Something I find increasingly tiresome is the PR battle between the sales companies (all of them) over who sells more good horses.
I can live with a heightened focus on past results as the sale season approaches and the companies need to shore up their market share and secure their buying bench, but it’s become a never-ending year-round assault in every newsletter, publication, advert, email, etc, complete with hyperlinks back to their websites and the whole nine yards.
It's got to the point where, skimming ahead, if I see it coming I go right on by to the next, more useful, subject. Does anyone else feel similarly irritated, or am I just a cranky old man?
Fact is, most horses which go through a sale ring don’t measure up. Are we ever told what percentage of their throughput end up winning a black-type race, for instance? No, because you wouldn’t want to know.
If, out of thousands, a couple of dozen good ones happen to be sold, beats me why any sales company should assume almost proprietary rights. They are just lucky the clever breeder decided to put them in their catalogue.
Sales companies are about turnover. Derived from both the good and the not-so-good.
Bike? Check. Glasses? Check.
Tilly, super cool biker chick.
Melbourne Underbelly?
Looks like it, but actually the Main Man at 'Orange' ... if great coffee, fine food, sumptuous wines, funky atmosphere and fab service are your go, 'Orange' at the Windsor end of Chapel St, Melbourne, is the place. Ask for Anthony and tell him his old man sent you.
SOME RECENT PURCHASES and RECOMMENDATIONS
Thousand Guineas Prelude winner Ortensia, trainer Tony Noonan. Love those nostrils and ears (the filly's).
Fastnet Rock/Rare Insight 2YO colt. Tr J O'Shea
Danzero/Global Dance 2YO colt. Tr G Waterhouse
Canadian 2YO stakeswinner and young broodmare Chelsey's Image (Holy Bull-Lucky Chelsey), in foal to Dylan Thomas (Ire)
Golan/Double Owe 2YO colt, named Double Whisky. Tr C Waller
Redoute's Choice/Volted In 2YO filly. Tr G Waterhouse
Hussonet/Portrayal 2YO filly, named Bolocco Miss. Tr C Waller
Anabaa/Regal Fun 2YO colt. Tr C Waller.
High Chaparral, sire of the Kaapentyne 2YO colt. Tr C Little.
More Than Ready/Rachael's Pride 2YO colt, named Our Corsa. Tr C Waller
Charge Forward/Zerlina 2YO filly, named Passing By. Tr Robert Price
A P Indy's successful sire son Malibu Moon, sire of USA stakeswinner and young broodmare Grant's Moon, booked to Show A Heart.
USA stakeswinner and young broodmare Les Ry Leigh (Broken Vow-Azusa), in foal to Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire)
Hussonet's G1 winning 2YO champion filly La Chiflota
Group winner Rockwood (Rock Of Gibraltar-Foxwood, by Centaine). Tr G Waterhouse
Gr 1 winning mare Absolut Glam (Snowland-Pine Away, by Pine Bluff). Tr D O'Brien.
2 comments:
Enjoyable reading and exciting to see someone tell it how it is. Except to me the battle between the sales companies is no where near as irritable and annoying than hearing and reading everywhere which major stud (and a few names come to mind) has purchased yet another potential future sire or the best broodmare on offer. They are buying up all the good ones to add to their collection like ornaments on a christmas tree. As they say money can just about buy anything. For most of us even if we won the major lotto prizemoney ten times we still couldnt compete with them. And then we may need that lotto win just to afford to send a few mares to their stud if we plan on keeping the progeny to race instead of selling them as yearlings at those sales you talk about.
This is australia, battlers, hard workers and people with dreams. I would rather hear about the smaller studs and breeders and good luck stories rather than how much these studs spent.
As for their stallion roster books i get delivered to me in the letterbox they are as large and as expensively made as the
horse deals magazine where most of their prior horses from their gr 1 sires are now show hacks, eventers and jumpers because they were no good on the track.
The only thing money cant buy is a 100% strike rate on purchasing a foal who is going to win that gr 1 race. If your lucky though and it is pretty and trainable you may win a ribbon at a show.
The only thing you forgot to write was when the sales companies are doing all their bragging rights, the major studs are doing theirs at the same time. They are hand in hand.
Unlike this blog, the word 'Anonymous' does not go down on the sale sheets ... unless it's something like an agent or a trainer, the buyers names are there for all the world to see. We mustn't fall into the tall poppy trap. Many owners and breeders - yep, some of them even 'battlers' - are beneficiaries of the munificence of the people to whom you refer. Re advertising and marketing, businesses cannot survive without them; my point is, you'd think the sales companies actually produced these animals they get so possessive about it!
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