Today's second session of book four of the Keeneland yearling sale was the closest to last years results yet. Tuesday's gross was off by $1.8 million but that was mainly due to 16 fewer horses being sold this year. The average of $52000 was close to the $55000 of last year and the median of $50000 was the same.
BEC was shutout for the second consecutive day as one of our potentials had a horrible vet report, one went for about double what we we willing to go to and on the last one we used sound financial principles by not bidding more than 10% over our valuation of the filly.(Though we felt remorseful watching her walk out of the ring despite being so close. A little spoiled after the weekend's fortunate events)
We are negotiating to buy hip number 2516, a Dixie Union colt from Three Chimneys and will get that deal done tomorrow for a very small number. Any interested parties should contact us at (502) 489-7492.
Hip number 2912 was a filly by Street Cry that brought a winning bid of $100000 from Al and Sandee Kirkwood. The filly was out of the stakes winning dam, Mujado, whom BEC Bloodstock purchased on its own behalf in January for $8700. She had a terrific Johar colt who may be entered in the January sale or kept and raced and we are looking for partners on him. The mare is back in foal to Thunder Gulch and is scheduled to be sent to Pennsylvania to drop the foal and take advantage of the lucrative PA breeding incentive program.
Keeneland has respectable weekend
The Keeneland sale was fairly level this weekend for book 3 of the September sale. Despite being off in gross sales, average and median prices, the numbers as compared to last year were not bad in light of the fears of some. Obviously the economy is effecting things but there also be a market correction in play as the price of yearlings, breeding stock and stud fees may have risen beyond what the market can bear. An encouraging sign is that the number of horses sold has increased as the sellers have come to terms with the market and are putting reasonable reserves in on their horses which in turn leads to more sales and less RNA's. Personally I want to buy horses for what the market says they can bring as opposed to an artificial number set by the owner.
BEC had a great weekend, buying four horses that we had rated as A prospects and paid close to exactly what we had expected. During Saturday's session we were outbid on a couple of lots that we were hoping to steal and simply weren't that close but we did come away with an Eddington filly that was one of my favorite's. Hip number 1566 is out of a Broad Brush mare named Erase who was a winner on both the turf and dirt. She is a bit light on commercial pedigree but is very athletic, she moves like a cat, and I thought she was a nice racing prospect for $30000. During the bidding I actually was the underbidder on her as she sold for $35000 but the winning bidder was bidding on the wrong horse and after Keeneland and Claiborne officials consulted, they agreed to sell her to me for my last bid of $30000.
Sunday was a very good day as the three horses that we had targeted all fell within our price range and we got them all. The first was hip number 1851, a Thunder Gulch colt out of a stakes winning Royal Academy mare named Very Very that we claimed and trained for breeder Ron McKee. He turned out slightly in the right front but had a great walk and was very balanced. He looks like a nice prospect and Mr. McKee is going to stay in and partner with us on the colt.
The second horse that we really wanted was hip number 1899, a Johar colt out of a Shadeed mare named Bartered Bride. The colt is a half brother to a stakes winning filly named In Return who has set three track records on the turf at Monmouth Park. He has a great walk and looks like a larger version of another nice Johar colt named Albin that we have. His dam was bred to Smart Strike this year and she is owned by Jayeff B stables who are obviously supporting her by breeding her to top stallions. I was thrilled to get him for for Bob Gary for $40000.
Bob Gary also bought the third horse that we had targeted, hip number 1998, a Mizzen Mast filly out of the stakes placed Distant View mare, Far Afield. The filly is big and strong and absolutely looks like a runner. Consigned by Mill Ridge for breeder Dr. John Chandler, her mother was a promising prospect who won 2 races in four starts including a Keeneland allowance win and a third place finish in a listed turf stakes at Calder before an untimely injury ended her career just as it was taking off. We went to $37000 for her which is simply a steal.
Today is the first day of book 4 and there is a considerable drop off in the overall quality of horses from what I saw while looking at the barns yesterday. I have very little that I am interested in today though there are some interesting prospects on Tuesday. The better horses will still sell well though the ones with issues will really have a hard time today. The RNA's may rise because I saw a lot of bad horses that have expensive stud fees attached to them and some owners simply wont be able to stomach letting their horse with the $50000 stud fee go for $4000.
