The stats remained about the same, average $24,000, median $13,000, and RNA + withdrawals about 40%. The only partnerships that bought horses were Pewter Stables and Wasabi Ventures. A group called Country Life Farm paid $92,000 for a Lemon Drop Kid I was interested in. It is possible this could become a partnership horse.
If I had been a real buyer, this would have been a disappointing day. This time all 10 of the horses I liked made it to the ring, but 5 were RNA’s, including my 3 favorites. It is a little difficult to execute a “value” strategy if no one will sell you a horse. Of the 5 that sold, 2 were well above my price range.
My key horse in this sale was hip #571:
Midnight Storm – Suzee Sunrise by Chester House
I really liked the stamina influence in the dam’s pedigree, but even though the bidding got to $55,000, the horse was still and RNA. Maybe if I had bid $60,000 in the real world I would be the real owner, but maybe I waited through the whole sale for a horse the consigner had no interest in selling.
If I gone in with budget of $25,000 I would have bought hip #509:
Midnight Storm – Deborah’s Moment by Lemon Drop Kid for $14,000
I would be thrilled to walk out with this horse. It is exactly what I am looking for. Both the dam and 2nd dam were runners and producers. So for a low budget, i would have been very excited with the results.
If my budget had been higher would have waited for #571 and been disappointed. It is tough when your top choice is so late in the sale. If I had taken a 2nd choice early, it would have been:
Noble Mission – Style Show by Red Ransom for $30,000.
This turf oriented filly is bred to run 1 1/2 miles. Maybe this should have been my focus, but that is 20/20 hindsight.
I still do not fully understand the role of the these later sales. It would have been hard to wait through Keeneland to find value here. Then I just learned that another 500 yearlings will be sold at Ocala next week. Can any one person really look at all these horses?
Buying A Race Horse 