by CLYDENE BOOTS

Selecting the appropriate market is crucial in selling Thoroughbreds, especially yearlings. Newcomers to the industry may look at the big prices at the top sales and assume if they can just get their horse in that sale, it too will bring a big price. Not so! If the yearling isn't what the buyers at that sale are looking for, it will probably bring a lower price, at greater expense, than it would where it "fits" and hopefully is one of the better horses. This is a painful lesson that most of us have had to learn the hard way. Put another way, a Chevy and a Mercedes are both good cars in their own right. But, trying to sell a Chevy in a Mercedes showroom isn't going to work, because the buyers shopping there are only interested in the latter or its equivalent.

In California, the Del Mar summer sale is the "Mercedes Showroom." So what does fit there? Pedigree is a critical element in any select sale, and someone hoping to sell at Del Mar (or at the Barretts March Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training) needs to breed accordingly. The sire needs to have commercial appeal ("sire power") and the mare's family should be rich in quality black-type, suggesting the yearling has the potential to run in the quality races on the top racing circuits in the country.

Physical type is equally important. Along with essentially correct conformation, summer sale buyers want the big, good-looking, well-muscled, early-maturing yearling.

Conformation is a prerequisite for success, as exhibited by the sales topper of 2000, Ranch Hand ($240,000).
Buyers at this level take a very critical approach when having a horse "vetted out." That yearling better scope and x-ray totally clean in the eyes of the buyer's vet, or he'll sell at a deep discount if he sells at all. Thus a seller should have his potential select sale horses x-rayed far ahead of sale time to avoid wasting thousands of dollars on entry fees, commissions, sales prep, shipping, etc. on a horse with a problem that may affect his saleability. Another full set of x-rays, for the repository, will need to be done just before the sale.

Sales prep adds another major expense, for summer sale horses don't get that polished, racehorse look without several months of intensive and expensive preparation.

The Barretts yearling sale in October can be a good market for the quality yearling who isn't the summer sale type. Another six weeks can make a world of difference in allowing a slow-maturing yearling to fill out and develop. That sale attracts a much broader range of buyers and thus provides a safety net in the event the yearling doesn't develop as hoped, or is nice but not "special".

Changes have been made in this year's format to avoid the problem of over-supply and scheduling conflicts that hurt the sale in 2000, when an overwhelming number of entries far exceeded demand, and pushed part of the sale to the previous evening, which turned out to be a racing Monday.

Here's the plan. There will not be a separate select session at Barretts, but all entries will be screened on the basis of pedigree and/or conformation, so as to limit the sale to about 325 yearlings. This will enable all of them to be sold on Tuesday Oct. 2, which follows a non-racing Monday, and will allow time for even out-of-town trainers to arrive and inspect the yearlings on Monday. Any yearlings not accepted, can sell at Barretts mixed sale near the end of October which may be a better market anyway for the lowest-level yearlings who have no appeal to California trainers. Out-of-state buyers attending the mixed sale can pick up a yearling that just may succeed on the minor tracks in their area.

A couple of other options are the American Equine Sales yearling sale in Pleasanton on Sept. 11, and the Arizona sale in Scottsdale, scheduled for Oct. 23. Arizona is expecting a few less entries this year, as their earlier date avoids conflict with Barretts' mixed sale and means that they won't be getting buybacks from the final days of the Keeneland September yearling sale, which runs Sept. 10-23.

Buyers in Arizona like athletic yearlings who look fast. Yearlings to consider for that sale:
1. Those who need additional time to mature;
2. Smaller, Quarter Horse-type yearlings. They like them big too, but these smaller yearlings are better accepted there than in California;
3. Sires who have quality runners on the Southwest circuit;
4. Female families whose stakes horses are on the Southwest circuit.

Many stakes races on the lesser circuits, even Arizona and Washington, do not carry enough purse money to meet the requirements for black-type in catalogs for Barretts, Del Mar and Kentucky. But sales in those states want to give credit to their local stakes, so they use the lower standard for black-type. This can make what would be a weak pedigree in California, suddenly look much, much better. The American Equine sale has also used the lower standard, so it could be a choice for people up north who don't want to ship to Barretts or Arizona.

The Washington select yearling sale requires the yearling to be connected in one of several ways to the Northwest, and they select on pedigree only. Their mixed sale in December is open to anyone. A breeder with Northwest connections, whose mare has a lot of Northwest stakes in her pedigree might want to sell up there, especially if they are the cheaper stakes that won't qualify for black-type at Barretts and Del Mar.

What about Kentucky? For the California-based breeder, a quality Cal-bred is almost certainly going to sell as well or better in California, where a greater percentage of buyers are looking for good Cal-breds, without the added risk and expense of shipping. Sending a lower quality Cal-bred to Kentucky is, of course, even less likely to be profitable.

Some people don't want to sell out of state as they won't collect breeders awards on out of state races except for graded stakes. But most of the lesser yearlings are going to go out of state anyway. If they turn out to be good runners, many of them will come back so the owners can benefit from the Cal-bred programs. And if you are proving a young mare and the yearling looks just average, better to win and improve the mare than having it run with no success in California.

Pedigree is also important, as evidenced by the catalog page for last year’s sales topper.

Other options. A really slow-maturing yearling may sell better in January as a "new two," as this gives it far more time to catch up. An excessive winter coat can be avoided by placing it on the same artificial lighting program as your empty mares. Buyers don't expect or want them to have the thin coat you see at the summer sales. Just make sure the coat is healthy and glossy.

"In training" sales require special expertise and a special type of horse, and a lot of money invested in the five months or so of breaking and training. Not something a novice should venture into, but a viable option for the right horse in the right hands.

Although there isn't a traditional market for weanlings in California, a really nice weanling can bring a very respectable price at the Barretts mixed fall sale, or as a "short yearling" in January. If it isn't such a good one, the breeder may do better by selling it as a weanling rather than incurring another full year of expenses, along with the risks presented by young Thoroughbreds seemingly intent on self-destruction. 

The better ones will probably get pinhooked into a yearling or in-training sale, and some will be raced by their buyers. Modestly-bred ones may be picked up by a breeder who needs a buddy for his own weanling. Buyers are more forgiving of some conformation flaws in a weanling, thinking the flaw may be corrected or even outgrown.

People who have a number of offspring by their own stallion may want to consider a combination of these options to spread the offspring around, especially if the stallion's commercial appeal is not strong.

And many young Thoroughbreds being produced aren't going to sell well anywhere. No sales company in the world can create a demand for horses that are not what people want to buy, and this is especially true in markets where training costs are high. Any breeder should do his homework and make sure that the stallion and mare are of sufficient quality that the resulting offspring will have a reasonable chance of succeeding on the racetrack. Without that, as well as fairly good conformation, the yearling certainly won't bring enough to recover the costs of production, and may barely bring enough to cover the cost of running it through a sale.

Yearling Sale Dates and Deadlines
Del Mar-Aug. 13 and 14-closes May 25
Keeneland-Sept. 10 to 23-closes May 1
Barretts-Oct. 2 (tentative)-closes May 25
American Equine-Sept. 11-closes June 1
Arizona-Oct. 24-closes Aug. 31