| The annual sales for thoroughbred yearlings in | | | | down. |
| Australia and New Zealand are upon us again and as | | | | 2. What's the true success rate of the "expert"? |
| usual there are the attending trainers, bloodstock | | | | Ask to be given a written record of the number of |
| agents, and staff from the various studs and | | | | yearlings bought by the |
| preparatory farms. | | | | "expert" and then ask to see their records of the |
| Also present will be the ever hopeful owners, some of | | | | performance of those yearlings. |
| them veterans of the great racing game, some of | | | | If you don't do this all you'll be going by is hearsay. |
| them total newcomers who are eagerly looking | | | | It's a fact that a trainer only needs to have a handful |
| forward to becoming the proud owners of the next | | | | of good runnersevery season to keep getting good |
| champion thoroughbred. | | | | publicity, however over the course of all thesales |
| Horse racing often known as " The Sport of Kings" is | | | | some trainers may well buy 200 yearlings and with |
| great fun, there is no greater thrill than watching a | | | | those numbers plus theones handed to them to train |
| horse you own come first past the post unless you're | | | | by breeders they ought to get at least some topliners. |
| lucky enough to actually have an animal that wins one | | | | The same goes for bloodstock agents, ask to see |
| of the big Group races, that pretty well puts you into | | | | their records don't just listen totheir success stories. |
| another league. | | | | Remember sales records can be checked, hearsay is |
| Thoroughbreds are fantastic animals, beautiful to | | | | just much repeated publicity. |
| watch, thrilling to race and unfortunately very | | | | 3 If you are going to get breeding advice, don't just |
| expensive. | | | | listen to the usual rubbishof certain nick and crosses |
| When you consider that traditionally it has been agreed | | | | having worked particularly well in the past. |
| that only about 2 % of catalogued yearlings will | | | | Ask the "expert" whether they have analysed all the |
| eventually pay their way during their racing careers | | | | failures bred along the samelines. It's easy to take a |
| you can see that you need to be extremely lucky or | | | | champion and to say the horse has these particular |
| you need some really expert advice. | | | | crossesbut that does not mean hundreds of totally |
| Well there are some lucky people, but the majority of | | | | useless horses don't have the samecrosses. The sad |
| prospective owners rely on so called "expert" advisors | | | | reality is that very few so called breeding "experts" |
| to buy them their champion. | | | | have everdone any work on failures. |
| Fair enough you might say but are these advisors | | | | 4 If you are told that a particular stallion is a sensation, |
| really experts? | | | | again ask how many maresdid he serve and what |
| That's a much better question and if you are looking to | | | | quality were they? |
| buy yourself a horse you should definitely have | | | | Obviously the biggest studs have the biggest |
| another look at the credentials and the associations of | | | | advertising budgets and get the bestperformed mares, |
| the particular "experts" you might seek advice from. | | | | the progeny of those stallions should get far more |
| Ask yourself; | | | | qualityperformers. Look at the stallion tables to see |
| 1. What association does the "expert" have with the | | | | how many mares, the stallion served,how many |
| vendors selling the yearlings. | | | | winners did he have and how many of those were |
| In other words, are they getting a kick back from the | | | | stakes winners. |
| vendor to buy theiryearlings, or do they own the animal | | | | Then look at the service fee and at how much a |
| themselves through dummy vendors. | | | | yearling by that stallion is goingto cost you. |
| A good way to check the latter is to see if they | | | | 5. Take statements on fantastic confirmation etc. with |
| owned the dam when it was racing,if they did then it's | | | | a grain of salt, an analysis done over a 25 year period |
| a real possibility that there's still some connection. | | | | showed that the world's most expensive yearlings |
| This is not a rare scenario, so much so that it is often | | | | averaged more than US$2 million to buy and only |
| an open secret and thoseinvolved think it's perfectly | | | | averaged $200,000 in race earnings. It's a pretty safe |
| normal to take a commission from both the buyer | | | | bet that all those yearling were supposedly bred in the |
| andthe vendor because as they say "everyone does | | | | purple and had superb confirmation. |
| it". | | | | Conversely some of the greatest performers were |
| If you stretch a few morals that might be alright | | | | ugly as sin, small and often hadlegs that were not |
| providing the animals concernedare sound, but | | | | totally correct. |
| sometimes it's a good way for vendors to get rid of | | | | When you've asked all these questions ( and a lot |
| yearlings withfaults that would otherwise affect their | | | | more that I'm sure you'll think of as you go through the |
| sales value dramatically. | | | | learning curve ) and you're satisfied with the answers |
| Of course when the horse concerned breaks down in | | | | you'll be ready to enjoy a wonderful sport in the |
| training, the poor old owneris told "that's the risk you | | | | knowledge that you have done everything possible |
| take when you go racing" and he has no ideathat his | | | | and now it's up to fate. |
| very expensive investment was always likely to break | | | | |