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Barbara Lopes, Lakeport, CA:
Yes, the Nor-Cal Sale was a bummer, as was the Washington Sale.
I'm sure glad I wasn't selling this year, but at least I did my part by
encouraging my pal, Sally Reid from Grants Pass, Ore., to come down and
she ended up buying a filly and a colt. She wants to run in California
next year so wanted to get Cal-bred horses. She just e-mailed me that the
horses are doing well and the colt is gelded already. I'll encourage her
to write into Voices to tell everyone how they are coming along.
I also heard from my
old Seattle grade school classmate Frank Gaunt that he bought two colts
and two fillies at the Washington sale.
I was really tempted
to buy a filly at our Nor-Cal Sale but fortunately she didn't go for a
price I wanted to steal her at and she was purchased by Jess Jackson.
Now, I think that was
pretty fantastic that Jess Jackson came to our little sale and purchased
three horses. The man goes to Kentucky and purchases horses for hundreds
of thousands of dollars--even millions--and he comes to our little sale
in his home area and buys three horses. They didn't total much, but, by
golly, he's supporting our sale, even though he has such fantastic horses
and is the owner of CURLIN. My hat's off to Jess Jackson.
September 7, 2008 0:00 a.m.
Don Sandri, Hayward, CA:
The September 6 Editor's Notebook comments
on the depressed Nor Cal/Washington Yearling Sales establish a number of
factors contributing to the trickle down "collateral damage" you so adeptly
point out. But in my opinion, racetrack management must to take ownership
(no pun intended) for the current state of affairs.
Purse structure drives
the industry, especially in recessionary times. Acute stagflation (flat
purses with a skyrocketing cost of doing business) is the current financial
model.
Until maiden claiming/NW2
lifetime purses get bumped up to at least a $13,000 minimum in Northern
California and $21,000 in So Cal, regional sales will continue to experience
a lack of support from lower and middle end buyers. Ownership at this level
will dry up to the point where horse inventory will not be there to support
the number of races and dates currently offered.
Owners will not continue
pay a $24,000 yearly training bill to earn $7800 +/- to break a horse's
maiden and win a NW2 lifetime..
If the current purse
structure remains it will likely spell the end to west coast racing as
we know it. For the sake of owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms, operations
employees, ticket sellers, parking attendants, vets, farms and yes even
racetrack management, get the purses up!!!
September 7, 2008 0:00 a.m.
Larry Stevens, Kennewick, WA:
I've been trying to think of a QH sale that I could use to compare
prices with the Northern Cal TB Sale, but I'm having a hard time. If I
used the Barreetts September Select sale and the Northern sale for Thoroughbreds
and the Blane Schvaneveldt sale and the Los Alamitos Equine sale for QH's
(and I'm not sure which of these will have the highest average) the QH
sale will still have the best average sales price.
Certainly we can't compare
the Northern sale to the Ruidoso Select Yrlg. sale for QH's. That particular
sale in Ruidoso is to the QH breed what the old Keeneland Select Yrlg.
sale was to the TB industry but I said that I would let you know how it
went.
I have always thought
it to be an inflated sale and if one has the great individual with all
the pedigree then that is where you should take it. All the big breeders
converge on the Ruidoso sale.
The three sessions were
up 15% from 2007. 455 yearlings were offered and brought $19,574,900.00.
Ave. price was up 6% to $43,022 this year. The upper half of the sale was
particularly strong with 119 head selling for $50,000 or more and that
was up 25% over 2007. The sale topper sold for $675,000, which set a new
sales record at Ruidoso. There is one problem here and that is that all
the high sellers come from about 5 leading sires that are syndicated which
is not healthy for the small breeder.
So what does it tell
you? Does it mean that QH's are worth more that TB's? No!! It tells me
that we need to breed a better product. If we are content to breed for
the Northern Cal sale then the CTBA can't help us. Not that they are going
to anyway. This sale should be discontinued, at least until the breeders
show that they are consigning top quality stock. If I was breeding TB horses
I'd like to think that they could go to the Barretts sale for select yearlings.
I know that it is hard
for many of us because of resources, but the reality of it is that the
horse business is a tough business to make money in unless you have quite
a bit to start with. We love our horses and want to be a part of it, rather
it's raising them to sell or the racing game, which is even more expensive.
If we find ourselves
with this problem, then maybe instead of having 5 mares we should sell
them and buy one very good mare. That's better than telling someone that
they need to get out of the business. I couldn't do what I do with mine
if I had to pay for feed or board them out. Because of my position here
I can keep a couple mares and raise their foals as long as I sell them,
but when I have to start paying all those expenses then I'll get out as
I wouldn't be able to afford them. I can't compete with the big boys and
as bad as I hate to say it, that seems to be the way it's going.
Oh! By the way, Jerry
Windham bought back a colt from last year's Ruidoso sale for $32,000. Was
it a wise move or not?? Yesterday he won the All American Futurity and
his share was $1,000,000. I'd say not a bad move at all. As a 2 year old
the horse has earned $1,796,000. So some buybacks certainly pay off.
September 2, 2008 0:00 a.m.
Ike Boone, Issaquah, WA:
In response to yesterday's Editor's Notebook
. .
The recent sale of the
Los
Angeles Times by the Chicago Tribune has everything to do with
their dropping daily coverage and chart results and entries.
The newspaper family that owned it originally (Chandler) was rumored to
be in the bidding for it but didn't win. The guy that won and helped out
the Tribune by buying the Times is unfortunately primarily
a warehouse owner, a very wealthy warehouse & RE owner, not a newspaper
man. This is his only newspaper. The Times has some prime RE locations
- 1st & Spring in L.A., Costa Mesa in Orange County, on and on, including
some in Oregon. In fact the home building in downtown L.A. has been rumored
to be for sale.
And you're right about
the daily vs. weekly coverage, but horse chart coverage is only relevant
to horsemen or gamblers, not newspaper managing editors trying to make
the bottom line black. The Times editorial staff and writers and
entire sections have been continually cut down or eliminated for a number
of years, with at least one managing editor quitting instead of firing
more people.
This situation is not
unique to the Times. Our newspapers large and small are crashing
all over America due to the rise of the PC. They appear to be fighting
a losing battle and many of us who were raised with newspapers will certainly
miss them if they fail.
