STUD NOTES

THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN

Life At The Sales

Part 2 of the yearling sales series. (Part 1: Be Prepared)

Using the ‘circus’ analogy is fairly apt for yearling sales.

We see it all. After hauling in the crew, gear and animals the excitement and anticipation begins to mount.

The gates open and enter the performers; the ringmaster, dancing horses, clowns, jugglers, tight rope walkers, and some pretty impressive acrobats; and if you’re really lucky, a bit of fairly floss at the end of it!

The cry of sale-o, sale-o brings everyone running but let me tell you, by that time everything is in the lap of the gods (or, more realistically, in the back pockets of paying customers).

It’s the hectic 5 or 6 days leading up to that point that make all the difference for us as yearling consignors; and it’s not all hot dogs and skittles.

OK, here it is … a little insight to the life of yearling consignor.

GETTING READY

Snooze button? - forget it!  We’re out there early, taking the horses out for a walk while their boxes are being done, waters changed and feeds put in. The running order of the next lot of processes differs, but essentially we will have all the horses groomed and polished, feet cleaned and (perhaps) dressed, have all the headstalls and leads out at the ready and staff breakfasted and uniformed … all by 8:30am to 9am.

For a draft such as our Melbourne group (around 30 horses), this will mean a 5am start AT the complex. The amount of tack required to perform these tasks for larger drafts is simply phenomenal, and great team work is paramount to achieve this in a timely, orderly and safe manner.

INSPECTIONS

Then the inspections start: it doesn’t matter how organised you are, potential buyers have a tendency to ‘hunt’ in packs. It’s the nature of the sales that you’ll either have staff sitting around, or run off their butts. Drawing closer to sale days with blisters forming and the soles of your shoes wearing out, lunch becomes a long forgotten memory and front person is flat out juggling horses in every direction. Maybe you’ll get a sanga on the run around 2pm – if you’re lucky.

Quashing a common belief among sellers to the contrary, most potential buyers will head into sales inspections wanting to LIKE every horse. The trick is to take advantage of that attitude.

It is in that moment of time, when they first clap eyes on a horse that you need to have their attention and hold it. It’s only a matter of seconds before they start writing the likes and dislikes on their page. What we are all looking for is that first impression be positive, so that they stay in the “wanting to like the horse” zone. Most buyers will grade by numbers, keeping in mind certain attributes they can or cannot accept at the end of that inspection. Tip: good walking horses will always get their attention.

So the inspection is going along swimmingly and next thing the (potential) buyer’s phone rings! The call has to be answered, but trying to show a yearling to a distracted shopper is far from ideal. If possible I like to halt the inspection until the phone call is complete, rather than allow the inspection to continue with the buyer trying to do two things at once (unless of course it is a woman who will be more than capable of multi tasking; Sorry fellas, I just had to put that in!)

Another thing to keep in mind is that buyers hate having sellers jamming a yearling’s attributes down their throat or waffling on and on and on… Frankly they are the judges and have a lot of horses to look at … and they don’t want – initially at least – inspections to drag on.
However, advising of any pedigree updates or comments about a blemish and being available if the buyer has any queries or such is fine. Second round inspections provide a much better opportunity for friendly conversations and “discussion” about the horse. They’re obviously back because they like the individual already.

And please don’t start telling them what they should be looking for! Hey, we’ve all been on racetracks and have seen top horses with what we deem to be average or poor conformation. Yet, drawing analogies at yearling sales is unacceptable. And yes, we all whinge about it, but time to move on … that is your market out there and you have to live with what that market’s selection criteria is: and this will include sound conformation.

BUYERS

Mostly these good judges are trainers buying on behalf of clients, or punting a yearling to syndicate to their current client base, or to hook new clients. Also there are professional syndicators who form syndicates and place the horses into particular racing stables making their cut on the way past. Bloodstock agents are generally given a budget and order specifications to buy on behalf of a private owner or group of owners earning a consultancy fee. Then there are the ‘pinhookers’ – who move the yearlings on in some other fashion such as ‘Ready to Run’ sales for their earn. The group we all love to see at the sales is the off shore buyers, looking to take yearlings back to their homelands. And, finally, there are those who do their own, shall we say, independent shopping.

