Fasig-Tipton concluded two days of Thoroughbred auctions July 12 with mixed economic indicators that could reveal increased polarization in one part of the bloodstock market.
The sales company held its fourth Selected Horses of Racing Age sale July 11 with generally positive figures, while its July Selected Yearling Sale on July 12 was down across the board. The Horses of Racing Age auction included not only current racehorses, but also breeding stock from the dispersal of Eutrophia Farm. Eutrophia owner Elisabeth “Betty” Alexander and her husband, Quentin, were once top owners and breeders in Ohio, but Alexander sold their farm in late 2013.
Final numbers for the Horses of Racing Age sale were strong, with gross sales up 26.3 percent over last year (for a total of $5,048,500), average up 14 percent (to $70,118). Median was down slightly from $48,000 to $42,000. The rate of Reserves Not Attained (horses failing to meet the minimum price or “reserve” set by their sellers) in the auction ring was also down, from 32.2 percent last year to 20.8 percent. That figure likely was influenced by the horses from the dispersal, which were all sold without reserve prices.
The highlight for the racing age portion was the sale of 7-year-old mare Stormy Lucy, which was among the horses not attaining its reserve but which sold after the auction in a private sale. Fasig-Tipton and other auction houses allow consignors and buyers to log sales made in private transactions on the grounds, which count toward the auction’s final figures.
“Throughout recent years we’ve posted ‘PS’s for private sales,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning of the practice. “We saw unbelievably brisk private sale activity post-sale in Timonium at the 2-year-old sale. It’s the nature of the business. You’re never done selling until everyone on your list says no. The ring’s your first opportunity, your primary opportunity, but there are certainly alternatives available post-sale.”
Stormy Lucy is the winner of the prestigious Grade 1 Matriarch in California, and currently has earnings of more than $850,000. She was consigned by Nicholasville-based Taylor Made Sales and purchased by SF Bloodstock. Trainer Ed Moger had told media in late 2015 that the mare was a $550,000 private purchase by owner Steve Moger. So why didn’t she rack up bigger numbers?
“She’s a Grade 1 winner, had a little bit of age on her. I think that made it a tiny bit difficult for folks to really get their hands around her value because of her age,” said Browning after the auction. “That’s not uncommon in the market we live in.”
Monday’s auction was also abuzz with surprise that Donegal Moon, a 3-year-old colt offered for sale by Taylor Made for Donegal Racing, brought a bid of $1.6 million but did not attain his reserve. Jerry Crawford of Donegal Racing speculated to media afterward that the colt, which was on the Kentucky Derby trail earlier this year, might be sold privately. The $1.6 million was reportedly very close to the horse’s reserve price.
Bidding was less enthusiastic Tuesday, when Fasig-Tipton presented a full catalogue of Thoroughbred yearlings in the first major public yearling auction on the calendar. Last year’s yearling sale saw the auction’s highest average and median since 2007, and the number of entries was up for 2016, but the prices were not. Gross sales were down 21.2 percent (to a total of $15,756,500 for 183 horses), average dropped 11.8 percent (to $86,101), and median was down 22.1 percent (to $60,000). The RNA rate was up significantly from 2015, rising from 28.8 percent to 37.5 percent.
The highest-priced yearling July 12 was a son of Curlin who brought $475,000 from buyer Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, which purchased the horse together with Breeze Easy Stable. Randy Hartley of Hartley/De Renzo told reporters that the plan for the horse would be to pinhook him, or sell him as a 2-year-old in early 2017 with the hopes of making a profit.
Buyers at a yearling sale have different motivations for purchasing the horses at a young age. Some, such as those from established farms such as Stonestreet, buy horses with pedigrees they like with the idea of racing them and adding them to the farm’s breeding band when they retire. Others are looking for future racing prospects but plan to sell the horses when their careers are finished. Still others, like pinhookers, are scoping out body types they think will develop quickly to give them strong resale prospects in the winter or spring of their 2-year-old seasons.
Browning suspected there were slightly fewer pinhookers purchasing yearlings at this auction, but attributed most of the decline to increased interest in the upper end of the market, and decreased interest in the lower and middle markets.
The next major public auction in Kentucky is the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, on Sept. 12-25. Analysts will be watching to see whether the shift in action from the lower/middle to the upper end of the yearling market continues there.