place Quarter Racehorse Yearling Sale in Oklahoma City enjoyed one of its best sales in 35 years.

“In the midst of one of the most turbulent weeks ever in our national economy, I think this business once again showed that it is somewhat immune to external economic trends,” Jeff Tebow, general manager of Heritage Place, told Track Magazine.

The 3-day sale of 875 head grossed $10,050,200, with an average of $12,682 on horses sold, up seven percent from 2007, when 250 fewer horses were offered. A record five yearlings sold for $100,000 or more, including sale topper Kas I Said So, a Corona Cartel son out of 2004 champion 3-year-old filly Cash For Kas, who brought $300,000 from Terry Stennett for Ed Calvert. Last year, Calvert sold a full brother to the colt for $265,000 at the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale.

This year’s Ruidoso Yearling Sale, held August 29, 30 and 31, also topped the charts, as First Prize Stanley, a son of Mr Jess Perry out of a full sister to First Down Dash, sold for an all-time Ruidoso record of $675,000. The auction grossed $19,574,900 on 455 yearlings, and the average price of $43,022 surpassed the record-breaking 2007 average of $40,400.

“I sat through all three sessions at this year’s Ruidoso Yearling Sale and it was fantastic,” said Jim Ware, a partner with Western Bloodstock, which produces all the National Cutting Horse Association sales at Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth. “We’re expecting a great sale at this year’s NCHA Futurity. There’s a lot of crossover with the Quarter race horses and cutting horses, in that some of the owners and ranches are at the forefront in AQHA and NCHA.

“In 2001, right after September 11, the Keeneland Thoroughbred Yearling Sale had a huge setback and one of the Quarter Horse publications predicted that the NCHA Futurity Sale would follow the trend. But we had the best sale we’d ever had. Thoroughbred sales have never been an indicator for our sales.”

This year’s Keeneland Yearling Sale, which concludes a 15-day run on Tuesday, September 23, has trended down overall from 2007. With one more day of selling to go, a total of 3,456 horses have grossed $326,863,500, down 14.8 percent from last year, when 3,627 horses sold for $383,467,100. The average of $94,579 represents a 10.5 percent dip from $105,726 in 2007. The median was down 14.9 percent from $47,000, a year ago, to $40,000 this year.