One of the fastest-growing segments of the Thoroughbred auction market is the weanling-to-yearling pinhook market, which regularly produces some of the biggest hammer prices of the yearling season.
While there are individuals within the bloodstock marketplace that have carved out reputations for having a keen eye when it comes to buying young horses and re-selling them as yearlings, the various noms-de-sales ticket that can be tied to an individual through different agents and partnerships can make quantifying the best pinhookers nearly impossible.
We don't have that problem with sires. That's one line on the transaction that is never changed or hidden.
With that in mind, I'll be spending the yearling season trying to figure out which sires are performing best in the weanling-to-yearling pinhook market by seeing whose youngsters are providing the biggest returns on investment from their previous purchases.
Stallions in the pinhook power rankings will be measured by two factors:
1) Gross revenue from every pinhooked yearling by a sire during the 2023 major sale season over the combined purchase price of those horses during the weanling/short yearling season of fall 2022/winter 2023. Because pinhooks comprise a smaller percentage of the yearling market's total offerings, compared with yearling-to-juvenile pinhooks, there is no minimum number of horses sold to qualify for the list.
2) Percent change of gross yearling sales over combined weanling/short yearling purchase price. If a horse sells for $10,000 as a weanling and brings $200,000 as a yearling, that's a 1,900 percent improvement. If a $200,000 yearling goes on to sell for $390,000, that's a 95 percent improvement. Both net you $190,000, but the entry point and expectations are very different.
Stallions are ranked in each category, and their combined ranks are totaled into a combined score. The lower the score, the better the horse is performing.
With just one major North American yearling sale in the books – the Fasig-Tipton July sale – we don't have a ton of data to pull from for this inaugural list, but every set of power rankings has to start somewhere. This list will surely evolve and refine over time, and hopefully it'll turn into something useful, or at least interesting.
So, let's get a look at those rankings.
#1 – Good Magic, Hill 'n' Dale Farms
What a 2023 it's been for Good Magic, who was represented by a Kentucky Derby winner from his first crop in Mage before nearly taking the Preakness Stakes with Blazing Sevens. It was a near-certainty that buyers would pounce on the Good Magics when the yearling season came around, and investors in his young stock would be rewarded for their perfect timing.
Good Magic had two pinhooked yearlings sell at the Fasig-Tipton July sale for a total of $470,000 off a combined initial investment of $124,000. The gross increase of $346,000 was the greatest season-to-season jump by any stallion through the first yearling auction, and he had the fifth-highest gain by percentage at 279.03 percent.
The most dramatic jump among the two Good Magics came from Hip 175, a colt who sold as a weanling to Three Counties Bloodstock for $49,000 at last year's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and later sold to Boardshorts Stables for $370,000. The first foal out of the winning Carpe Diem mare Scolding, the colt was consigned at the July Sale by Blandford Stud, agent.
#2 – Thousand Words, Spendthrift Farm
The Fasig-Tipton July sale is a big momentum-setter for first-crop sires, and rookie Thousand Words was one of the early standouts at this year's renewal.
Thousand Words' lone pinhooked yearling started as a $65,000 weanling purchase by Stella Stables at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale, and he sold to Stanley Stables for $250,000 at this year's July sale. He ranked fourth by both gross and percent gains, at $185,000 and 284.62 percent, respectively.
Offered as Hip 351, the filly is out of Grade 3-placed Maria's Mon mare Izshelegal, and she was consigned at the July Sale by Gainesway, agent.
Thousand Words, a Grade 2-winning son of Pioneerof the Nile, was himself a $1-million yearling during his own time in the sales ring, offering a positive bit of past performance when projecting the fortunes of his foals at auction.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.#3 – Omaha Beach, Spendthrift Farm
After finishing as the highest-ranking freshman sire on this year's 2-Year-Old Sale Sire Power Rankings, Omaha Beach's follow-up crop is showing early signs that the momentum was more than just first-year buzz.
His one pinhooked yearling to sell at the July sale started as a $20,000 short yearling secured by Cece Stables at this year's Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, and he sold to Legion Bloodstock, agent, for $130,000 at the July Sale. The 550 percent gain was the second-best among qualifying sires, while the gross increase of $110,000 placed him 10th in that category.
Consigned by Gainesway, agent, the colt offered as Hip 149 is the first foal out of the unraced Giant's Causeway mare Pipistrella, from the family of champion High Chaparral.
Omaha Beach has proven a versatile sire with his first crop of runners in the early months of their juvenile season, getting stakes-placed runners on both dirt and turf. His runners figure to get better as time rolls on, and it appears he has managed to maintain the attention of the marketplace while those early runners do the work to prove out their sire.
#4 – Army Mule, Hill 'n' Dale Farms
After performing admirably with his first runners in 2022, it's little surprise that buyers are bullish on Army Mule's follow-up crops, and the believers are being rewarded.
Army Mule had two pinhooked yearlings in the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, starting with a combined initial investment of $72,000 and selling for $217,000. That marked a gross gain of $145,000, which ranked him sixth for his best-performing category.
The star of that duo was Hip 233, a filly out of the unraced Giant's Causeway mare Whiff, handled by the Paramount Sales consignment. Good Amego Bloodstock first landed her for $42,000 at the Keeneland January Sale, then she hammered to Pablo Stables for $140,000 in July.
#5 – Caracaro, Crestwood Farm
Another first-crop sire making a positive impression with his debut yearlings. Caracaro had two pinhooked yearlings sell in July, growing an initial investment of $57,000 to $190,000.
That marked a 233.33 percent season-to-season growth, while the gross improvement of $133,000 ranked him seventh in that category.
The biggest revenue driver among Caracaro's pinhooked yearlings was Hip 329, a filly out of the unplaced Giant's Causeway mare Giants Diva, from a deep family including English Horse of the Year Dayjur, champion Sky Beauty, and Grade 1 winners Maplejinsky, Pleasant Home, and Tale of Ekati.
She sold to Scoot Stables as a weanling for $47,000 at the Keeneland November Sale, then she sold through the Gainesway consignment to All Star Bloodstock for $150,000.
Caracaro has every right to have early-developing types. After securing an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old, Uncle Mo was a record-setting freshman sire, and his debut crop featured champion juvenile and eventual leading freshman sire Nyquist.
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