The online auction company ThoroughbredAuctions.com will conduct a digital spring mixed sale from May 20 to 27, which has the potential to be the company’s biggest foray yet into the Thoroughbred bloodstock market. During the ongoing cornavirus pandemic, health officials have issued guidelines discouraging gatherings of people and unessential travel. The guidelines make traditional in-person Thoroughbred auctions difficult to hold and global auction houses have begun to explore different options for conducting their sales. Earlier this month in Australia, Inglis conducted its flagship Easter yearling sale solely with online and telephone bidding. The sale recorded solid results, with a $1.8 million Snitzel colt becoming the highest-priced horse ever sold in an online auction. Meanwhile in the U.S., Fasig-Tipton plans to resume its calendar with the Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale, set for June 29 and 30 in Timonium, Md. Although that sale, postponed from its original May slot on the calendar due to the pandemic, is scheduled to be held in-person, Fasig-Tipton has also announced that it will add an online bidding platform and expand its telephone bidding capacities. ThoroughbredAuctions.com noted in a release that in addition to remote bidding limiting virus exposure for buyers and consignors, its platform will lessen costs for consignors. Horses being showcased exclusively online, as opposed to being inspected on the sale grounds, will reduce associated expenditures such as shipping, and perhaps provide relief to smaller operations that will be hard-hit by the economic fallout of the crisis. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales "Ready or not, the way you sell and buy is changing," Tim Jennings of ThoroughbredAuctions.com said in the release. “Sales moved to the internet in the show horse industry following the 2008 recession. The Thoroughbred industry has lagged behind until now." ThoroughbredAuctions.com is owned by Tim and Cathy Jennings, who have a small West Virginia-based Thoroughbred breeding program responsible for the likes of statebred multiple stakes winner Princess Cecila. They have been involved in the commercial arena, in both live and online platforms, for decades, with experience in various breeds, including management of the Pony Finals Auction, AQHA World Championship Show Super Sale, and All-American Quarter Horse Congress Super Sale. Tim Jennings is also the auctioneer for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company’s annual Pony Penning auction, a nationally known event. According to statistics provided on the company’s website, the team has produced 75 online auctions since 2012, grossing more than $7.9 million, with its top price being $226,000. While the Jennings have come to the Thoroughbred auction business via the show horse world, they made several forays into online Thoroughbred auctions last year in dispersal sales, many featuring regional programs. The company gained attention last February when conducting the court-ordered online dispersal auction of Gaylen Dean Rust's New Mexico-based R Legacy Racing, topped by the $35,000 Scat Daddy stallion Finale. Proceeds from the auction were to be used to settle debts tied to the Rust family's Rust Rare Coin precious metal trading company, which was determined to be a Ponzi scheme which defrauded investors. ThoroughbredAuctions.com offered 70 horses without reserve under the consignment of a court-ordered receiver, and there were 266 registered bidders for the auction. Sixty-seven horses sold for an average price of $4,996, with three no-bids. The online company then conducted a mixed auction for the Weatherly Farms dispersal in July, auctioning off Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses from a prominent New Mexico breeding program. The company reported 50 horses sold from 53 cataloged for an average of $5,564.