By Caitlin Courtney
The Good Ole Days
A large wood paneled, 650-seat sales pavilion with a towering ceiling looming overhead is packed to the brim with excitement. The masses of seats filled with people are all facing in the direction of the roped off sales ring. A majestic, well-groomed thoroughbred horse, destined to run in some of the most prestigious horse races in the world is standing there. The spotlight is beaming directly down on the horse. Its ears prick up in curiosity and its perfectly toned muscles flex with every movement.
There are three men stationed at a podium above the horse; they are speaking at lightening fast speeds that make them incomprehensible for the most part. They are the auctioneers.
Audience members look on eagerly. Occasionally, one will gesture inconspicuously toward a bid spotter indicating that they are interested in shelling out the cash necessary to purchase the horse.
Behind the auctioneers and to either side of the sales ring there are two boards that post the hip number and the escalating price of the horse. There is a lull in the action and the gavel thunders down as the horse’s owner legally changes.
In an industry that is used to its products selling for top prices, the recent global economic crisis has really put a damper on that. The prices of these thoroughbred horses are escalating less and less as each day passes.
What was once a crowded sales pavilion is now filled with significantly smaller numbers of people. The select few that now stand in the monstrous pavilion are the ones who have been fortunate enough to generate enough of an income to be able to purchase thoroughbred horses. Everyone else must dedicate all of their concentration to solely raising and selling their horses in order to be able to keep their farms afloat.
A significant amount of time, money, and energy goes into operating a successful thoroughbred horse farm and all of that is becoming increasingly more difficult in this day and age. Especially as the people in the industry have watched the American economy spiral in a downward motion.
It All Went Tumbling Down
At the turn of the millennium, the horse industry, which encompasses breeding, selling, owning, and racing thoroughbred horses, was at the top of its game. In 2000 the bloodstock market was strong. Horses were selling for high prices and the stud fees of stallions were increasing significantly. However, since 2001 the horse industry in Kentucky has been plagued by a series of unfortunate events.
The first problem occurred in the late winter and early spring months of the 2001 foaling season. Mares began to spontaneously abort their undeveloped foals. Tragically, that year nearly 30% of all pregnant mares in Kentucky lost their foals. This abortion of foals was scientifically labeled as Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome. The effects of MRLS on the horse industry would be felt for years to come and is still an issue today.
Then there were the 9/11 terrorist attacks in and around New York City and Washington DC in the fall of 2001. Every industry in the United States suffered from these attacks and that was no exception to the horse industry.
“The day that the attacks happened was also a sales day at Keeneland,” said Robert Courtney Jr., a horse breeder and owner who is a prominent figure in the industry, “everything just went silent and no one really knew what to do…we didn’t know if we should carry on and sell or if we should take the day off.”
“I remember that Keeneland just tried to carry on as usual, they had a moment of silence and that was that. It was a lousy day to sell horses,” said Courtney.
Several years after 9/11, the horse industry in Kentucky was in for another devastating blow. In the early part of 2003, the Keeneland Association announced that their annual July Selected Yearling Sale would be taking a one-year hiatus due to the effects of MRLS on the industry. Nick Nicholson, President of the Keeneland Association, said that “the yearlings weren’t ready in time for the sales. They were all born later that the horses that usually go in that sale so we thought it would be best to cancel the sales that year.”
Keeneland stated that they had every intention of bringing the sales back the following year. However, that was not the case. Keeneland did not, and still has not brought back the July sales. What was once considered by many to be the most esteemed thoroughbred sales in the world is now just a memory of how the industry used to be.
To top it all off, there was the global financial crisis that hit in the later parts of 2008. Individuals no longer had a desire to invest their money in a horse. Many didn’t believe that it was sensible to get involved in an industry as risky and uncertain as the horse industry.
Of course, each of these ill-fated happenings has affected all branches of the business differently. Luckily, the racing side of the industry has not seen as many negative effects as the sales have.
A Day at the Sales
It is a beautiful fall day in Kentucky. The sun glistens through the tall trees with branches abundant with green leaves. The constant sound of horses’ hooves crunching down in the gravel walking rings echoes through Keeneland’s sales grounds. Identical white barns are in every direction and each is numbered to discern it from the rest. The barns house horses from every different consignor and owner at the sale, all hoping that their superb breeding and foal rearing skills will be rewarded with a sales topping horse.
Flower boxes and hanging baskets stuffed with brightly colored plants adorn all of the barns, all with the intention of drawing in lookers so that they will have a gander at the beautiful horses as well as the flowers.
Uniformly dressed employees of each farm and consignor scurry about the shed rows making sure everything goes perfectly. They also escort the horses in and out of their stalls as well as up and down the showing rings.
Potential buyers look on at the animals intently, hoping to discover one distinguishing feature that will set this horse apart from the thousands of others in the sale. While the buyers look on, deafening neighs and gentle whinnies escape from the horses’ vocal chords as they toss their heads back in excitement and confusion. As they continue to look on, the potential buyers scribble illegible notes, which only they will understand, in the margins of their sales catalogs.
Its Getting Worse
The idyllic appearance of Keeneland and its grounds can be misleading. On the exterior everything looks perfect, but underneath all of the beauty and perfection is a lot of bad. The industry is going through one of its worst rough patches.
The amount of horses being entered into the sales at Keeneland has seriously decreased. Keeneland’s upcoming January Horses of All Ages Sale is down 26.3 percent from last year’s same sale. This coming January there are only 1,753 horses entered in the sale compared to 2,379 horses last year. Those numbers are staggering for a business that makes a majority of their income by selling horses.
This decrease in the number of horses being entered into the sales has been a steady occurrence since Keeneland’s November Breeding Stock Sale in 2008. Geoffrey Russell, director of sales at Keeneland, said, “the November sale in 2008 was a really bad one for the most part. A lot of owners bought their horses back because they just weren’t selling well”.
