Canadian Sellers Face Unique Challenges In COVID-19 Auction Environment

Few branches of the horse racing industry exist that don't expect some form of travel, and the COVID-19 pandemic has put a unique stress on that vital component of the business.

COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions have made interstate travel difficult, as highlighted by the requirement that out-of-state riders in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby arrive by Aug. 31. International travel has proven to be an even greater task, but a handful of Canadian consignors have crossed the border to sell horses during the September yearling sales, ready for all the hoop-jumping it entails.

David Anderson of the St. Thomas, Ontario-based Anderson Farms said getting into the U.S. is the easy part, it's what happens when he returns home that will pose the biggest challenge.

“As of right now, there's no requirements to quarantine in Kentucky,” he said before the yearling sale season. “We've been very fortunate in Canada, and particularly in Ontario, we took some early measures to shut things down, and our positive coronavirus cases are down to 30 or 40 a day. It's virtually nothing.

“Unfortunately, when I come back to Canada, I'm going to have to endure a 14-day quarantine, but that's fine, as long as I can get to Kentucky,” Anderson continued. “That's my main focus right now.”

Anderson had two horses cataloged in the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase, and he'll have 12 cataloged throughout the marathon Keeneland September Yearling Sale. His horses shipped to Kentucky in June for sale prep, and he said the process of shipping horses back and forth over the border has not changed drastically this year, compared with getting himself from place to place.

Bernard McCormack of Cara Bloodstock in Janetville, Ontario also had a pair of yearlings entered in the Fasig-Tipton sale, and 15 more in the book for Keeneland.

McCormack was able to dip a toe into the 2020 yearling market during the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (Ontario Division) Canadian Premier Yearling Sale on Sept. 2, where he handled the $90,000 (Canadian) sale-topper.

He said the Ontario sale did not require a negative COVID-19 test to attend like the Kentucky sales. Instead, organizers conducted temperature checks and had participants fill out questionnaires. Once people were on the grounds, seating was spaced apart and limited in the pavilion, and security guards were placed at the entrances and exits to ensure the headcount remained under the limit.

“There were a lot of variables, but it all went well from my perspective,” McCormack said. “The buyers were very careful, and as a consignor, you want to talk to your buyers and that was all very possible with distance and having a mask on. You can still tell a joke with a mask on.

“We had a sanitizing station where the vet book was, and I basically held on to the book more than I do in the past,” he continued. “I pretty much kept it with me so I could keep the book myself, and not have to pick up a book that 50 people have been turning the pages on.”

Though the Ontario sale provided a useful dry run for the September sales, it also pulled the curtain back on a sobering reality of the North American auction market for the foreseeable future – Not all Canadian buyers are going to want to spend two weeks on the sidelines to buy horses in-person in the U.S., especially during one of the busiest times of the year on an already condensed Woodbine stakes calendar.

McCormack said he noticed a few extra bids coming in for the top lots of the Ontario sale, courtesy of horsemen who might recognize this will be their only opportunity to secure yearlings in-person at auction this year.

In absence of some of the main principals and trainers that make up the Canadian buying bench at Kentucky sales, McCormack said he was utilizing every option at his disposal to bring the horses to those buyers, as well as their agents, whose role will be more important than ever.

McCormack noted that many of the major barns at Woodbine winter in Florida after the Ontario meet closes, and they have developed relationships with bloodstock agents in both locations. Whether they're coming from the north or the south, the key players should be able to have eyes and ears on the sales grounds, which makes providing the proper information to them crucial.

“I have mostly Canadian-breds selling in both sales,” he said. “You have the videos done, and of course, there's always contacts that you can reach out to get information to. I know a few Canadian agents that are going down, and I've encouraged them to reach out, and if they want to see them on the farms and cut their trips a little shorter because of commitments back home, we'll work with them if that's what's required.”

When it comes to employees on the sales grounds, McCormack and Anderson both said they decided against bringing down any grooms, showpeople, or other staff that make their consignments run from Canada, instead hiring locally in Kentucky.

“We've got some new staff that have not worked for us be- fore,” Anderson said. “Certainly, they come highly recommended. You'd like to have the same people year-in and year-out, but we're going to roll with the punches and hope for the best.”

Like the horsemen at Woodbine, the two consignors said the 14-day quarantine upon returning to Canada was too big of an ask for barn help in the U.S. sales.

Anderson said Canada has been proactive with contact tracing throughout the pandemic, which can be restrictive on day- to-day movement if a citizen is supposed to be in quarantine. However, he and McCormack both said they were fortunate to have their farms for quarantine boundaries, allowing them to get outside and continue their work relatively uninterrupted.

