What are your plans?

[TBLuver]

I've been here really a short time but I've notice alot of you have thoroughbred foals. What are your plans for them? I have one colt this year who I'm hoping too or dreaming to sell at the Sept yearling Sale at Keeneland. I have people tell me all the time I'm crazy but without our dreams and horses where would we be.

[Maven]

I sell all my colts and retain the fillies that fit into my broodmare band. Those that don't are also sold.

For me, it's a business that must pay for itself. The market and location plays an important factor for me. I have some very commercial horses but I have a few mares who are anything but commercial.

They have fantastic families behind them that I want in my band, but their colts wouldn't sell well in Kentucky. So I breed and foal them out in Florida where the market is more "athlete over commercial appeal" in most sales.

If you play your cards right and have patience, location can be your best friend. For instance, an athletic Concorde's Tune or West Acre would barely get looked at in a Keeneland sale, but at an OBS, especially 2 yo sale, they can bring multiples of what you'd like them to bring.

[clh]

TBLuver - we breed to sell - hopefully one day we'll breed to race our own but we aren't there yet.

Have one in the Sept KEE sale (Tapit filly) and the rest will go in Nov at KEE hopefully. If not, we'll keep them until yearlings. I said we'd not go back to Jan KEE but I've also learned never to say never again in this business

Who is your yearling out of and by? Have you got them entered in the sale? I think the deadline was the first part of May.

Good luck!

C

[TBLuver]

Hi CLH,
I hope to have one to race one day as well. I should have been more clearer.. my colt is a suckling and I'm aiming for sept sale next year 2008. He's out of Khat's Whiskers and by Rocket's Legacy. I attended the sale last year and was in awww of all the yearlings. Do you use a consignor? If so where do I start looking?

thanks for the replies! and good luck.
Connie

[Thunder]

TBLuver - Good Luck in your business venture. If you have the $$'s you'll do OK.

[Jolene]

Hi CLH,
I hope to have one to race one day as well. I should have been more clearer.. my colt is a suckling and I'm aiming for sept sale next year 2008. He's out of Khat's Whiskers and by Rocket's Legacy. I attended the sale last year and was in awww of all the yearlings. Do you use a consignor? If so where do I start looking?

thanks for the replies! and good luck.
Connie

Do you mean an agent? If so, an agent can be really helpful. We only sell at a small regional sale, but still use an agent. It's not that we can't do the "sales stuff" ourselves, but having a reputable agent with a diverse offering lends some visibility and extra attention to your consignment, thus increasing the potential for getting more (higher!) bids.

Make sure the agent both fits your budget, and is reputable. Also, check out catalogs/results from previous years, and have your expectations in the appropriate range for your offering. The greatest agent can't make a $2000 horse a $20,000 horse. And while Keeneland is breathtaking, you may want to make sure your particular consignment would be a good fit. Unfortunately, some horses don't make the upset price of $1000, and you lose all the fees you paid to get into the sale (which are not a pittance) even when you're forced to take your horse back home. It wouldn't hurt to get an honest appraisal of your horse's value before consigning, just to be safe.

Good luck and best wishes to you!

[clh]

TBLuver - there is a thread here on consignors. We do use a couple of different consignors and if you'd like some more information on who we have used and like, I would be more than happy to share that information with you. Feel free to PM me.

Check out that topic and let me know.

C