Russell blames the global financial crisis for the devastating sale that year.
Robert E. Courtney Sr., owner of Crestfield Farm and long time member of the horse business, said, “the financial crisis has had a really big impact on our business, especially after the banks collapsed. A lot of the locally owned bank that understand our industry were bought up by bigger banks that don’t understand and they are slow to lend us money.”
Because people are having a difficult time getting the banks to lend them money they don’t have the necessary funds to enter their horses into the sales or to buy horses at the sales. It seems that, for the most part, banks tend to think that people involved in the horse industry have a lot of money and that’s not the case at all. Of course, in certain cases there are people with a lot of money but that isn’t true for a lot of people in the business.
Along with the declining number of horses in sales, the global financial crisis is also having a strong impact on the prices that buyers are willing to pay for thoroughbred racehorses. Also, when buyers aren’t paying as much for horses, not all of the horses entered in the sales are selling because they aren’t bringing the optimal amounts of money. At the Keeneland September Yearling sale in 2008, 4,795 yearlings were offered, of that number 3,605 sold. That means that there were 1,190 horses that did not sell. Of the horses that did sell the average price was $90,984 and the total gross of the sale was $327,999,100. At that same sale in 2009 4,360 yearlings were offered and 3,159 of those horses were sold. That means that 1,201 were not sold at all. At that sale the average price of the yearlings sold was $60,734 and the total gross of the sale was $191,859,200. The difference of the total gross of both sales is $136,139,900, which is a considerably large difference.
The sales portion of the thoroughbred horse industry has had to deal with a majority of the problems as well as the most noticeable changes to the industry. The racing side to the industry has seen several changes but they have escaped a great deal of the negativity that has plagued the selling of horses.
Racing
Surrounded by magnificent and intricately constructed stone buildings, with vines creeping up the sides, Keeneland’s paddock is picturesque. The grassy paddock is lined with an assortment of colossal trees that are likely to be over a hundred years old. Horses parade around in circles as they prepare to exit onto the track. All eyes are on them. In Kentucky, they are the celebrities.
Men, smartly dressed in khaki pants, hunter green sports coats, and topped off with flat caps guard the paddock from unwanted and unqualified intruders. Generally, only those with the proper credentials may enter this sacred space.
The tiny saddles and colorful saddle pads are places neatly on the horses’ backs and the jockeys are flung, like a small toy, by their trainers one by one on top of their steeds. The petite jockeys, clad in eye catching colored silks, proudly sit upon the thoroughbred horses’ backs. They are all hoping to win the race.
Patrons of Keeneland come dressed to the nines. They arrive in droves and filter into the mighty grandstands. They are always eager to try their luck at betting on the thoroughbreds and they are hopeful of their prospects. For some, prospects diminish as the day wears on and their ability to pick the winning horse isn’t quite what they thought.
The old grandstand spans the entire length of the front stretch of the track. Each level is lined with rows of boxes and chairs belonging to the members of the track.
The stands are bustling with excitement as everyone prepares to watch the horses race to the finish. Individuals crowd around the betting windows before it’s too late to put their money down.
Everyone has picked who they want to win the race and now it’s to time to wait with bated breath. The anticipation rises, as the horses are loaded one by one into the starting gate. They are eager to start running. Then the bell rings as the gates burst open and the horses dash out. They are closer and closer to the finishing post with every giant stride that they take.
The crowd roars as the horses turn the final turn on the track and hurdle off toward the finish line. The horses fly by the crowd in a blur and as they reach the finish line, one crosses before the rest. They are victorious!
Some of those in attendance are victorious too. The ones that bet on the winning horse can cash in their tickets and go home with some much needed money.
The Luckier Ones
Those more directly involved with the racing aspects of the industry been luckier than those dealing with the selling of thoroughbreds.
Horses are still racing in large numbers because those who own racehorses have more disposable incomes than those who are selling horses. This means that they are capable of paying the training bills as well as the fees needed to hire jockeys and enter their horses into the races.
The purses of races, particularly major stakes races like the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, and other Grade 1 races are still large. For instance, the purse of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, held annually at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on the first Saturday of May, has a purse of $2 million.
Also, there are many fans that support horses racing year round and there are still large attendances at horse races. That means that there is money to be made when it comes to selling tickets to see the races as well as when it comes to betting. People are always hoping to get lucky.
The only downside to the racing portion of the industry is that some of the less wealthy owners have been forced out due to the financial crisis. Racing is a risky business because you are relying on the horses to run well in the races. If they don’t finish well then you don’t get any money back. It’s a big investment and there’s no guarantee that your horse is going to win.
Since the racing portion of the industry is still going strong that gives the sales and breeding portion of the industry a small glimmer of hope that they can one day return to their glory. Until then, they’ll just have to ride it out and hope for the best.Keeneland
Keeneland was founded by a group of prominent horse breeders from Central Kentucky and was first opened in 1936 in Lexington, Ky.
The entire Keeneland complex, including racetrack, sales pavilion, and multiple barns, stand on 921 acres of land.
It is home to one of the most prestigious thoroughbred horseracing tracks in the world and it is also home to one of the most prominent horse auction companies in the United States and the world.
The first races at Keeneland took place in October 1936 and the first horse auction took place in April 1938.
Since the first auction, 17 Kentucky Derby winners, 17 Preakness Stakes winners, 14 Belmont Stakes winners, 12 Breeder’s Cup winners, as well as countless other prominent stakes winning horses have been sold at Keeneland.
Keeneland also hold many important graded stakes races like the Alcibiades Stakes, Maker’s Mark Mile, the Bluegrass Stakes, and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
No comments:
Post a Comment