Fourth sale session “rocky” year-over-year

The session gross was down 25 per cent and the average was off 20 per cent. Through all four sessions, the gross of $56,887,000 is down 6.8 per cent and the average of $74,265 is down 6.2 per cent compared to 2024.

story by Dave Briggs, quotes by James Platz

The fourth session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale was “definitely rocky” said co-sales manager David Reid.

Year-over-year, the gross of $4,368,000 was down 25.6 per cent (from $5,869,000 in 2024), the average of $22,400 was down 20.6 per cent (from $28,216) and the median of $18,000 was down 10 per cent (from $20,000).

“We sold fewer horses actually… 13 fewer horses [than last year],” Reid said. “So, we sold 6 per cent fewer horses and our gross was down 25 per cent, average was down 20 and the median was down 10.

“So, for the sellers not a great day, but for the buyers it was a much better day. Truthfully, there’s a balance to that. In any market, that’s what you’re really going to try to do and rationalize in your head that you’ve got buyers that are going to pay X price and the sellers are trying to get X price and somewhere in the middle that’s where it’s going to meet. Today, it was just a little bit rougher… a little trickier, but I’m happy for the buyers that did the work and hopefully they feel that they got good value and they get good results from it.

“If you do your homework then you’re going to find buys and a number of people have come up here today and said they felt they got a really good buy or they stole this one or whatever.”

Reid stressed that the quality of horses, “did not drop off 20 per cent, the market did. So, here again, I think the proof will be in the pudding when they start training these horses and start racing them. There’s not that much of a difference from an individual point of view and even from a pedigree point of view. I think it was a market point of view.

“Whether the market is just getting a little sticky on funds or cash, I don’t know. We’ll find out when we get through the wash here, but the first four sessions were pretty healthy overall. There was a little bit of a drop off, but we’re talking a little different category [of horses today] but not significantly, so I’m surprised at the percentage of drop off because the horses don’t reflect that, in my opinion.”

Through the first four sessions, 766 yearlings have been sold for a total gross of $56,887,000, an average of $74,265 and a median of $43,000. In all, 183 yearlings have been sold for $100,000 or more. Through four days, the gross is down 6.8 per cent from 2024 ($61,041,000), the average is down 6.2 per cent ($79,171) and the median is down 4.4 per cent ($45,000). Last year, five more horses had been sold through four days. Compared to the record sale of 2023, this year’s cumulative gross is off 10.4 per cent ($63,458,800 in 2023), the average is down 4.6 per cent ($77,864) and the median is down 14 per cent ($50,000).

“I’m a believer in the marketplace and the public auction is the best place to value a horse,” Reid said. “The results are not what we had hoped for today, but in totality it’s been a good week. It’s just a little unfortunate that we had a little bit of a dip today.”

Reid said he expects the sale will bounce back in tonight’s (Oct. 3) final session, which begins at 7 p.m.

“It’s more regional-based and I think the offerings that we have here [Friday] night are good,” Reid said. “There’s some freshman sires, some second-crop sires and then you get your proven sires and I expect there to be a good crowd here with good energy. I expect it to be a sold marketplace.”

On Thursday, three yearlings sold for $100,000 or more, up from just one in 2024 and zero in 2023.

Topping the session was Hip #727 Ebb N Flow, a Green Manalishi S filly out of Hustle Heart purchased by Sabine Kagebrant, agent for Courant Inc., out of the Kentuckiana Farms consignment for $145,000.

Hip #730 Ivy Station, a Papi Rob Hanover filly out of Indra Hanover, sold for $110,000 to Rick Berks out of the Spring Station Bloodstock consignment.

Hip #740 Sun Hawk, a Bulldog Hanover colt out of Kiss Me Onthebeach, sold for $100,000 to Brandon Arsenault, agent for Gregg McNair, out of the Hunterton consignment.

Kentuckiana led all consignors in sales on Thursday with $862,000 for 37 sold. Hunterton was second ($502,000 for 22), Winbak was third ($449,000, 26), Preferred was fourth ($444,000, 23).

“It was a little bumpy,” said Reid, referring to Preferred’s Thursday results. “The breeders, to sell these horses, they put them through the ring and have a certain expectation and I would say that some of them are disappointed today, but it’s not because horses weren’t exposed or because we had bad weather or because the buyers weren’t here… everything from a promotional point of view was on par and the market just acted accordingly.”

Through four sessions, Hunterton continues to lead with $11,272,000 in sales for 106 yearlings. Preferred is second with $8,106,000 for 111 horses. Kentuckiana is third with $7,049,000 for 113 horses. Crawford Farms is fourth with sales of $4,489,000 for 46 yearlings.

Trainer Julie Miller has been one of the leading buyers in terms of quantity of horses acquired. So far, she has purchased 16 horses, spending $1,540,000 to do so.

She said she purposely tried to pick her spots.

“I laugh all the time, I feel like a deer scene – I sit here and I wait and wait and I pounce on what I see walks by that looks phenomenal for our program,” Miller said. “I’m really blessed my owner, Jean Goehlen, stepped up this year and a couple of others. We’ve been really focusing on dual-eligible, but they really wanted to focus also on the New York program, so I’ve been able to find what we like – some Chapter Sevens, dual-eligible horses and making it work.

“We look Monday through Friday, but we always look through the whole catalog. Obviously, being a Jersey-based operation and having a satellite in Kentucky, we primarily focus on east coast and Kentucky, but there’s also nice Ohio-breds and Indiana-breds, so you never know when you’re going to find the diamonds in the rough. We try to do our homework and be diligent about what we purchase.

“We’re going to be here Friday looking. I’m looking forward to the Dana Parham sale and also Harrisburg. We just try to put the work in and find that horse that fits our program.

“At the start of the night, there might be 200 horses in the sale and we like, maybe, 80 of them, but I go by price. This year, we really had a value budget. We said we were going to spend this much and stick to it and, God bless, only one horse went a little bit over our budget that we purchased. That’s what we’ve been doing. I kind of always tend to go back to a family we’ve had success with or a mare you’ve had success with. We’ve had great luck with Walners and Muscle Hills, Chapter Sevens.

“We also had Venerate, we bought a Love You. We like to support new stallions. We got an Ecurie. I’m really happy with our broader base this year. We weren’t just on certain stallions. We really have a nice influx of all horses. It’s a great opportunity. Where else is it better to be than in Lexington buying horses?”

Through four sessions, Ake Svanstedt still leads all buyers with $2,580,000 spent to take home 15 horses. Andrew Harris, agent for William Pollock, has spent $2,285,000 and purchased eight horses. Marcus Melander has spent $1,883,000 and landed 14 horses.Captain Corey led all stallions on Thursday with sales of $373,000 for 12 sold, followed by Gimpanzee ($306,000, 16), Bulldog Hanover ($284,000, nine), Tactical Landing ($256,000, 10), and Green Manalishi S ($251,000, six).

Through the first four sessions, Walner offspring have, collectively, fetched $10,495,000, followed by Chapter Seven ($7,076,000), Muscle Hill ($4,143,000), Captain Corey ($3,716,000), and Bulldog Hanover ($3,501,000).