Dirty Deed topped the Old West Rope Horse Sale at $1.3 million Oct. 16 in Amarillo, Texas. | TRJ File Photo
Twenty-two horses sold for $4,207,000 at the Old West Rope Horse Sale on Oct. 16 at the Amarillo Tri-State Fairgrounds, an average of $191,227.
Dirty Deed, a 2023 bay roan mare by Dirty Fling out of Painted Lady, topped the sale at $1.3 million. Consigned by David Zito and Relentless Remuda, she sold to a partnership of Alan and Meleesa Jones’ Cracklin J Ranch and Zito Equine, and she remains in training with Miles Baker and Trevor Brazile.
Sixty-five horses were consigned. Three were scratched, and 62 went through the ring. Owners retained 40 of them, with final bids totaling $5,391,000, an average of $134,775. The median price among horses that sold was $117,500.
Every horse in the sale was a prospect; none was older than 3.
3-year-olds: 48 went through the ring and 19 sold, for $3,915,000 and an average of $206,053. Without Dirty Deed, the other 18 averaged $145,278.
2-year-olds: 11 went through and three sold, for an average of $97,333. The top 2-year-old was The Winners Ink, a Winners Version filly consigned by Hope Thompson, at $150,000.
Yearlings: All three were retained, with final bids averaging $76,333.
Stallions sold best by rate, six of 15, and averaged $214,167. Mares averaged $263,125 on eight sales, $115,000 without Dirty Deed. Eight of 24 geldings sold, averaging $102,125.
Metallic Cat’s influence ran through the sale. Twelve horses by Metallic Cat or one of his sons went through the ring, and seven sold. That 58% sell-through was nearly double the 30% for the rest of the sale. Those seven grossed $2,105,000, half the sale’s total, though $1.3 million of it was Dirty Deed, a Metallic Cat granddaughter through Dirty Fling.
Stevie Rey Von, a Metallic Cat son, was the most represented sire with six. Four sold for $680,000, led by Let The Beat Drop at $350,000, the sale’s second-high seller.
Woody Be Tuff had five, and their owners kept three. One was RR Mia Be Tuff, whose $350,000 final bid tied for the highest among retained horses.
On the dam side, both offspring of Starlight Edition sold: First Edition for $205,000 and Honor Edition, a One Time Honor gelding, for $90,000. Dirty Deed’s female family is a racing one. Her second dam, SS Southern Lady, a daughter of Valiant Hero, has produced eight Register of Merit racehorses, and her foals have earned $152,445.
Every horse that goes through an Old West sale stays eligible for the Old West Sale Graduate Incentive, whether it sells or the owner keeps it. Many consignors chose to retain their horses to keep that opportunity in their own hands.
Retained horses are not free passes. A consignor who keeps a horse pays the same commission on the reserve as a consignor whose horse sells, and that commission goes into the incentive pot.
“Many of these owners are choosing to retain their horses to keep their opportunity to compete for a million dollars,” Old West’s Sara Hudson said. “That speaks volumes about the value of our program and the opportunities we are creating for our consignors.”
Old West will also add $750,000 in bonus money in 2027 through the sale sidepot: a $500,000 bonus in the Intermediate and a $250,000 bonus in the Limited.
