Consignors optimistic as juvenile sale season begins

There were stormy seas for the 2-year-old marketplace, and Thoroughbred sales in general, in 2020. The market restraint caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic hit the 2-year-old sales the hardest, due to their timing in the first half of that year. With the spread of the virus and restrictions on travel and gathering, most of the season’s sales found themselves rescheduled or canceled, with the horses who did go through the ring finding tough going amidst the uncertainty.

A new dawn came in 2021. Pent-up enthusiasm to go racing led to a powerhouse 2-year-old sale season, with many sales, back in their traditional places on the calendar, posting record returns. That season ushered in bright skies for the rest of the year, as the various types of Thoroughbred sales are tied together in a cycle. The yearling sale season was strong as pinhookers were emboldened to restock for the following year, and end users attempted to get ahead of the curve to find value on young stock. Breeders who were rewarded with strong yearling sales were able to continue to add to their bands at the fall and winter mixed sales.

Now, as the season turns back to the 2-year-old sales, forecasters are hoping for continued sunny skies, even with a storm on the other side of the globe. Demand for young stock that can quickly be sent to the racetrack, particularly with those who have already proven themselves, is still high – as has been seen with young racing-age offerings during the recently concluded mixed-sale season.

The juvenile colt Strava topped the horses of racing age portion at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, at $825,000. The unraced 2-year-old filly Princesse Lele and the 3-year-old colt Belgrade were the top two prices at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale, at $750,000 and $725,000, respectively.

“One of the barometers going into the March sale is typically how things went at the Keene-land January and Fasig-Tipton February sales,” said Shannon Machholz, director of marketing and client relations for breeder and consignor Woodford Thoroughbreds. “Both of them were up pretty significantly, with quality of horses, the average, the median. The RNA rate was down.”

These, and other signs of continued enthusiasm, have consignors feeling hopeful.

“We’re pretty excited about the 2-year-old sales coming up this season,” said consignor Joe Pickerrell of Pick View LLC. “There’s been a lot of interest at the farms. We’ve got a really good group going forward, and we’re excited to get started.”

The season begins in Florida, with the catalogs having been released for two sales in March. The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co., which will offer more juveniles than any other auction house over the course of the season, holds the first of its three sales on March 15-16. A total of 635 juveniles have been cataloged.

As March began, the eyes of the world were still on Ukraine, which was defending itself against a Russian invasion. Major events in the world can have an effect on Thoroughbred auctions and other major economic propositions, as has been seen in recent history with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the market crash of 2008, and the coronavirus pandemic.

“We couldn’t have predicted what is going on in the rest of the world, just like we couldn’t have predicted COVID,” Machholz said. “It’s definitely a concern. The horse industry and the health of sales is somewhat connected to the stock market, and those who don’t like volatility in the stock market.”

With the situation developing daily, it is too early to predict what specific effects the situation in Ukraine might have on the marketplace.

“We often don’t know what the market is going to be like till we get there on the sale grounds and take the temperature,” Machholz said.

Fasig-Tipton will conduct its boutique Gulfstream sale on March 30. There are 103 lots cataloged prior to supplemental entries, and juveniles will have the chance to breeze over a variety of top-class racing surfaces, which has proven a draw for buyers.

“The Gulfstream sale annually offers a concentration of quality that is unmatched by any 2-year-old sale,” Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning Jr. said. “Buyers that arrive in South Florida for this year’s sale will once again be presented with quality individuals by the sport’s most prominent and promising sires.”

With Fasig-Tipton putting its Santa Anita sale on hiatus, the sales offering breeze opportunities on dirt will be the Gulfstream sale; the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium; and Keeneland’s April sale during its spring meeting. All of the OBS sales are preceded by a breeze show on the Ocala Training Center’s all-weather Safetrack surface.

While the Gulfstream sale will test the upper end of the marketplace, the OBS spring sale in April will serve as something of a bellwether for the marketplace. The auction typically offers the largest catalog of the season and is seen as a market with a broad spectrum of horses for buyers at all levels. From the early-season Florida sales, the marketplace will then move north to Kentucky and Maryland before concluding back in Florida.

Bloodstock highlights during this sale season will include juveniles by three-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, who emerged early in his career as a standout 2-year-old sire while beginning his ascent to the top of the sire ranks. Last year, the stallion’s 25 juveniles sold at public auction averaged $279,260, against a conception stud fee of $100,000. His 93 yearlings sold last year averaged $400,108 and were conceived on a $150,000 fee.

Surpassing Into Mischief as the nation’s leading juvenile sire last year was Gun Runner, who established an earnings record for a North American freshman sire, led by champion Echo Zulu in his first crop. This year’s freshman sire class is led by Triple Crown winner Justify and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner City of Light, whose early auction results have been white-hot.

The freshman class also includes Eclipse Award champions Accelerate, Good Magic, and West Coast, and American classic winners Always Dreaming, Cloud Computing, and Tapwrit.

At the other end of the spectrum, the final crops by Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker and his son and classic sire Pioneerof the Nile will race this year.