“You literally are supposed to stay in your house, and if you go outside at all, you have to stay in your backyard and wear a mask,” Anderson said. “I went through this back in the spring when I went to Florida, and I had three phone calls from the government checking up on me. We now have an app in Canada called the COVID Alert app, and it tells you if you've been in close proximity to anyone that's tested positive for the virus. It will alert you, and then you should immediately go into quarantine because of it.”

The two weeks on the bench has become part of the norm for McCormack, who has crossed the border repeatedly to transport mares between Ontario and Kentucky for breeding.

“I've done it six times this year, just shipping breeding stock,” he said. “I've never felt more thankful for having a farm because it's a natural bubble. My wife can do the banking and the other bits and pieces that can be done running around. I think one of my cars, I filled it up at the end of April and didn't have to fill it up again until the middle of June. I was just driving my truck back and forth to Kentucky.”

Both consignors will be back in Kentucky for the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale in late October, and the Breeders' Cup will be just down the road at Keeneland shortly after, followed by the November mixed sales running through the middle of the month. Between the necessity of selling horses and the challenges posed from re-entering the country, playing the long game in Kentucky for the fall is the likely plan for the horsemen from up north.

“Right now, I plan on staying,” Anderson said. “I just booked my hotel for right before the October sale through the end of the November sale. I'm booked in for probably four weeks. I'm just going to stay down. I spend the better part of 90 to 100 nights in Lexington anyway. It's almost like my second home.”

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Gun Runner’s First Yearlings Start Strong At Keeneland September Sale

When a high-profile stallion retires, one of the early milepost goals is to have his first foals make an impression in Book 1 of the Keeneland September Yearling sale. For champion Gun Runner, that plan is coming along nicely.

The 2017 Horse of the Year and resident of Three Chimneys in Midway, Ky., was the leading first-crop sire by average sale price during Sunday's opening session of the Keeneland September sale, and he was responsible for the day's co-most expensive yearling by a rookie stallion: a $750,000 half-brother to champion Untapable.

Gun Runner had five yearlings bring a combined $2,005,000 on Sunday for an average of $401,000 – the eighth-highest overall average of the session. The opening-day effort comes shortly after seven Gun Runner yearlings brought $2,320,000 for an average of $331,429 at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase.

After the first few days of selling in central Kentucky, Tom Hamm of Three Chimneys was pleased with what he's seen so far.

“I think it's great,” he said. “It just shows he's being received well. I think the breeders are happy with the way they sold, and I think the people who are out there buying are obviously showing that that like them. It's good for Gun Runner.”

Sunday's top Gun Runner yearling was a colt out of the Grade 2-winning Prized mare Fun House who sold to L&N Racing for $750,000. Fun House earned Broodmare of the Year honors in 2014 with runners including champion Untapable and Grade 1 winner Paddy O'Prado. She is also the dam of graded stakes producer Double Tapped.

Offered as Hip 175, the colt was consigned by Gainesway, agent.

“I looked at that horse on the farm a couple times, and then here at the sale. I thought he was a good colt with plenty of size and scope,” Hamm said. “Obviously, he has a big pedigree, from the family of Untapable. I thought he was worth every penny of that.”

The Gun Runner colt tied for the day's highest price from a first-crop yearling with Hip 116, a colt by the late champion Arrogate who sold to Yuji Hasegawa.

Through the halfway point of Keeneland September's first book, Gun Runner leads all first-crop sires by number sold at $500,000 or more, with three.

Earlier during Sunday's session, Robert Baker and William Mack went to $510,000 for Hip 156, a Gun Runner colt out of the Street Cry mare Esprit de Vie. At the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, Fortune Farm and It's All About the Girls bought Hip 570, a filly out of the Grade 2-placed Divine Park mare Divine Dawn, for $500,000.

The high-level performance carries over from last year, when Gun Runner was North America's leading first-crop weanling sire by gross and average, with eight youngsters bringing a combined $2,755,000 and an average of $344,375. His weanling gross was second only to top commercial sire Into Mischief in last year's overall race, as well.

Gun Runner, a 7-year-old son of Candy Ride, has 67 yearlings cataloged in this year's Keeneland September sale, the fifth-most of any first-crop stallion. Adding that to the 12 cataloged in the recent Fasig-Tipton sale, Hamm has had plenty of homework to do in order to hone his eye for what the stallion has to offer. Fortunately, the prices have largely lived up to the expectations set during farm inspections.

“I think I've seen every one that's entered in either the Fasig sale or Keeneland sale – I know I have,” he said. “Overall, they're just really good, athletic horses. They're good movers, and they resemble him a lot. They have plenty of leg, maybe more leg than a lot of people expected. It's a good crop of horses. We're very pleased with them.”

