New York-breds solid at Keeneland January, outperform sale median

[1]By Sarah Mace

The 2018 thoroughbred sales calendar, which kicked off with the four-day Keeneland January horses of all ages sale this week, began on a positive note for New York-breds. Trading, for the most part, sustained the kind of momentum seen last year in the state-bred yearling and weanling markets while, at the same time, the local product continued to stamp itself as a national force by outperforming the cumulative sales median.

Of 66 New York-breds offered, 48 were sold – 20 short yearlings and 28 older horses (racing prospects / racing or broodmare prospects / broodmare prospects / broodmares). The New York-bred buyback rate of 27.3% was more or less on par with a cumulative sale RNA percentage of 25.9%, which, in a very positive sign, dropped from 31.41% in 2017.

The New York-bred average at Keeneland January was $32,556, not quite up to the level of the cumulative sale average which came in at $38,499, up 28.53% from last year’s $29,954. The New York-bred median price, on the other hand, continued a trend seen in the 2017 September and November sales, outperforming the general population. Specifically, $18,000 New York-bred median came in well above the sale median of $12,000, which was itself a 14.29% improvement from $10,500 in $2017.

Five New York-breds brought six figures: four broodmares / broodmare prospects and one short yearling, a dark bay filly by More than Ready bred by Richard Greeley, who brought $145,000[2] in the second session of trading.

The top New York-bred mare, Louisville First ($150,000), was among a group of broodmare prospects acquired by Winchell Thoroughbreds, which, according to a report in the Blood-Horse, was selecting possible mates for Gun Runner once the prospective 2017 Horse of the Year retires to the breeding shed.

The auction company interprets the significant gains made at the 2018 January sale in total sales, median and average as a sign of “continued buyer confidence and demand for quality” of the kind that boosted its yearling sale in September and breeding stock sales in November.

“As we believed it would, the optimistic trend we saw in September and November carried forward to January,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “The surging stock market and the new tax treatments of investments should continue to positively impact the horse industry through this new year.”

Elliston continued, “The strong results of the January Sale continue to reflect a great enthusiasm to own racehorses. Buyers are bullish on the economy and the horse industry. They are bringing capital into the market in the form of long-term investment in broodmares and broodmare prospects. Short yearlings were at a premium, and a good balance of pinhookers and end-users battled to take them home. Pinhookers in particular had to step up to buy yearlings, suggesting strength because they anticipate rewards at the September Sale.”

The next stop on the auction circuit will be the OBS winter mixed sale, scheduled for January 24-25 in Ocala Click here[3] for a listing of New York-bred hips with links to their catalogue pages.

Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2018/01/12/keeneland-january-18-wrap/

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