Has anyone heard this story before? Please, bear with me. Remember,
I’m new to this game.
My wife says, “Sure, go ahead. You do it. I don’t
really want to get involved (after all we’re not dealing
with Arabians here).” So, after a few emails and telephone
conversations, we decide on a plan. It was a meager plan (financially)
by most anyone’s estimate. We decided that between the two
of us we could scrape together $2500.00 for the initial purchase.
Starting to get the idea here? We certainly aren’t talking
big league.
Our trainer is pretty sharp, however, most of her experience (like
mine) is with Arabians. So, I started hitting the research. In
a couple weeks I had data on every Thoroughbred that had gone
through the Barretts sales over the last two years. I had information
up the wazoo about the dollar-amount horses had sold for in October
and what they went for in May. What sires were hot (in our price
range) and the ones that were not. A lot of attention was spent
on comparing price/pedigree/times (1/8 and 1/4 works). I did my
homework and was proud of it. I was armed with data that would
lead to making an educated and informed decision.
The weekend before the sale I spend the best part of two days
looking at fifty or so horses. Due to varying schedules I was
not able to view horses with our trainer, which was a mistake.
I was on my own. I quickly learn I’m in over my head but
view the situation as an educational juncture. With extensive
data in hand I proceed down the aisles of opportunity in search
of the perfect horse: Without a clue.
The sale comes around; our trainer has picked out a horse (none
of the ones I had highlighted from my vast studies) and says,
“This is the one.” It’s a filly by Trail City
by Red Ransom out of an Ack Ack mare, Notice My Ack. Being the
professional I am, I casually drop all my notes in the trash and
head for the sales pavilion. I know when to lead and I know when
to follow.
This was taken just a few days after our purchase
at the yearling sale. |
It all happened so quickly; she raises her hand a couple of times,
the hammer drops and we become the proud owners of a yearling
Thoroughbred filly. We are now on our way to pinhooking fame or
ruin. I’m a willing and excited passenger: Still without
a clue.
So, we go down and pay for our new investment: A whooping $1650.00.
Now, we’ve got to get her in the trailer and take her home.
The trainers trailer is small. One of those older two-horse straight
loads with a little escape hatch on each side. Ok for Arabians
but a bit on the tiny side for Thoroughbreds. It was like loading
this huge horse into a totally covered and enclosed starting gate.
It was, to say the least, a project. Success was found in about
20 minutes and we were on our way down the road. I give most of
the credit to the intellect of the horse.
Challenge Number
One
Within days we are informed
that our stabling facilities, which included a nice training track,
is closing to the public and we need to find a new location. Great,
exactly what our new venture needed.
Challenge Number
Two
The best place we could find did not include a track, only a large
arena that would allow for limited galloping. Ok, we really don’t
need the track at this stage so we will live with what we can
get and find a way to meet our future needs as they arise. In
the meantime I introduce my wife to our new purchase. Having been
somewhat distant to the project initially, after seeing this gorgeous
creature she immediately falls in love with her and confirms we
have made a good purchase.
Challenge Number
Three, Four, Five…
Trainer moves to new home in upper desert area (California) and
we move the horses up there. We loose a week or so of training
in the move. The rains come, we loose a week or two. The horse
throws a shoe and we loose a week (shoer only comes once a week
to that area). The horse throws another shoe, we loose another
week. It rains like crazy again, we loose, we loose, we loose.
Seems like a routine is developing. She gets a minor booboo, we
loose even more time. Before we know it we’re a couple months
behind schedule.
She is a beautiful horse with a sharp mind and a good dose of
natural athletic ability. We’re all thinking we have a good
prospect and, we’re not wearing rose-colored glasses or
fooling ourselves. I’m a Capricorn, I like to deal in reality,
that’s my comfort zone and this horse is giving me what
I like. My concern at this point is with the time frame: Can we
accomplish what we need by the sale date? And, most importantly,
can we do it without jeopardizing the integrity of the horses’
condition?
Faith and Reality
Faith. It’s what the industry is built upon. You have to
have faith in your trainer, your mentors, and your associates
and mostly in yourself. As we get closer to the sale date we began
to question our readiness, or actually the readiness of our horse.
We also begin to have thoughts about keeping her and running her
ourselves. It’s now time for a reality check. The bottom
line is we aren’t financially in a position to campaign
a Thoroughbred and need to wake up to our original goal: Buy –
Sell – Learn.
