F/T July Yearlings Conclusion

The first yearling sale has ended with mixed results. The median sale price increased to $80,000 from a median of $75,000 in 2019 (this sale was not held last year). Let’s call that OK, but not great. The RNA rate was reported at 33%, but was actually closer to 40% when considering withdrawals.

Eclipse fired 3 bullets, including partnering on the $800,000 sale topper by the ever popular Into Mischief. West Point bought a $110,000 son of Collected. Donegal snuck in to buy a $130,000 son of Arrogate. The other partnerships were quiet. Liz Crow did buy three, maybe those could be for Ten Strike, but she has other clients. The strange news was Ken McPeek bought 13 horses for about $100,000 a pop. There seemed to be a 50/50 mix of pinhookers and “buy to race” buyers.

Maybe the surprise stallion was Mor Spirit selling 5 for over $100,000 each. Results were OK for some of the new stallions, but nothing exceptional. Again this was a strange collections of horses that seemed to little light on pedigree.

What would I have bought at this sale? Most likely nothing, but for educational purposes let’s muse about what I could have done.

The horse I really wanted was #103, the daughter of Collected that I wrote a separate post about. She was RNAed for a disappointing $22,000. Last year I would have just ignored this horse, but this year I want to keep better track of these RNA’s. I will mark her down as a $25,000 purchase with an asterisk.

In the real world the horse I might have actually bought was #277 a filly by Tonalist. Tonalist had moved out of my top 10 sires, but the emergence of Country Grammar has caused me to rethink that. This is a very solid mare, and the nick is A++. This is a model plodder/plodder horse, and I love the value at only $35,000. The real world buyer was a small operation that races primarily at Prairie Meadows, I think they got the best deal at the sale.

If I throw the budget out the window then my favorite horse would be the City of Light colt #255. The price was “only” 4x the stud fee. If I really buy into the Lane’s End methodology then maybe this is the best horse at this sale. The buyer here was a low profile group out of Louisiana. Let’s watch.

Since the theme of this sale is new sires, let’s add on from that group. Good Samaritan was good for Bill Mott on turf and dirt so let’s watch his results going forward. Let’s also watch a daughter of Mendelssohn going forward.

Let’s give West Point some credit for buying a son of Collected for a solid $110,000. This was the new sire I thought was the most interesting. The mare here is by Bluegrass Cat and has some stamina credentials. I do not “love” this buy, but I do respect it.

Another very realistic horse to buy was solid son of American Freedom. Maybe the best focus was on 2nd year sires instead of the brand new guys. This horse has a great 2nd dam and the price was right. Pinhooker Julie Davis bought him, let’s see how she does. Another 2nd year sire idea is #290 where I really like the dam.

1. #103 – f – Collected – Aurore by Arch – April 1, B nick, $25,000*
2. #277 – f – Tonalist – 2nd dam by Dynaformer, A++ nick, nick of Country Grammar, $35,000
3. #255 – c – City of Light by Pleasant Mine, April 30 foal, B+ nick, 4/30 foal, $170,000
4. #115 – f – Good Samaritan – dam a granddaughter of Medaglia D’ Oro, $42,000
5. #176 – f – Mendelssohn – 2nd dam by Kingmambo, D nick, $85,000
6. #48 – c – Collected – Moonshine Magic by Bluegrass Cat, $110,000
7. #106 – c – American Freedom – Beauty N Balance by Looking at Lucky, $25,000
8. #290 – c – Unified – from Bob Ribaudo/Marc Keller mare Sotique, $55,000

I most likely would have waited for Keeneland, but there were some horses to think about at this sale. Many of my better ideas were RNAed or withdrawn. It is difficult to execute my plodder/plodder strategy if the sellers will not sell.

The next sale is some fancy horses at Saratoga in August, but the catalog is not out yet.