About 20 per cent of the broodmare and stallion share purchases were made by residents of the Buckeye State.

by Dave Briggs

Preferred Equine’s David Reid said Friday’s (Nov. 6) opening mixed session of the Standardbred Horse Sales Auction was “okay” at best, but he did notice an interesting trend toward buyers from Ohio stepping up to purchase breeding stock.

“I would just say that the market was similar to the way it’s been all week,” said Reid, who led all consignors Friday with $1,746,000 in gross sales. “But it seems that a large portion of the horses went to Ohio.”

About 20 per cent of Friday’s purchases — broodmares, mostly — are headed for Ohio which is experiencing a boom period thanks to slot machines at its racetracks.

Ohio residents made up the second largest demographic of buyers in terms of numbers Friday (54) after only Pennsylvania (58). In all, people from Ohio made $800,000 in purchases which ranked them third behind Pennsylvania ($1,202,000) and New York ($828,000).

In all, 275 horses/stallion shares were sold Friday for a total gross of $6,567,000, an average of $23,880 and a median of $15,000.

Though mixed sales are difficult to compare because their makeup can change remarkably from year to year, the 2019 numbers from the opening session of the mixed sale were: 329 sold for a gross of $12,459,000, an average of $37,869 and a median of $19,000. Keep in mind, last year’s mixed sale included the dispersal of White Birch Farms’ breeding stock. There were no major farm dispersals this year.

Cumulatively, through three yearling sessions and one mixed session, the SHSC auction has grossed $36,107,000 for 1,048 sold for an average of $34,453 and a median of $20,000. This year’s gross through four sessions is down more than $17 million compared to 2019 when the gross was $53,265,000 and the average was$45,721. The 2020 average is down 25 per cent from 2019 through the first four sessions.

On the day, 144 broodmares grossed $3,824,000 in total to average $26,556. Sixty-two stallion shares fetched $1,870,000 in total for an average of $30,161.

Crawford Farms of Syracuse, NY purchased the session topper, broodmare Somwherovrarainbow from Diamond Creek Farm, for $240,000 and also acquired Muscle Hill shares for $117,000 and $115,000, respectively. Crawford topped the session’s buyers by spending $492,000 on Somwherovrarainbow, two Muscle Hill shares and a What The Hill share ($20,000).

Muscle Hill shares fetched four of the top seven prices achieved Friday.

Apart from selling the session-topper, Diamond Creek also sold the second most expensive mare that went through the ring Friday — mare Live Love Laugh sold for $150,000 to Swedish bloodstock agent Robert Lindstrom, who was the session’s second leading buyer with $388,000 spent on five mares bound for Sweden.

Diamond Creek was Friday’s second leading consignor by gross, behind Preferred. Diamond Creek collected $1,392,000 in sales, followed by Northwood Bloodstock ($1,305,000).

The final sale session starts today at 10 a.m. (EST) and features mostly racehorses.