Pedigree Query

I'll be skipping it this year. Nothing that's a "must have" for me this year.

That's a shame, I'm not going to buy, just to watch and connect with people. Want to see how the stallions with first crop yearlings do since I'll have one next year.

winds

I will be there at least one of the two days, not sure which at this point. I will be leaving my checkbook at home and tying my hands behind my back however! It can be extremely hard to pass up what appears to be incredible bargains but the last thing I need is another horse that can't race anytime soon.

Hey merse, check out Hip 183 - a colt by Artie Schiller out of African Skyline - let me know what you think of him. We used to own that mare (kinda wish I still did ) and sold her in foal to Artie. Would love to know how the foal turned out. Last I heard they were taking African Skyline to PA to foal that Artie foal, then shipping her to NY to breed her to a NY stallion so they were moving the mare around trying to get foals from different states on the ground.

Thank

I'm heading down there today so I'll check him out. From what I've been told, F-T has really upgraded the sales pavillion so i can't wait to see the changes. (Despite the bad sales, maybe they can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?).

Don't know if I'm going wanted to see what it was like the beginning and it's a blood bath. Not sure if I want to see it in person. So sad.......

winds

I was going to go tomorrow, but the horse I was going to see is apparently not very well put together and not worth the trip for an owner.
Seeing the early results.. It looks worse than last year.

Yes, the results do look worse than last year. So sorry for the consignors.

Bohemia wrote:Yes, the results do look worse than last year. So sorry for the consignors.

Bohemia, I'm not picking on you, but...why are you sorry for the consignors? They're still getting paid, though their commissions are going to be smaller than usual. It's the breeders/sellers who are in big trouble at this sale.

Last week Keeneland ran a couple of big ads thanking the consignors and buyers that came to their September sale. Again...hello??? Without the breeders--most of whom lost their shirts--the consignors wouldn't have anything to sell.


(rant over )

Consignors have it tough, the sales companies have it tough, and the breeders have it ESPECIALLY tough, I agree LB. The only one who doesn't have it tough are buyers. Easy pickin's.

What I always love is when they show the "highlights" of past sales and they list the buyer and consignor but NEVER mention the breeder. I mean, let's get real, a consignor may visit the horse at a farm a few times before the sale but I think most see them for the first time when they are shipped in. You then get a couple days showing at the sales before the yearling walks through the ring and, if it sells good, the consignor gets the press.

(now don't even get me started about the Breeders Cup - has anyone ever seen TV coverage on the breeder?)

My personal opinion from having been at both sales - it didn't look any worse than last year to me. Then again, I didn't think it could get any worse than last year.

But I saw a couple horses going for more than I expected and, of course, a whole lot going for less than what I thought was their actual value.

But on the whole, I really didn't think it was worse. There seemed to be fewer buyers, but the ones who WERE there, appeared to be serious. And if you look at the results, it seems there were fewer RNAs. That might be because the reserves were lower, but even so, it seemed like more horses sold than last year.

I personally think buyers will be in the same no-win situation next year. After all, a lot has been made about the fact that the 2008 foals who are this year's yearlings were bred on the stud fees that were very high - but everyone with a 2009 foal knows that all THOSE breeding decisions were made either late in 2007 or very early in 2008 - before the markets crashed, taking the TB sales with them & causing at least some stallion managers to offer deals. I think the breeders' bumpy ride will continue to the 2010 yearling sales.

Having said that - I really didn't think this sale was worse than last year's. Remember - the stock market took its biggest drop in history on the 1st day of the Timonium sale last year. While last year's Kentucky sales were a little off, this is where the sales REALLY took the drop.

LB wrote:

Bohemia wrote:Yes, the results do look worse than last year. So sorry for the consignors.

Bohemia, I'm not picking on you, but...why are you sorry for the consignors? They're still getting paid, though their commissions are going to be smaller than usual. It's the breeders/sellers who are in big trouble at this sale.

Last week Keeneland ran a couple of big ads thanking the consignors and buyers that came to their September sale. Again...hello??? Without the breeders--most of whom lost their shirts--the consignors wouldn't have anything to sell.


(rant over )

I wouldn't care even if you meant to pick on me ... I have a very thick skin. I should have clarified my post to say breeders and sellers, that's actually what I meant to write.

The numbers are down a bit, but nothing drastic, it appears.

As I said in the OBS thread, the smaller regional sales are going to be affected less by this fallout because the range in prices and the amount of horses offered is much smaller than the inflated KeeSept sale. I think it's size is it's own worst enemy in a market like this.

I'm pretty sure I just saw a Harlan's Holiday colt go for $300,000 to Nick deMeric. It was the exception, of course, but good to see.