The most interesting news out of Keeneland this weekend was the saga of the top selling horse of Thursdays session, a Medaglia d'Oro filly who was purchased for $1.1 million dollars by English trainer Paul D'Arcy for a woman in England who didn't have the proper credit with Keeneland and later was found to have a checkered financial past. Keeneland took possession of the horses and they were later resold but they are taking legal action against the original buyers.
BEC had a great weekend, buying four horses that we had rated as A prospects and paid close to exactly what we had expected. During Saturday's session we were outbid on a couple of lots that we were hoping to steal and simply weren't that close but we did come away with an Eddington filly that was one of my favorite's. Hip number 1566 is out of a Broad Brush mare named Erase who was a winner on both the turf and dirt. She is a bit light on commercial pedigree but is very athletic, she moves like a cat, and I thought she was a nice racing prospect for $30000. During the bidding I actually was the underbidder on her as she sold for $35000 but the winning bidder was bidding on the wrong horse and after Keeneland and Claiborne officials consulted, they agreed to sell her to me for my last bid of $30000.
Sunday was a very good day as the three horses that we had targeted all fell within our price range and we got them all. The first was hip number 1851, a Thunder Gulch colt out of a stakes winning Royal Academy mare named Very Very that we claimed and trained for breeder Ron McKee. He turned out slightly in the right front but had a great walk and was very balanced. He looks like a nice prospect and Mr. McKee is going to stay in and partner with us on the colt.
The second horse that we really wanted was hip number 1899, a Johar colt out of a Shadeed mare named Bartered Bride. The colt is a half brother to a stakes winning filly named In Return who has set three track records on the turf at Monmouth Park. He has a great walk and looks like a larger version of another nice Johar colt named Albin that we have. His dam was bred to Smart Strike this year and she is owned by Jayeff B stables who are obviously supporting her by breeding her to top stallions. I was thrilled to get him for for Bob Gary for $40000.
Bob Gary also bought the third horse that we had targeted, hip number 1998, a Mizzen Mast filly out of the stakes placed Distant View mare, Far Afield. The filly is big and strong and absolutely looks like a runner. Consigned by Mill Ridge for breeder Dr. John Chandler, her mother was a promising prospect who won 2 races in four starts including a Keeneland allowance win and a third place finish in a listed turf stakes at Calder before an untimely injury ended her career just as it was taking off. We went to $37000 for her which is simply a steal.
Today is the first day of book 4 and there is a considerable drop off in the overall quality of horses from what I saw while looking at the barns yesterday. I have very little that I am interested in today though there are some interesting prospects on Tuesday. The better horses will still sell well though the ones with issues will really have a hard time today. The RNA's may rise because I saw a lot of bad horses that have expensive stud fees attached to them and some owners simply wont be able to stomach letting their horse with the $50000 stud fee go for $4000.
The most interesting news out of Keeneland this weekend was the saga of the top selling horse of Thursdays session, a Medaglia d'Oro filly who was purchased for $1.1 million dollars by English trainer Paul D'Arcy for a woman in England who didn't have the proper credit with Keeneland and later was found to have a checkered financial past. Keeneland took possession of the horses and they were later resold but they are taking legal action against the original buyers.
Sale still sluggish on Day 4
The Keeneland September yearling sale remained far behind last years pace on day four, the last day before Friday's one day break in the action. Though there was a million dollar lot sold, the day's results were fairly mundane. We had very few horses shortlisted for Thursday and of the ones we liked, one had a spotty scope report and the others all landed far beyond out price range. Hip number 1215 is the second foal out of Honorable Cat, a mare that BEC purchased for breeder Ron McKee. The daughter of Gone West lacked great size but sold for $100,000 to Anthony Stroud. Honorable Cat's first foal by Vindication, a colt named Vindicat, sold last year for $170,000 at the same sale.
The session topper was a filly by Medaglia d'Oro who was a very nice horse but seemingly well sold for $1.1 million dollars. My personal favorite was hip number was 990, an outstanding Johannesburg colt consigned by Lanes End who was purchased for $260,000 for European connections. I liked hip number 1271 a filly by Street Cry but not enough to top the $125,000 they got for her. All in all, I thought that yesterdays cheaper horses weren't worth taking a flyer with and the nice ones were just too expensive. This weekend has a lot of nice horses and there were lots of lookers this afternoon despite the stifling heat. I have a long list of potentials for both Saturday and Sunday and I still have about six barns for Sunday to look at.
