St. Jovite

[ragsdaj]

I dont bid on NG auctions myself. This was 06 with an 07 right of return.
I thought that providing me with two attempts was an acceptable level of risk.

The real shame of it is that the charities that receive the seasons need the funding. "hpkingjr" mentions in this string that the GA TOBA and farm worked together and found an acceptable solution for them. I have to believe that is the way it would be handled for the norm.

The part I am taking from all this is that I need to be a better buyer. I will call farms and state TB organizations and find out what the bakup plan will be in advance of any bidding. I wouldnt bid unless I knew what the substitute would be if there is one. If a farm has two stallions and could only offer the other as a substitute would I still be interested? In most cases, especially with charities the money is already spent, so getting a refund isnt likely.

[Morningside]

i agree with summerhouse. i wouldn't let go of this so easily. the seller of the season makes the donation to charity; you, as the purchaser, is still buying a service. think of it this way: you're paying the seller of the season, and the seller pays the charity.
if the stallions were retired due to health problems, then i can definitely understand, but if payson had no intention to fulfil her obligations before she donated the season, then clearly, i think there's a strong case for misrepresentation, or even fraud...

[ragsdaj]

I'll post the final resolution sometime this weekend

[summerhorse]

Any solution to this dilemma?

[Gallop58]

FYI (I'm not the guy with the bigger problem )

From my end I just talked to Keeneland and they are returning my cheque. Fran has been very good to talk with and she made it clear that had my cheque been cashed they would have offered me my money back. This is all I would have wanted. Everyone has been reasonable from my perspective, in a difficult situation.

I got the impression that they will never do this again (have people send $ straight to Keeneland). It was done in an effort to streamline but has not been so smooth. (Bigger picture though, they have raised over $1 million, and are dealing with in all likelihood a few thousand dollars worth of problems.)

Apparently they still don't have payment from some people who bid online. Of all the seasons, my understanding is that there were issues with 3 bids. The two discussed here, and another where a stallion was no longer available. (Stud farm came to an alternate agreement with the bidder)

My advice; When bidding online, be clear whether the transaction takes effect at the close of bidding or after you've signed a contract. I don't know where the legal line is....I probably will never bid online again.

Karsten

PS: The kicker for me is that before I bid, I called Starquine to make sure everything was ok as I had noticed that the Payson website was no longer operating. I was told there was no issue and to go ahead and bid.

[ragsdaj]

I received a call from Fran Taylor on Friday after I made my last posting. Keeneland will write me a full refund if I desire. I told her that I had spoke to a much more reasonable person from payson stud on Thursday and they were going to have counsel and then call me back Saturday or Sunday. Well today is Tuesday and I plan to give payson until 5 today before I accept Keeneland's refund.

[ragsdaj]

My drama closed. Keeneland sent check in the mail this morning.

I wish it would have turned out differently.


Karsten.....to end on a cheery note, what stallion did you replace Lac Quimet with?

[summerhorse]

Well at least you got your money back, sounds that everyone with that problem will get theirs back and may as well make alternate arrangements for other stallions now. I'd never bid on an online auction either unless they had a real contract to sign that would be binding to the stallion owner or immediate refunds. WHY would anyone donate a season that basically didn't exist? Talk about wasting people's time...

[Gallop58]

Maybe we can get to talking about the stallions again...

St. Jovite continually got slaughtered as "miserable failure, worst bargain in the bluegrass, unbelievably dragged down his mares", etc. I am curious what you were after with your proposed mating to St. Jovite?

Honestly, my first reaction was "Why is anyone even bidding on that season?" (Others probably said the same thing about mne bidding on Lac Ouimet!)
I'd be interested to get your perspective if you are willing to share, as I assume I am missing something. (It may already be elsewhere on this site, but I didn't catch it)

Karsten

[ragsdaj]

Better question. As a stud Lac Quimet had better statistics than St Jovite and I actually bid on him as well until the biding went past 1K. I won St Jovite for $900 and had the person I was bidding against gone higher I would have stopped bidding. For $900 I thought St Jovite might still have one good foal left in him. Since I didnt have a mare to breed to him when I bid, I thought I would have a good chance to find a mare that would be a good pedigree match. My philosophy for this pairing was focused On Northern Sunset as opposed looking at Pleasant Colony. The linkage to the mare I put together for this was Habitat and Ballymoss. With this particular mare I was also able to link back to Alibhai. I felt sufficiently outcrossed enough with enough common threads to have a foal that could I could start at the track in AR.

I am also not starting with a tremendous amount of money.

[Derring]

It sounds like the GA IOTB and Farm took responsibility. PAYSON STUD has said, Sorry Charlie; Keeneland has finally said they would help look into the matter, and Starquine is the one making calls to see if anyone feels charitable. Right now it looks like I donated my fee to Keeneland Foundation outright. That in itself a bad thing. I'm just really disappointed with the lack of honor or integrity from all three of the groups involved.

That is a real shame! A lot of the charity auctions have a hard time as it is.

[ragsdaj]

not to beat a dead horse........so I wont.

I have booked this season to Crowd Pleaser in MD.