Harness: Amid COVID-19, HoofBid launches online yearling sale

Yearling season is fast approaching, along with the unknown of how COVID-19 will impact not only attendance at the live auctions but also the bottom line. One entity - HoofBid.com - is hoping that the current environment is ripe to venture away from initial intentions and offer a different way to present a yearling sale.

"We didn't launch as a yearling sale. We launched as a mixed racehorse platform," said HoofBid co-founder Jeff Davis. "The yearling sale, because of the pandemic, came quicker than it probably would've if it was a normal year."

HoofBid launched in May of this year with a weekly auction on Sundays and has since expanded to add a Wednesday sale due to demand and logistics. Buyers (and sellers) only need to create an account on the HoofBid app from their mobile device and the process is underway.

"Primarily individuals were asking for another day to sell," said Davis on why HoofBid added Wednesdays. "When people want to sell horses, they want to sell them right now. Essentially with two auctions during the week, you are never more than a few days away from a sale and you could potentially have the horse race prior to the auction."

Davis said he is thrilled with the number of active accounts to date and the continued growth of HoofBid, which he added was built to accommodate a large audience. Whether that momentum will carry over into the realm of selling yearlings is the question that will be answered in a couple of months.

The yearling sale will kick off on October 16 and if more than about 48 listings are received, will continue to the next day. The plan is for the first yearling to go up for bid at 9:00 AM and be "on the block" for one hour. Each subsequent yearling will follow 10 minutes later, so 9:10 AM, 9:20 AM, etc. That amounts to six horses being posted in the virtual ring each hour for a total of 48 over an eight-hour period.

Just as in-person auctions will experience issues in 2020 as buyers may elect to stay home due to the pandemic or others simply won't be able to attend due to travel restrictions, there are questions to answer for any online sale. Paramount is whether buyers feel comfortable bidding on yearlings they can't see directly in front of them.

HoofBid co-owner Adriano Sorella, an experienced buyer that has dealt with many high-profile trainers like Tony Alagna and Casie Coleman, didn't feel that being on-hand was a vital part of the process.

"By the time you get to the sale, we pretty much know which ones we like," said Sorella. "Casie (Coleman) would start with a long list of about 100-plus horses. Then she cuts it down to a short list. Then at the sale she will look again. But she's already checked throats, legs, confirmations; all of that. The ones we are going to go on, she'll get them x-rayed. I still have my short lists from all those years. I know looking at horses at the sale is a big part of what they do, but I honestly believe a lot of decisions are made prior to that because we've already looked at them at the farms."

One potential issue both Davis and Sorella foresee in 2020 with the brick-and-mortar sales is the addition of an online component to the current system of live and phone bids.

"I think there will be some challenges," said Davis. "Even at live sales, how someone takes in a bid can be challenging, whether someone is bidding from the front or the back of the sales pavilion. When you are also adding in other platforms, like live video, which will likely be streamed on a slight delay, the online bidder might be bidding at $10,000 and it is already at $12,000. I think it could slow down the auction. When you only have one entry point it is easier."

An interesting compromise which doesn't currently exist is a hybrid option where horses and consignors show up at one location while bidders remain off-site to comply with social distancing concerns. Cameras could be installed throughout the facility to allow buyers the options of viewing the sale at-will from multiple angles while bidding remotely.

Imagine a horse walking into the ring at Fasig-Tipton at Lexington . . . the announcer says, "HIP 1 is Harness Kingdom, a black colt by Credit Winner out of Black Mamba. The bidding will start at $10,000." Buyers can then watch the horse in the ring from a number of angles and make bids via their phones. Or, if they are waiting for HIP 5, they can view the back ring and check out the colt.

"It can be done today, but we wouldn't have enough people committed to make it worth the heavy lift that would need to be done," said Davis, referring to the costs involved to install the cameras and systems. "While that will make some people comfortable, it will not make all people comfortable."

An advantage of the HoofBid system during the yearling auctions is anonymity. With bidders recognized on the site only as "bidder 1," "bidder 2," "bidder 3," etc., those looking to hide their bids, which is a common occurrence at live auctions, would have an easy time. HoofBid is also the only site that lets buyers know how many people they are bidding against. Another plus to the app is a notification system for buyers that will let them know when a horse they've "favorited" is about to go up for auction.

"We are trying to make it easy for someone who is looking to buy a horse," said Davis.

Once HoofBid completes its first sale, those who participated and even some who simply watched, will have the opportunity to pass judgment. Participation will be key, because more horses will certainly equate to more eyes. Another factor could be the ability to lure a high-priced yearling. As we saw when money was spent in large sums and often at the Lexington Selected Sale in 2019, once the ice is broken and one person is willing to bid big, others tend to follow the herd mentality.

Davis was obviously hopeful to sell a yearling north of $100,000 on HoofBid during the October sale, but seemed more interested in whether any yearling could sell online for that price at any venue.

"If you have the right horse and people are comfortable with it, I think it is possible," said Davis. "Will we see a $100,000 yearling sold online this fall, whether on our platform or another one? Possibly. At these live auctions, will a place like Lexington disclose how a bid was taken? If a Swede that is still in Sweden and buys a Muscle Hill trotter online, will they report it as an online bid? If not, there is a chance of a $100,000 sale that we never know was an online bid."

Davis reports that the initial yearling sale at HoofBid has received good interest thus far. Princeton Farms in Ontario already has nine horses scheduled to sell and HoofBid has built out a nice webpage for buyers to check out videos, view pedigrees or make an appointment to see the horses in person.

Whether conditions are optimal for an online sale or buyers will truly embrace the concept is an unknown. Davis and Sorella remain hopeful for strong returns for HoofBid and the industry in general, but are realistic. "I don't think anyone is going to say that this year will be the same whether it is a live sale or an online sale. It is probably going to be a down year," said Davis, who added he was worried about the smaller breeder.

The entire industry will learn more on the impact of COVID-19 when the calendar turns to September and the live regional auctions - Goshen Yearling Sale and Ohio Selected Jug Sale - kick off the season. Until that moment, the drama builds and we are left to wonder the power of the blow that the virus will deliver.