The Smarty Jones colt we bought Wednesday has been sold. The Aldebaran filly, Aldebutante, who BEC purchased for Dee Tee Stable at last year's September sale has been entered for her debut at Belmont Park in Sunday's 5th race.
The session topper was a filly by Medaglia d'Oro who was a very nice horse but seemingly well sold for $1.1 million dollars. My personal favorite was hip number was 990, an outstanding Johannesburg colt consigned by Lanes End who was purchased for $260,000 for European connections. I liked hip number 1271 a filly by Street Cry but not enough to top the $125,000 they got for her. All in all, I thought that yesterdays cheaper horses weren't worth taking a flyer with and the nice ones were just too expensive. This weekend has a lot of nice horses and there were lots of lookers this afternoon despite the stifling heat. I have a long list of potentials for both Saturday and Sunday and I still have about six barns for Sunday to look at.
The Smarty Jones colt we bought Wednesday has been sold. The Aldebaran filly, Aldebutante, who BEC purchased for Dee Tee Stable at last year's September sale has been entered for her debut at Belmont Park in Sunday's 5th race.
Solid Day Three
Day three of the Keeneland September sale was much stronger in relation to last years results than the first two days. There were 10 more horses sold than the corresponding day last year and the gross was off $2 million from the 2007 results which is an improvement from the opening book which wound up off $30 million dollars from last year. The average slipped and the median was about the same but there were no seven figure horses sold.
We sprung into action buying hip number 568, a Mizzen Mast filly out of a multiple stakes winning Petionville mare named Slewville. The filly, who was consigned by Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm, got extremely high grades from us on her conformation and athleticism. We were thrilled to get her for $45000 which was about 50% of what we thought she would bring. The filly is owned by a partnership of Bob Gary Racing and Bluegrass Equine Center.
We also went to $45000 to purchase hip number 595, a Theatrical colt out of the multiple stakes placed Peteski mare, Sweet and Firm. The colt, who was consigned by Hill n Dale farm, was a very good individual for the sire, had a big athletic walk and had perfect xrays and scope reports. He is an Ontario bred who looks like he will relish a distance of ground over the grass. The colt is owned by the Gary/Bluegrass partnership.
Hip number 634 wasn't on our original list but we were alerted to his potential availability a short while before he was to go through the ring. After looking at him and really liking what we saw we wound up bidding and buying him for $25000. The son of Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones is a half brother to million dollar earner West Virginia and is a rangy type that not only looks fast but like he will be able to cover a distance of ground. He was bought on BEC's account and is available to interested parties.
Quite a few of our other potentials went for prices above what we were willing to spend and tomorrow's list is fairly light. We will start examining this weekends horses in the morning.
We sprung into action buying hip number 568, a Mizzen Mast filly out of a multiple stakes winning Petionville mare named Slewville. The filly, who was consigned by Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm, got extremely high grades from us on her conformation and athleticism. We were thrilled to get her for $45000 which was about 50% of what we thought she would bring. The filly is owned by a partnership of Bob Gary Racing and Bluegrass Equine Center.
We also went to $45000 to purchase hip number 595, a Theatrical colt out of the multiple stakes placed Peteski mare, Sweet and Firm. The colt, who was consigned by Hill n Dale farm, was a very good individual for the sire, had a big athletic walk and had perfect xrays and scope reports. He is an Ontario bred who looks like he will relish a distance of ground over the grass. The colt is owned by the Gary/Bluegrass partnership.
Hip number 634 wasn't on our original list but we were alerted to his potential availability a short while before he was to go through the ring. After looking at him and really liking what we saw we wound up bidding and buying him for $25000. The son of Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones is a half brother to million dollar earner West Virginia and is a rangy type that not only looks fast but like he will be able to cover a distance of ground. He was bought on BEC's account and is available to interested parties.
Quite a few of our other potentials went for prices above what we were willing to spend and tomorrow's list is fairly light. We will start examining this weekends horses in the morning.