This photo was taken the day before the "two
year olds in training" auction - My Baby had just been
clipped, has her new leather halter on and her main has been
all "braided" up. |
The Real Deal
We’re now down to the nitty-gritty, the sale is only a few
weeks away. We need a bloodstock agent to handle the sale to do
it right. We contact one of the best agents in our area: She wants
the horse now, nearly four weeks out from the sale. We hesitate.
It’s expensive, $70.00 per day. We question our position.
We’re running out of time. I call the tax consultant we’ve
used for the past five years. His firm specializes in the horse
industry, he’s involved in Thoroughbreds, knows the business
and I’m looking for advice. He sets me straight by letting
me know it is time to ‘suck it up’. He instructs me
to consider our original goal (which was to buy and sell), and
do whatever it takes to place the horse with the agent and let
be what will be; good, bad or indifferent.
In re-contacting the agent she says it’s now too late, can’t
get it done in time. Needed the horse last week. She’s a
bit concerned about taking horses that have not been trained at
a ‘real’ facility and it’s just two weeks before
the sale. I beg and I plead, presenting our case in person, on
my knees. Finally, she agrees to ‘look’ at our horse
(She said she can’t take grown men crying). If she likes
what she sees she’ll give her a test ride before making
a final decision.
The Initial Test
At 5:30 am on April 24th I pull into the Fairplex facility with
My Baby My Baby (now her registered name) to present to the bloodstock
agent. Damn, she looked good and came off the trailer in fine
tune. She was placed in a stall, brushed down and made ready for
presentation.
To say the least the agent was surprised with what she saw. She
expected an untrained and out of shape horse but was presented
with a young ‘jewel’. She put her rider on her and
took My Baby My Baby for a test drive. Both agent and rider were
pleased and made the decision to accept our entry for the sale.
Biting The Bullet
I have to say, a day
rate of $70.00 is big money to me. I’m wondering if I’ve
stepped too far out of my league. Really, how much can we expect
to get out of a $1650 investment? The day-rate alone will be more
than we paid for the horse. Plus, there are all the sale commissions
and vet charges to be considered. However, we are now in the ‘let
it ride’ zone and there is no looking back. The commitment
is made and we’ll live with the results.
The True Test
I don’t really agree with the procedure of running them,
these horses are still babies, at least in my mind. But the buyers
want to seem them perform. If you want to sell at a good price
you need to be prepared to have your horse do an eighth in a respectable
time. We were short on time. ‘Baby’ didn’t have
much speed training and we didn’t want to press the issue
to the point of injury. The agent knew and was well aware of the,
“to fast to soon” concept and brought her along at
an acceptable pace given the time she had to work with her. She
got in two one-furlong works before the preview and the agent
was very pleased with how she was coming along.
We get her re-shoed - $100.00, teeth floated - $60.00, clipped
- $100.00 and $65.00 for the nameplate and leather halter. My
Baby My Baby is now dressed to the 9’s and looking extremely
good. I’ve been to see her work nearly every day for the
past two weeks. The attachment is gnawing at my heart.
May 8th, 2003. It’s preview day for hip numbers 1-207. We’re
number 117 out of over 400 horses in the catalog. I am a nervous
wreck, have been since I got up at 4:30 am. After making my usual
stall visit to rub a bit on Baby I meet our trainer at the Fairplex
track about 10:00 am. We watch, chart, view and wonder how we’re
going to do. We decide we’ll be ok if she hits an 11.1 or
11.2. We’re trying not to be too optimistic. There are some
really nice horses and both of us are doing our best to be realistic.
This shot is from the grandstands
at the Fairplex (Pomona, CA) training track and was taken
just before "Baby" put down her 10.4 in her
1/8 mile go. |
We see her coming out from the barn area and as she parades by
the grandstand we get a really good look at her. Damn, she looks
sharp. She’s going to go the eighth by herself and the jockey
starts to pick it up a little before the far turn and she starts
the clock just at the beginning of the straight. Baby is looking
fast but moves a bit to the right then straightens back out and
rushes past us in a tremendous flow of beauty and speed. The clock
stops at 10.4! Ten Four. Can you believe it? Baby just cut a beauty.
I was so proud I thought I was going to cry. A damn 10.4, our
horse, our Baby. Dear God, she looked terrific. We’re throwing
the high-fives and grinning from ear to ear.
When we went back to the barn it was all smiles from everyone:
Agent, jockey, groomers, everybody was brimming with how well
she had done. This bloodstock agent had 21 horses in her consignment
at the start; twelve had been withdrawn by the training previews.
