Jereme's Jet

[justdoit]

Gold wood stud?? something like that, they purchased Chill fatctor for $30,000. Canadian and the horse bred 300 mares.
Even if the exchange rate was 60-70cents they still made heaps in just the first season.
Was told the guy is in jail. ...... what was his name?

[BenScadden]

I agree that type of an individual is becoming more and more important as the bloodlines are becoming more refined.
A lot of yearlings on offer today that are now considered 'just OK' would have been standouts in a catalogue 10-15 years ago.
The quality has risen dramatically.
When buying a yearling, the weight I put on type is significantly greater than it was when I started off buying yearlings. That doesn't mean it'll work but I find there are more and more horses with pedigrees I'd consider 'acceptable'.
The truth is I don't have the answers - not even close. I just trust my instincts and some experience (not that I have a huge amount) when it comes to the selection process. Sometimes it has worked well, other times not so well.
And when I've managed to snare a yearling that has developed into a good horse, I reckon I've been blessed with a very healthy dose of luck, too.
There are certain aspects of a pedigree that I find important ... but a lot of the time it just comes down to some commonsense and not being swept up in the latest 'fad'.
I know I've written somewhere before how I've been amazed to see some fairly experienced people spend big bucks on a yearling based purely on pedigree, though a quick inspection of that horse would suggest its conformation is going to be a major hindrance in its chances of making a good racehorse.
How many times do you see a close relation to a horse that's racing really well at the time of a sale sell for top dollar? And if the sale had been a month earlier, that yearling quite probably would have brought half the price.
Anyway, I'm far from an expert ... but I think it's great we all have opinions and are happy to voice them.
I love sales time every year - and the chance to compare my assessment of a horse with someone else. It's an exciting time for me.

[justdoit]

Scary at times to see someone bidding on a horse that I would not have and I get a laugh when it turns out
a handy race horse, Never stop learning from the sales.

[triplev123]

The timing is PERFECT. I absolutely LOVE getting all the Sales Catalogues over the X-mas /New Year period at a time when I can actually sit for a few hours and read through them. Really enjoy going to the sales. Good fun catching up with people you don't get a chance to see very much.
As to how and why people buy what they do, I gave up trying to work it out years ago because it will drive you nuts. I've seen blokes with more money than the US Mint spend rafts of cash for no result, I've seen seriously dedicated people put in months & months of research & yearling inspection only to come up empty handed...and I've seen people buy top performers from 60 feet away whilst standing in the bar at Newmarket, never previously having set eyes on nor gotten any closer than that to their purchase.
We pretty much only sell now but as a buyer I've been guilty of it in the past. TWICE in fact and both times it cost me dearly.
1st time in Sydney I went along to buy a filly. Same deal, liked what I saw, thought I had it in the bag. Bidding was not sparkling and then it kinda stalled, money was pretty solid but not huge. I stopped thinking that I was getting tickled and that we'd negotiate later, a bloke by the surname of Richards (if I remember correctly?) held the bid and they knocked her down. He went home with Newbold Penny. I realised she had been sold so I bought one to heal my wounds and against all my self imposed rules I went home with a colt!!!, Riotous Assembly. Penny went on to win 14 from 21 and 175k. Norm won 3 races including a $500 stake at Mt.Gambier, 3 years later banking a total of 5.5k, I think $500 less than I paid for him. I managed to maintain my composure on the basis that I could only improve. :-P
2nd time was 7 or 8 years later and it proved I had not learnt anything from my experience earlier that decade.
I went off to Bathurst to buy just the one filly. Got the heads up and all. Spoon fed. The previous owner of her dam is a friend of mine and he told me the filly on her was pretty special. He was right. She was exactly what I expected her to be and even a bit better. The bidding was kinda slow and I was convinced the Vendor was pushing me along. He wasn't. Thinking I was super smart & he'd get stuck with her and come to me afterwards I stopped bidding. A small advance that was much worked for by the auctioneers saw her sell & Bathurst local Tony Higgs took Hannah McKenzie home. To my horror, having realised that I missed out...I brainlessly snapped off on something else and went home with a filly that couldn't beat time with a stick. Hopeless she was. Never raced, we never even bothered to name her. Woudln't have gone 2:10 if you dropped her down a mine shaft whilst attached to an Anvil. On the other hand Tony and Hannah won 150k or thereabouts. Ouch.

[BenScadden]

Yeah, I've watched plenty of superstars go through the ring and pass them by.
That's what I love about it so much ... the uncertainty of it all.
I'll be at the sales in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney plus both islands of NZ again this year. Can't wait.

[triplev123]

I figure by the time I'm 80 or 90 I'll have it all worked out. :-P

[justdoit]

80 or 90 years old, you will still have time.
There will be no more spending money on slow horses and time to load up on fast-hot chics,cars, motor bikes and boats, drink more(water) and most importantly tell people what you really think.

[triplev123]

Ah yes. These days those things are already but a distant & somewhat blurred memory justdoit. All that I've got left to yearn for are successive drafts of very fast horses, extended periods of totally uninterrupted sleep and, upon waking up and walking into the kitchen, to be greeted by the pleasant sounds emanating from my own commercial espresso machine. Henceforth I could go to meet my maker, a life lived fulfilled. :-P

[justdoit]

Yes, the coffee and the kids make life good.

[Don Corleone]

I once went to the sales with all my homework done and sorted 3 out after seeing them at their respective farms etc. Soon as I got to the sales the first morning I saw a colt being led by its handler and it looked outstanding. Upon checking it in the catalogue I saw it was a Cam's Trickster colt out of a unraced trotting mare. However, the more I looked at it the more it ticked all my boxes. I ended up buying him for NZ$1,250. He won his first 2 starts for me before I sold him to Aust where he won 14 from 16 starts including a group race, before going to NA and winning several more.
Since then I only buy on type and three times out of the last 10 years I haven't brought anything because nothing fell into "my" criterion. I have been lucky, winning with everyone and then selling them where they have all gone on to do better things by far better trainers than me. As I said, I have been lucky but have loved the journey - still do. Bring on the sales!!