Mixed results for Day 2
The Keeneland sale was eerily similar today to yesterday with a number of good horses selling for seven figures but high number of lots going unsold and the overall numbers trending downward. The 2008 sale is $30 million dollars behind after two days and that probably wont get better as the sale progresses into the non-select books. There are of course lots of theories bouncing around about missing buyers who are waiting on the middle books to smoke out the bargins that are expected to be there. But that seems like a stretch especially since those 'middle market' buyers are rarely the types that are spending $400000 a horse. Honestly, the sale lacks any buzz, there are no "showstopper" type horses, no new upper level buyers, and the mood is generally subdued. As a matter of fact if it weren't for the newly formed Legends Racing(which is really Gentry, Lukas, Zito, and Baffert, none of who are new), upper level domestic buying would be almost dormant.
We have some possibilities for tomorrows sale with one filly going through the ring relatively early. There are lots of solid horses that may not quite have book one pedigrees but are really nice individuals. The barn traffic looking at these horses has been fairly light and I am hoping that the sellers are going to be realistic with reserves. We will have more tomorrow.
We have some possibilities for tomorrows sale with one filly going through the ring relatively early. There are lots of solid horses that may not quite have book one pedigrees but are really nice individuals. The barn traffic looking at these horses has been fairly light and I am hoping that the sellers are going to be realistic with reserves. We will have more tomorrow.
Keeneland Day One shaky
Keenelands select session got off to a shaky start yesterday as proceeds were off $11 million dollars, the average price was down 14% and the number of RNA's was higher than last years session. The big story was the buyback of the AP Indy-Azeri colt by Micheal Paulson for a record $7.7 million dollars. I think too much is made of this as they seemingly had no intention of selling this horse and the whole thing is pretty immaterial except for wondering why they would pay Keeneland to 'appraise' their horse. There was no real money bid on this horse, the whole thing was a sham. Moving on, I was approached by several big consignors about horses that they may want to deal with later on in the sale. These guys are really nervous. (When I say deals I don't mean in an illegal way. They just want to reduce inventory and are worried already that the sale will be so weak at that point that some of the owners may wind up staying in for a piece of the horse if they can get a bit of cash to offset some of the expenses)
I spent most of the day looking at horses for Wednesday and Thursday and came out with a list of really good horses that hopefully will fall into our price range. I was surprised that hip #41, an Elusive Quality colt, was an RNA for $285,000 as I thought he was a star and had a lot of European appeal though we didnt vet him and there may be an issue there. #40, a Pulpit filly bought by Starlight Partners for $210,000 was a really nice filly. #59, a Dynaformer, was a nice horse though the $550,000 that he brought was full retail for him. We will have more thorough reports as the sale progresses and we look at more horses. If you have any questions on individual horses write them in the comments link.
I spent most of the day looking at horses for Wednesday and Thursday and came out with a list of really good horses that hopefully will fall into our price range. I was surprised that hip #41, an Elusive Quality colt, was an RNA for $285,000 as I thought he was a star and had a lot of European appeal though we didnt vet him and there may be an issue there. #40, a Pulpit filly bought by Starlight Partners for $210,000 was a really nice filly. #59, a Dynaformer, was a nice horse though the $550,000 that he brought was full retail for him. We will have more thorough reports as the sale progresses and we look at more horses. If you have any questions on individual horses write them in the comments link.
September is close when the "outs" are out
Keeneland has released the first list of "outs" which means we are close to game time at the September sale. We have dissected the pedigrees enough and look forward to getting out tomorrow to look at the individuals. BEC has stands behind it theory that this is perhaps the best moment in recent times to be a yearling buyer, especially in the middle of the market. There have been numerous articles written recently in the trade journals that portray the uneasiness of both consignors and the sales companies and we believe that they should be worried. Cash is short and stud fees have stayed high which means that many breeders are going to be more willing to "cut bait" so to speak and accept a loss on a horse in order to cash out. Training fees aren't getting any cheaper and the high cost of racing or pinhooking into the two year old sales will in our opinion put more horses in the ring with either no or realistic reserves. We plan on capitalizing on this market and will be looking to buy from day one through day 17. Regardless of where you race there will be racehorses there for you. Call (502) 489-7492 if we can help you.
Click here for the outs
Click here for the outs
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