What makes a commercial yearling in a regional market?

Avila Acres · Postby **Avila Acres** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:27 pm

I was reading through the threads and got to wondering what most people think makes a yearling commercial in a regional market. Obviously a truly commercial yearling would be KY sired, but for those of us in regional markets whose selection of stallions is not what it is in KY, what is commercial? I hope I'm making sense as I'm kind of fuzzy due a whack cough and cold meds I'm on right now!

Jenny · Postby **Jenny** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:57 pm

Hi Mary
So That is where i got it. We have been sick here as well.
If I could answer your question I would be rich.

K~2 · Postby **K~2** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:25 pm

I think commercial has a lot to do with the 'what have you done for me lately' factor. Is the yearling by a hot young stallion that covered a lot of mares? An older stallion that has proven success, and runners that are burning up the track?

The female family is important as well, do you have genuine black-type, or did this mare or her foals just win a cup race at a backwater track?

Conformation, is the horse well put together and attractive? Pretty always sells well before ugly.

Have a look at the sales results and see if you can find patterns to what sells well.

Good Luck!!

Avila Acres · Postby **Avila Acres** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:34 pm

Jenny wrote:Hi Mary
So That is where i got it. We have been sick here as well.
If I could answer your question I would be rich.

Haha! I'm at work and just can't concentrate so I'm on the web and have been doing too much thinking on too many meds - not a good combination! I hope you all feel better. By the way, Lady Bug and my morgan filly are best buds, you should see how cute they are together - I'll take a picture and send it your way.

Mood Swings · Postby **Mood Swings** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:09 pm

I think K~2's well thought post summed it up perfectly

westover · Postby **westover** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:17 pm

I agree with K2 which is why i am really struggling on what to breed to when our mare foals out.
We had a beautiful 1st crop Toccet which obviously was very commercial but i find it much harder to really find "commercial" in this Ontario Market.

Jenny · Postby **Jenny** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:18 pm

I agree, except on one point. I find looking at the CTHS sale in Ontario in particular. If the stallion was hot and bred a large book of mares. Then I found , but I could be wrong, that there was a lot of them at the sale and the prices were not great. for example look at all the Where's The Ring yearlings, I like him, but you had a glut in the market and you could have purchased on fairly cheaply. Same with Whiskey Wisdom he had a quite a few in the sale and they went for a song also. Same with Tomahawk. and his stud fee was quite a bit compared to other stallions. So people did not make any money. I am not surprised. Mostly, I think you better have a damn good mare!!! I think the savvy buyer is looking at the individual horse. They know what they are looking for. They can spot class a mile away. Just my 2 cents worth.

I have never put anything through the sale. GF's will be the first. But we also breed to race and can bring them home and train them ourselves. So I think that makes a big difference, not having to rely on them selling. I definitely won't be giving them away!!!!

KBEquine · Postby **KBEquine** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:25 am

One of the things I noticed at December's Fasig Tipton Midlantic Mixed sale -- all things being equal, and I think it might cross over to the yearling sale, as well -- a horse with a good female family with strong Maryland ties will outsell a horse with a good female family without strong Maryland ties.

There are some good, strong old Maryland female families that are still respected; perhaps Pennsylvania will get that respect some day, as well.

I also notice there are a couple KY stallions that sell better in the Midlantic than they do at Keeneland or the KY Fasig Tipton sales.

So it's a "study your market" question because it might change, region-by-region. [Or even sale-by-sale.]

winds · Postby **winds** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:58 pm

KB Equine is right on the mark, what all of us in PA are hoping for, is that within a couple of years it will be the PA bred and sired horses that bring the big money.

winds

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:01 pm

I have primarily been a watcher, having only sold one weanling thus far.. but here in KY the mare HAS to have the page. Then a hot sire, then the really good looking horse, etc. etc. And then the right kind of connections. It's a tall order.

AscotStud · Postby **AscotStud** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:06 pm

This question can never be answered, because there is no "real" answer at least in Ontario. My brother had a filly by Najran (who I really like, but isn't hot in KY, but still stood for $7.5k and is a world record miler, decent for a Canadian sale) who was out of a full sister to a stakes winner who has produced a NY Champion and another st placed horse, the dam is also a 1/2 to a multiple graded stake placed horse. The dam was out of a 1/2 sister to the dam of Quiet American, Dare and Go and Go Deputy. She had the most graded winners on her page than any other horse in the sale. CTHS saw fit to put her in the preffered, his appeal was probably not even looked at. Must have been conformation you say? Not according to the inspector, his comments were she muct have been light on pedigree.
In my mind commercial has more to do with the people surrounding the horse and not so much the horse. That's why we've decide to on hold onto our mares that are stakes winners, graded placed or have produced stakes horses. We have 3 others that are neither but are halfs to very deep non Canadian families. the way I look at it if I can't sell it which is what I expect with this sale these days I would love to see it in my barn, racing.

imnumberjuan · Postby **imnumberjuan** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:06 pm

What about the connections of the horse? I would think this would have to weigh in as a factor on the "what have you done for me lately" side of the equation, there are some breeders who are noted for breeding top runners, and others that well... breed horses but not neccesarily racers.

One breeder I have seen at three consecutive sales (the Alberta yearling sale) has had at least half of their consigment attempt to flip/flee their handler - regardless of catalog page. As I had sat with my trainer - we mused about the time that would be needed with these animals to get them "halter broke". Neither of us could come to a resolution of their "racing spirit over bad manors/bad handling". Though it is noted not one of these was named in the subsequent years as a champion in any category.