The 11 years since the Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners last hosted an auction have produced sweeping changes to the state’s racing and breeding landscapes. Now, Ohio’s horsemen are ready to sell again. The OTBO will host its rejuvenated mixed sale on Dec. 3 at Majestic Farm in Batavia, Ohio. Dan Mahaney, who also manages Thoroughbred sales in Indiana, will preside as auctioneer. Reviving the breed organization’s sale has been a topic of discussion among OTBO members since the expansion of casino gaming in the state’s racetracks was approved in 2011. Earlier that year, the state reported a paltry 124 mares bred. In five years, the number rose to 434. “At that time, purses and breeders and stallion awards were pretty much at an all-time low,” OTBO executive director John Engelhardt said about the state’s lean years. “Since then, the program in Ohio has been revitalized. People feel like they can breed and sell a horse that can be profitable in the long run, and that we’ve got buyers that say, ‘I’m looking at these horses that are breaking their maidens for $24,000 in Ohio and I want to jump in on this.’” Not wanting to come back in a half-hearted manner, the OTBO sales committee conducted a feasibility study among horsemen in Ohio and surrounding states, and had 146 potential commitments by mid-June, before the sale was publicly announced – a healthy mix of weanlings, yearlings, broodmares, and horses of racing age. After word got out about the sale, Engelhardt said he has gotten a steady stream of calls from interested consignors. With a placement on the calendar after the major Kentucky fall mixed sales and at the end of the racing season, he expected even more inquiries as the year went on. “It’s kind of toward the end of the season, and owners might looking down the shedrow and saying, ‘You know, this horse has run through his conditions and I’ve got his full brother coming in next year, I might as well put him in the sale,’” Engelhardt said. “There also might be trainers that might be thinking of claiming a horse at a certain number and that horse might end up in the sale and he could get a bargain deal on a horse he feels he can improve upon.” Engelhardt recognized that the sale’s first renewal after the hiatus might be treated as a “wait-and-see” event for many potential buyers and sellers, and said he would gauge the auction’s success on a three-year basis. Most importantly, Engelhardt stressed the importance of the auction as a service to the state’s breeders. The buying bench will likely be more localized than the higher-profile auctions in Kentucky, but that could end up being a boon for horsemen looking to capitalize on Ohio-bred incentive programs. “We know that the people buying at this sale will most likely keep and race them in Ohio, which means the people that put up the investment have a good chance of getting their breeders’ awards back,” Engelhardt said. “There were several horses that were purchased at auction last year that ended up in Korea. That guy that put all his investment in raising that horse is never going to see any breeders’ award from the state coming back.”