KEEJAN Opinions

[LB]

Quality mares in foal to "hot" first year stallions standing at farms where you knew they would be supported sold for very high prices. This is the formula!
Quality mares in foal to proven sires sold well....although not quite at the feeding frenzy level as above.
Quality mares in foal to stallions who clearly were not respected, sold....maybe!
Mares of lesser quality...either faulty in conformation or lacking in "page"....just were not desirable.
I was in the market for a mare in foal so I can't speak to how yearlings or empty mares fared in the arena.....but I felt it was very tough to come in within budget and come away with something good this sale. In large part, I think this market reflects our devalued dollar.

Based on your above assessment of how mares were selling at this sale, I would have thought that a budget shopper would have had plenty of opportunity to buy. Isn't what you've described above a buyers' market at all but the highest levels?

[jellac]

Thanks Sysonby for sharing the insight you've gained from observing, discussing with your friend what he looks for as a major buyer in the "commercial" marketplace.....

I thought most important among the lessons was this:

And although this is the most important thing to major buyers, it is the toughest thing for breeders to gauge because you have to be pretty ruthless in your assessment of your own stock. You also have to have a good eye and real knowledge of what the racing market is looking for. This is where a good consignor earns his commission and he needs to tell you the truth and not sell you fairytales and you as a breeder need to be able to take it gracefully.

Getting truly objective and informed critical assessment of our mares and their offspring and THEN actually listening to it, accepting it rather than to reject it/the person who gave us that honest market based assessment is I think the hardest thing to do.

[habitat]

sysonby,

your comments should be a stand alone sticky at the top of the sales heading.

Thanks.

[justmares]

LB
I had a budget of $100K....trust me, it was difficult to get what I wanted at that price point....which was (ideally) a stakes placed, well-conformed, young(ish) mare from a producing family, in foal to a "hot" commercial stallion....(first choices...Bluegrass Cat, First Samurai). These sires were on fire and I guess I was dreaming!!!!Even mares with some conformation issues, poor race records, and/or "light" pedigrees sold for more.
My point being....even at the $100K level (which in the past has netted this type of mare) many buyers felt that the market for quality and commerciality was extremely tough....and frustrating for those with US dollars to spend, as time and time again foreign bidders walked away with the goods. I guess we'll all have to adjust, as it looks like our currency isn't coming up anytime soon.
Given the nature of this sale, I was very pleased to get a lovely Red Ransom mare in foal to Tale of the Cat....I had to make some compromises.....but that's way it goes!!

[LB]

LOL justmares, you weren't asking a lot, were you?

Even in that price range I think it's been a good five years since a buyer could get mare that fit all those qualifications--unless you happened to get really lucky and find one that fell through the cracks. 100k is a lot of money, but at the moment it's about middle range for a Keeneland sale. I'm glad you were able to get a mare you like! Best of luck with her.

[Gillies-Fillies]

The Blood-Horse has their "results edition" of the Keeneland January sale Data Digest available for a free download. It's on the http://www.bloodhorse.com home page or can be downloaded here (it's a PDF):
http://www.bloodhorse.com/PDF/datadigest_keejanresults2008.pdf

In addition to confirming the strength of the sale at the very top--and the collapse at mid-range and bottom prices--the digest also gives great info on leading sires and broodmare sires, plus leader lists for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th crop yearling sires.