I am back from a glorious six days in Saratoga in which I had a great time. As always, it was a whirlwind of events, family and races and we were lucky with the weather. It was hot for a few days and then cooled off to become perfect! So no complaints.
I went to the Fasig-Tipton Select yearling sales on Monday and Tuesday evenings--days on which the stock market took wild roller coaster rides. The first evening of the sale, it appeared to me that the median price was a bit low--hovering in the $300,000 range. Yes, there were two million dollar horses--all Bernardini progeny--but many seemed to go for below their value, especially the Curlin, which went for $450,000.
The second evening seemed to be a bit higher, but once again the median price hovered in the $300,000 range with one million dollar horse.
However, at the end of the sale, Fasig-Tipton reported that the numbers were up, including those for the average and median price and the buy back rate. Enter the Sheikh--who reportedly purchased 13 yearlings for $8,530,000 or 25.9% of the gross sales. How does one legitimately account for the impact of the man who in many cases purchased yearlings sired by horses standing at his own Darley Stud Farm and who owns a large percentage of the company that was doing the auctioning?
Other buyers included Robert La Penta, Live Oak Plantation and IEAH Stables. A little grumbling from those who were outbid by the Shiekh--another tricky situation. Does one bite the hand that is literally helping to keep the industry alive?
Bobby Flay was very much in attendance--at both the sales and the track (the photo above is from the races where he sat in a box one row in front of me!) and he gave the keynote speech at the hall of Fame Indoctrination ceremony on Friday morning.
The question that seemed to be hovering in the air was the all important one: What would happen to the industry if the Sheikh stopped buying horses?
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