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Maryland-Bred Yearling Show Champion Brings Six Figures At Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase

This year's Maryland Horse Breeders Association Yearling Show champion, a Bernardini filly out of the Not For Love mare Mystic Love, sold for $100,000 at Fasig-Tipton's Selected Yearlings Showcase, held Sept. 9-10 in Lexington, Ky.

The second foal for her multiple stakes-winning dam Mystic Love, the bay filly was consigned by Bill Reightler for GreenMount Farm and purchased for $100,000 by Frank Brothers, agent for StarLadies and Mathis. She was offered as Hip 267 at the Yearlings Showcase.

Bred by GreenMount in partnership with Godolphin, the filly won Class IV (for Maryland-bred fillies by out-of-state sires) at the yearling show, before going on to be crowned champion by judge Michael Matz. She was shown by Sabrina Moore, co-owner and manager of GreenMount, who also accompanied the filly to the sale.

“She was a nice mover,” Matz said following the yearling show. “She just had an overall look. I thought she was well-made and pretty well balanced.”

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Quality Road Filly Tops First Session Of Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase At $1.5 Million

The 2020 yearling sales season kicked off on a sunny pre-autumn day Wednesday with the first session of the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase in Lexington, Ky.

A filly by Quality Road topped the session when sold for $1.5 million to Robbie Medina, agent for Joseph Allen.

Offered as Hip 232 by Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency, agent, the filly is out of Irish One Thousand Guineas winner Marvelous. That daughter of Galileo, who has already produced a stakes winner in Fort Myers, is out of Group 2 winner You'resothrilling, a full-sister to European Horse of the Year and successful sire Giant's Causeway. Marvellous is a full-sister to Group 1 winners Gleneagles and Happily, as well as to group stakes winners Taj Mahal and Coolmore. The session-topper was bred in Kentucky by Orpendale, Chelston and Wynatt.

The session's top colt was Hip 274, a son of 2019 leading sire Into Mischief, sire of this year's Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. Dr. Dermot O'Byrne purchased the top colt for $700,000 from the consignment of Denali Stud, agent. The colt is a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Made You Look, out of an Unbridled's Song daughter of champion Serena's Song. The colt was bred in Kentucky by Lewis Thoroughbred Breeding.

Also sold at that price was a daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. Donato Lanni, agent for Michael Lund Petersen, purchased the filly, offered as Hip 285, from the consignment of Blue Heaven Farm. The filly is out of graded stakes winner Our Khrysty, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Bullsbay from the immediate family of Grade 1 winning millionaire Grecian Flight. The filly was bred in Kentucky by the consignor.

The session opened with an offering of preferred New York-bred yearlings. Those Empire-state breds were topped by a son of Tiznow purchased for $300,000 by Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable, who purchased this year's Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law at the New York Bred Yearlings sale in 2018.

Offered as Hip 135 by Hunter Valley Farm, agent, the Tiznow colt is a half-brother to three stakes horses, including Grade 2 winner Bye Bye Bernie. His dam, the stakes placed Gilded Time mare Eternal Grace, is a half-sister to the dam of New York-bred graded stakes winner Control Group. Hip 135 was bred in New York by Barry R. Ostrager.

The second-highest price in the New York-bred section was Hip 71, a colt by Candy Ride purchased for $295,000 by Dr. Dermot O'Byrne from the consignment of Eaton Sales, agent. The colt is the second foal out of the unraced Any Given Saturday mare Sweet Love, a full sister to graded stakes winner Adventist and a half-sister to three other stakes winners. Hip 71 was bred in New York by Joe Fafone.

The first session grossed $27,166,000 from 172 yearlings sold. The average was $157,942 and the median was $100,000.

“Statistically, we had no expectations,” said Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning. “It's impossible to know how to compare this sale to the 2019 results. What we hoped to achieve was to have a viable marketplace, to have commerce to be conducted amongst buyers and sellers, to create an environment to help restore some confidence in the marketplace and provide it some stability and foundation for the 2020 yearling sales, and we're only halfway through. I'm going to be cautious in my overall analysis at this point, but I'm very, very encouraged.

“I think anytime you start a sale, there's a little bit of trepidation, and it takes a little bit of time to find its way, to get a little confidence, and I think that was certainly the case today, but as we progressed through the day, people gained more and more confidence,” he continued. “I think people have rolled up their sleeves, both buyers and sellers, and demonstrated that the game's alive and well. Hopefully we'll have a strong day tomorrow.”

Session results are available online. The Selected Yearlings Showcase continues Sept. 10 at 10 a.m..

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