Peter Willmott, chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, heads the 2,000-member organization at a turbulent time. The usual worries over how to attract new fans and investors continues, but another longstanding debate − race-day medication − has gained far greater urgency.
In response to the contracting foal crops and yearling markets, Keeneland continues to modify its September yearling sale. It is still the most extensive marketplace for Thoroughbred yearlings in the world, with 3,604 individuals cataloged this year, but that figure is down 715 hips from last year’s 4,319.
The art and even the science of selecting a Thoroughbred yearling at auction is inexact. But information, expertise, and opinions abound on any sales ground. Pretty much everyone in the Thoroughbred sales business has a piece of advice he or she is willing to pass along, and while some of it is worth whatever you paid for it, some free advice also has turned out to be golden for the listener.
When the world’s largest Thoroughbred yearling sale kicks off Sept. 10, consignors and auction executives will have some reason for happy expectations. Since the major yearling sale season started in July, the general trend has been upward, though in some cases those good results have been tempered by higher buyback rates than auctioneers and their vendors would like to see. But a stable-to-rising market is exactly what sale participants want to see heading into the 11-day September auction, the season’s most thorough test of commercial yearlings.
While the Fasig-Tipton July sale suggested the yearling market was on the rebound, the Saratoga sale in August sent mixed messages, leaving uncertainty about what will happen at the Keeneland yearling sale, which begins Sept. 10. It may be strong, like the Ocala sale, or it may be very uneven, with some home runs at the high end but disappointing numbers on the low end. Of course, this is nothing new. Consignors are simply going to have to take a deep breath and hope for the best.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dual stakes winner Street Life, vanned off the track after the Aug. 28 Travers with a soft-tissue injury, has retired.
Jockey Jose Lezcano pulled up the 3-year-old Street Sense colt after the finish line at Saratoga. Street Life sustained a non-life-threatening injury in his left front pastern, trainer Chad Brown later said.
AUBURN, Wash. – Leading Northwest stallions Matty G and Harbor the Gold will be heavily represented Tuesday at the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association’s annual summer sale. The two have combined to sire 42 of the 117 select yearlings in the catalog, with Hip No. 1, a Matty G colt, the first to enter the ring when the auction begins at 2 p.m. Pacific in the Morris J. Alhadeff Sales Pavilion adjacent to Emerald Downs.
Debussy, the 2010 Arlington Million winner, has retired to stud in Wales, Racing Post reported Tuesday. A 6-year-old Darley homebred, Debussy is by Diesis out of the group-placed Singspiel mare Opera Comique and will stand at Llety Stud in Carmarthenshire for 3,500 pounds, or about $5,530.
Debussy retires with 6 wins and 2 thirds from 22 lifetimes starts and earnings of more than $1.2 million. The Arlington Million was his only Grade 1 win, but he won a pair of group races in France and also was placed in the Group 1 Champion Stakes in England.
A colt by Successful Appeal brought a bid of $57,000 from Brad Grady to top the Fasig-Tipton Texas yearling sale at Lone Star Park near Dallas on Monday night. The auction was held as a night event for the first time.
The sales-topping colt, named Successful Review, was bred in Louisiana and consigned by Mark Toothaker, agent. Successful Review’s female family produced Grade 3 winner Closing Argument, the Kentucky Derby runner-up in 2005 who earned $986,984.