CONFORMATION ISSUES

As such, yearlings will need to have are fair bit going for them, and they will have to fit the purpose for which they have been purchased – for racing or profit margins or both.  A big proportion of that criterion will include sound conformation and free of risky faults. They will also need to be easy on the eye.
.
The least acceptable structural issues which buyers generally disparage will include being back at the knee, very upright or – worse – deviation in the fetlocks; another is bowing in the front legs, especially if associated with offset knees and sway backs (and yes we can all name some great horses in the past that have had sway backs, but try selling them!). Also up there are small feet, clubbed feet, badly distorted hooves ... did I mention the feet?

Mild knee deviations and rotations, off set knees (as long as there is no sign of bowing and they land square when walking), may well be forgiven. Small horses are looked upon as acceptable as long as they have a good top and bone, and show promise of further growth. Sickled hocks and bone curvature on the hind legs are very much open to conjecture – some buyers can live with it, some most definitely can’t. Butt ugly horses with proportions all out of whack, or those very light in the bone, narrow chested, and no body mass on the frame, especially if they have signs of a disadvantaged upbringing will be hard to move on.

And then after all that, x-rays will come into play. These will sort out any niggling things buyers may visually see in the yearling, such as appley fetlocks. X-rays are a window to the structure of the yearling and quite often make or break a sale. This is another topic entirely, but it has become an important tool for buyers and even sellers to an extent if they are a lovely and clean set. Sometimes I feel there is too much emphasis on “pass or fail” as opposed to “Can I live with and manage that issue?” when the buyer receives their vet’s report on these x-ray results.

SHOW TIME

Following last minute make up applications, grooming and preening of both handlers and yearling, with information stickers positioned on the hips (temporarily if there is too much show sheen!), the yearling makes its way to the parade ring, with vendors hot on their heels.

Despite all the hype from the auctioneer after the reading of the conditions of sale, if you end up with Lot 1, buddy you sure drew the short straw! It seems to be the first few lots on any sale day may be greeted with trepidation.

On the first day most sales go through a period of “testing the water” for about 30 lots or so, with vendors trying to anticipate where their yearling sits in the scheme of things and buyers try to gauge the strength of the competition. Certainly there are plenty of buyers that are only too happy to go out and spend their money early in the hope they pick up a “cheap” yearling in the sale, but sellers may have experienced solid inspections and think they can make a few bob by pushing up their reserves … and there be the problem.

Similarly, the enthusiasm of buyers may also wane towards the end of the day with horses of lesser quality starting to struggle.

Final pass in rates vary from year to year with most sales sitting at 15 -20%. Considering the main agenda of the vendor is to sell the yearling, this figure represents a lot of unsold horses in any single sale.

For both the consignor and buyer, the greatest frustration is the setting an unrealistic reserve price by the owner. This crucial decision can nullify the whole purpose of taking the yearling to the sales. Careful consideration should be given as to where this figure should be set. Enter the tight rope walker!

If the yearling preparation is done well, with good supportive marketing and professional attitudes and practices at the sales themselves, then there is little more that can be done. Integrity as a seller is often a very underestimated promotional tool to support all the hard work. It is easy to lose sight of what we are trying to achieve, which is ultimately making money from that yearling, but in a way that keeps the customer coming back.

Good horses within any price bracket will always sell well within the boundaries of that market. “X” Factor horses always get the market very excited, and these horses will often attract spirited bidding, with ultimately the yearling making extremely good money. For those yearlings, placement in the catalogue will make absolutely no difference.

Ohhh, how I love having one or two of those horses in the draft: It really gets the heart rate up!

Over the long term there will be years when vendors cream it in the sale ring and smile like Cheshire cats, and other years they are lambs to the slaughter and come out if it with barely two bob to rub together.

The years in between just bump along like the year before.

Now, what will this year do? Who knows, but I say “BRING IT ON”

See you at the circus!