Lexington, KY - Fasig-Tipton announced today that it has canceled its 2009 yearling sale in Kentucky. The sale had been scheduled to begin on October 26.
Dan Pride, Fasig-Tipton's chief operating officer, said in a statement, "A sale should be viable for consignors, buyers and lastly for the sales company. The feed-back we are getting from our constituents indicated that this was not the case for the October Yearling Sale."
For many not involved in the industry, the decision might be taken as yet another that the souring economy has taken a toll on the 111-year old equine sales company. "No, no, no," insisted Fasig-Tipton spokesman Terrence Collier. "If you look at the history of the sale over the last several years -this has been a difficult sale for us to find an appropriate market niche for every year we've held it, even in good times when the sale was more buoyant than it was last year. It's a sale that is more difficult for the market to accept. The bottom end of the market, which has been a weak sector for years, has always been the predominate sector of the market. So there've just been too many horses with no bids; too many horses withdrawn; too many horses not sold and with the exception of a few people it really hasn't worked strongly for us."
Collier said the yearling sale actually resulted from recent over-production, which now has led to its downfall.
The company's next event in Lexington will be its Selected Yearling Sale on July 20 and 21.
For an in-depth update on Fasig-Tipton, see Leslie Deckard's cover story in the March 6 edition of Business Lexington. Or click here.