Of the ones left none went faster on our day than Baby. It was
a good day and a terrific feeling.
As a comparison the best time for the day was a 10.1 by a filly
called Iflookscouldkill. There was one at 10.2, another filly
called Cat Carson by Carson City. Then there were ten at 10.3
and about 17 at 10.4. We’re in the top 30 of horses that
ran one furlong on the first day. The second day the track was
a tick faster and the best time was a 9.9 and there were a couple
ten flats.
All that is left now is waiting for Monday to roll around. Auction
day will be the culmination of our efforts and the test of our
endeavor into Thoroughbred pinhooking. The conversations now turn
to the price we need My Baby My Baby to bring; our buy-back price.
The bloodstock agent is very optimistic and thinks she could go
for close to $20,000 if the market is strong. Twenty thousand
dollars! I have a hard time seeing that number and find it difficult
to really accept. I’m a Capricorn and reality is my nature.
I set the buy-back price at $9000.00. At that amount we’ll
make a couple dollars after expenses and will have had a good
experience.
The Sale
Judgment day comes around and I’m at the barn early to see
‘Baby’ and maybe get a feel for the mood of the sellers
and the feedback they’ve had from potential buyers. There
is a little concern about the strength of the market floating
about but nothing substantial.
One o’clock rolls around and the first horse to go through
is one in our agent’s consignment; a bay filly by Seacliff
and gets a bid of $8000.00 but is not sold. By the time sixty
or so have gone through a pattern is starting to form. The market
is not what some had hoped for. Our agent has one go through at
$90k (a Grand Slam filly) and then another at $30K by In Excess.
As our hip number is getting close and having never sold a horse
at auction, especially at something like a Barretts sale, I decide
to elicit the help of our tax accountant. We have a short discussion
about procedures and head for the sales pavilion. My trainer is
seated already and I scoot in next to her with my accountant next
to me. The auctioneer starts off at $10,000 but doesn’t
get any action. Drops a bit more and still nothing. I’m
getting concerned and feel a nudge from my accountant. When the
bid drops to five thousand my account is jabbing me in the arm,
“Get your hand up, you’ve got to get this started,”
he says turning his head in my direction. I’m thinking,
what? Bid on my own horse? He jabs me again and repeats his first
statement. This is all happening in a matter of seconds, I feel
my blood pressure rising and my hand goes in the air to start
off the bidding. The bid then goes to six, it stalls for a moment
or two and my accountant is jabbing at me again, “Get your
hand up, get it up.” So, up goes my hand to bring the bid
to $7000.00. My trainer is looking at me like I’m crazy,
which I probably was in some form or other at that very moment.
From seven the bid goes to nine and my account asks if I’m
ok with that amount. I say yes and let the ‘market’
decide the price from there.
Three other bidders carry on for a few more rounds and the final
call ends up at $14,000.00. My Baby My Baby, the yearling we had
bought just seven months before for $1650.00, goes through the
Barretts Two-Year-Olds in training sale for $14,000.00. That was
the biggest rush I had had in a very long time. My account tells
me he thinks had I got in to start it off at seven or eight thousand
she might have gone to sixteen or seventeen. But I didn’t
care; I had learned a lesson or two and turned a profit. I had
just completed the real-life course in Pinhooking 101a and passed
with a B+.
I thanked my accountant for all his help and realized I had learned
more about the Thoroughbred auction world in three minutes than
I had in seven months. My trainer and I go back to the barn to
take a last look at Baby and to thank our agent and her team for
a job well done. I made a point to thank the grooms that had taken
such great care of Baby and they seemed to be as happy as I was.
I have to admit I am going to miss Baby; she’s a good horse
with talent and ability. Out of the 12 horses our bloodstock agent
was left with seven sold for a total of $388,500.00 (one sold
for $170K).
So, now for the numbers: Our total costs related to the sale were
$4130 (commissions, agent fees for training, vet care, clipping,
shoeing and x-rays). Taking that from the $14,000 left $9870,
which my trainer and I split equally ($4935 each). My costs for
feed and shoeing during the six or so months leading up to the
sale were right at $1700.00 and my initial cost of $825.00 left
me with a net profit of $2410.00. The way I look at it, I went
to school, got my AA degree in Pinhooking 101a and got paid to
do it. What more could you ask for?
Story and
Photographys Courtesy Hugh Mooney
