‘No One Is Less Rich Than They Were 15 Months Ago’: Harness Horsemen Assess Bloodstock Market Ahead Of Lexington Sale

Much like the Thoroughbred auction marketplace, the Standardbred industry is enjoying record returns in the sales ring despite waves of economic and political uncertainty on a global scale.

Ahead of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, set to begin Monday, Harness Racing Update spoke with six experts in the Standardbred bloodstock field about how events like the war in Ukraine and inflation are affecting their corner of the marketplace, and how it might affect it in the future.

The two common themes among the respondents was that the unsteady parts of the global marketplace have not had a noticeable effect on the wealthy buyers who would purchase racehorses, and that the bloodstock marketplace operates differently from other economies.

“No one is less rich than they were 15 months ago,” Tom Grossman, owner of Blue Chip Farm in Wallkill, N.Y. “Despite everything you read, most people with disposable income have never been richer in this country, which is a whole weird concept.”

The experts were divided over how closely the Standardbred industry follows its Thoroughbred counterparts in terms of marketplace ebbs and flows.

Among the trends that mirrored the Thoroughbred realm was the idea that a high purse structure at the races is helping draw interest and dollars into the auction market to take advantage. Another common theme is that both markets are becoming less dependent on the whims and bidding wars of a small handful of extremely wealthy participants to carry the fortunes of the overall market.

“I think the horse economy has quietly diversified itself,” Grossman said. “Our reliance on our top 10 buyers is much lower, in my mind, than it ever has been. The next group of 40, 50, 60, 70 people that can and will sign $100,000 for Standardbred and $250,000 for Thoroughbred is much deeper than it ever has been.”