Stallion Season Auctions

Discussion and analysis of thoroughbred stallions.

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madelyn
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Stallion Season Auctions

Postby madelyn » Sat Dec 10, 2016 6:53 am

ITBOA ends tonight at 7pm CST on Thoroughlybred - OTBO is Jan 6-8 and ITOBA is Jan 13-16. Anyone know of any others? I don't see as many stallions on them as there used to be.
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....

ct2346
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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby ct2346 » Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:20 pm

NYTB 1/9-1/11

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Patuxet
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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby Patuxet » Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:08 am

VTA’s annual stallion season auction, held February 14th and 15th.

http://www.vabred.org/stallion-auctions ... -auctions/
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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby Patuxet » Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:37 pm

The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association's annual stallion season auction is now live with over 150 stallions being offered from over a dozen States and will end promptly at 9PM CST Sunday January 8th.

http://www.thoroughlybred.com/sites/mta/
"He is pure air and fire and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him; he is indeed a horse ..." Wm. Shakespeare - Henry V

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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby Joltman » Mon Jan 09, 2017 7:24 pm

Kansas has one rolling as well.

TCA may have some unsold seasons?

jm
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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby Patuxet » Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:48 am

The Delaware Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (DTHA) is hosting its fifth annual Stallion Auction January 11 -14, 2017.

https://www.32auctions.com/organization ... t_filter=1
"He is pure air and fire and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him; he is indeed a horse ..." Wm. Shakespeare - Henry V

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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby jeff9061 » Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:29 pm

I need to vent.

I prefer to buy regular, negotiated S&N seasons, and do for most of my mares most of the time. But the stallion acutions do offer an alternative and they can even be a little fun. So, I dabble. But what they've evolved into disturbs me.

I've been approached four times in the last ten days to purchase seasons already "sold" in these stallion auctions -- three time from the same acution! And these seasons you're approached with are priced below, up to $1,000 below (and last year one was $2,500 below), the amount the stallion "sold" in the acution.

Now, we all know two things are going on. One, sometimes the "winner" doesn't pay or follow though. Which is bs. We should be able to enforce this and manage around it. Two, farms ask the auctions to go back to underbidders and see if they'll buy at lower prices, either their last bid, or whatever -- lower prices yet if you push some. Which is where these auctions are losing their vision, I think.

The thing that gets me is that we're losing the integrity in these stallion auctions -- several of them in particular, and I won't name them but you probably know if you've bid our bought from them the last two years. I would love to turn the season I actually bought (and paid for!!) back in and buy the lower priced ones from stallions I would have preferred in the first place. But their price in the auction moved past the window I thought was rational or appropriate in the sale, so I moved on to Plan B and purchased other seasons. Little did I know I should have just held tight, and that I could have bought at the right price after the sale was over. Four times so far this year!!

I may just be niave -- and I won't be anymore -- but when the reality of a sale is that the final price isn't really the price, the sale just ends up screwing iself. You lose trust. There should be more integrity and transparancy. Explain it up front, if this is going to be the new norm. It's too bad because $3-$5k on a couple stallion seasons isn't going to change much. But without transparancy you still walk away feeling like you got jobbed. And the experience matters as much as the product. I won't be the high bidder again in several of these auctions.

Okay, I'm done. It's not the end of the world. And it's not every season. So if you really want something and the price is right, great, bid and buy. It's not for sure that you'll get another lower offer anyway. The auctions are also typically for a great cause -- which is another reason to participate, usually the money goes towards something we'd all like to support in some manner. But why can't we just bring a little integrity back to the sale? Buy for the price on the board. Then pay when you buy. We should be able to enforce both. And it will ultimately be better for everyone.

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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby Tappiano » Fri Jan 13, 2017 7:16 am

My .02

One year I put in a bid via phone on a season, was not the winner, nobody approached me.

Last year I put in a few bids on a stallion in another sale and was never approached. That surprised me as said stallion did not have a big book and since they would have had no idea what mare would be offered up perhaps this specific farm/auction doesn't do that?

That being said I have seen people directly involved with stallions as bidders (sometimes winning) and that's made me think about whether they did that to bump the price or because they were actually buying seasons to breed their own mares to.

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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby madelyn » Fri Jan 13, 2017 2:42 pm

A long time ago it seems that they were REAL auctions, with all of the proceeds going to the TOBA involved. Stud farms donated seasons for the publicity. They got people to LOOK at the horse and maybe get a pedigree analysis on their mare crossed with the horse. Now, I fear, not so much. The minimum bids are, in MANY cases, higher than I could buy a NG season from the farm for DIRECTLY. Also, I have pals that do brokerage and can nearly always get a pretty good horse LFG for 70-80% off published.

I remember also, in the "old" days, buying off the leftover list after the auction ended. The TOBA had the season and got nothing so often they were dirt cheap. I bought one for $100 and that resulted in my recent winner, Sky Princess. It was LFG too!!!
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....

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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby Joltman » Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:57 pm

The farms set their stud fees at a level that is way overpriced, so you need to be able to know who/how to work the deal to get something closer to what they're worth. Its part of what makes this business a game. The auctions open it to another roll of the dice with the NG season, but it's saved me thousands over the years. I like the idea of supporting the charitable interest as well. win-win as I see it.

jm
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Re: Stallion Season Auctions

Postby jeff9061 » Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:04 pm

They've saved me thousands as well. Think we all probably understand the whole "game" is to accurately handicap or assess value. And, yes, they can be win-win. But none of that is the point.

Point is, they need to be managed better; they've evolved some in the last two years or so, and not in an all positive manner. We've got on a bit of slippery slope, maybe not intentionally and probably mostly well meant to start with. Just want a bit more transparently and more integrity, or I believe they're going to lose some of their luster -- and that's bad for breeders who like to have an alternative purchase method that can save money, for farms who may want to attract breeders they wouldn't otherwise have access to, and for good causes all across the industry who rely on revenue from the sales.

It disturbs me to get calls after the close of a sale to find out the final price and the final list of items being sold were not final, especially when we start talking about 20-40% price differences -- many people make business decisions based on being able to believe in the integrity of an auction. Make the final price final, and let us know what's actually for sale. If you can't have trust in at least two items, it's pretty hard to feel comfortable buying anything via that distribution channel. If it doesn't bother you, I'd venture to guess you won't be doing business all that long, or at least successfully.

It's probably a moot point. Most S&N seasons seem to be able be negotiated to a point where they represent more value than the stallion auctions today anyway.