Horse auctions for me are like Christmas morning. And to mention another holiday, if you think about it, it's like an Easter egg hunt. You're looking for that one Easter egg that will give you the big prize. All these beautiful horses are just waiting to be unwrapped and taken home. Yes we put on the miles. I think I walked 16,000 to 18,000 steps each day that I was down at the OBS two-year-old sale that just concluded.
We start around 7:30 in the morning and hopefully we had breakfast before then. We know what horses are on our list so it's just a matter of going from barn to barn. Sometimes you're walking from one barn to another or you're standing there watching a horse walk and another horse passes you and catches your eye. So you quickly fumble through the catalog to find that horse's hip number (if it has one; if not, you chase it down) to identify it, check if it qualifies as a New York bred, and determine if it fits our budget. I don't go to these sales looking to buy five or six horses or to fill orders for different clients like I used to. I go down there looking for one possibly two horses that I think:
#1 does not cost too much money, putting the downside out of reach even with the BIG NYRA purses and modern earnings.
#2 a horse that passes all our strict criteria. Physical, Stride, Gallop time, Vet, pedigree analysis etc.
Believe me you're looking at a lot of really nice horses. Big, muscular, strapping horses just like the one I purchased. However, if they are sired by a high price stallion out of a very good family I have to tell myself that I must pass because I will not be able to afford that horse and there's no sense chasing somebody else's dream.
As a horse appraiser, along with a buddy of mine who is both an astute bloodstock agent and an appraiser we can narrow down a horse's value to what we think it will cost in the ring pretty accurately. That helps us weed out the big gorgeous $10.5 million horses and concentrate on the ones that we have a realistic shot of purchasing. But from time to time, just for fun we still look at some of the big expensive horses because we must keep our eyes sharp and keep our competition in sight. Sort of like when we were high school freshmen and couldn't take our eyes off that beautiful, senior prom queen even though we knew she wouldn’t give us the time of day. Still had to steal a glance.
The days aren't glamorous; we end up having an early dinner between 4:30 and 5 PM because they stop showing horses between 4:00 and 4:30 PM. Then it's back to the room for pedigree analysis, research, and racing form analysis on progeny and siblings, all the deep-dive work required to figure out which horse has not only the ability to run but also the class to rise through the ranks. And while rising through the ranks staying sound for an extended racing career.
That's where spending all day carefully looking at these horses walk back-and-forth, side to side comes in. Observing not only how they track but also how they hold up after a gallop show and four subsequent days of showing can truly reveal the tale. If we look at a horse on day one of our visit to the sales grounds and return on sales day which might be two or three days later, that horse must look as fresh and bright as it did the first time we saw it. If that horse is dragging, dull, or looks more tucked up than it did the first time we observed it, we remove it from consideration. Because if they can't sustain their form and stamina through five or six days of showing at the sale, how are they going to sustain themselves through training six days a week and racing every three weeks.
We are looking for herd leaders not lazy followers.
And that brings me full circle to our top choice at the sale: Hip Number 116, She's passed every test with flying colors; was as bright on day four as she was on day one., Great demeanor, no excess motion, which means no expending of excess energy. Her female family - San Saria (IRE) is a total out-cross to all the inbred families in the US. Sired by the up-and-coming Epicenter, this horse comes from a family of stars on all European surfaces. The broodmare sire, Australia, son of Champion Galileo is producing very fast, precocious two-year-old runners. She is gorgeous, vetted, 100%, and in her gallop show she sustained her drive, galloping out very impressively. I'm trulyexcited about this Filly and hope some of you out there will join us in our newest journey to The New NYRA (SPA/BELMONT) winner'scircle.