Yearling Sale's

[Triple V]

Like it or lump it, the various State & National Bodies should be prepared for the backlash.
The consumption of PG is set to skyrocket by way of demand from bloodied and bewildered Breeders heading home from the Sales, calling their Vets and aborting their mares en masse. There will be an ocean of mares reported negative at 42 days. Nothing surer than the sunrise.
You will not see the figures until next season or later this year but a swag of mares will show up in the missed column. No way known they carry in utero foals through to another slaughter like we saw here in Sydney on Sunday.
Congratulations to HRA, HRV & HRNSW. By way of the disgraceful lack of racing opportunities afforded 50% of the annual foal crop (i.e. fillies & mares) you've individually & collectively made a very significant contribultion towards finally killing off the Breeding Industry here in Australia. I hope you're proud of yourselves.

[Triple V]

Incidentally, while I'm on the war path.... HAS THERE BEEN A MORE ABSURD CONCLUSION than that which the relatively recent HRA Breeders Panel came to that we need to breed more foals ??????????????
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING FELLAS!
How about making a start by way of seeing to it that you fully utilise the 50% of the annual foal crop that you currently all but ignore (the fillies) by affording them genuine opportunities to race against their own sex? It's not &%$#ing Rocket Science fellas. It's not &%$#ing Brain Surgery.
How many Breeders have to be sent to the wall before you get your heads out of your arses????????????

[Starship Captain]

Hi,
If we breed more mares and have more foals don't we get more colts? simple haha. (sorry)
Makes me sad to see the state of the breeding industry. The high costs of production are a killer when put up against
our chance of getting a return. We are very lucky though that in the not to distant future for the super breeding offer's
that will be pushed to the poor sucker's that still think they can make a profit from selling at auction, I get the feeling that
there will be some great incentives to breed your mare again. sad sad

[murray green]

We have bred for a number of years and the thing that really irks me is that if you haven't received a fair price at the Gold sale you have to buy your own horse back . It is mystically owned by the board and you have to buy it back . The poor old breeder has the bidders trying to screw him or her over and then if you can't acheive a suitable bid the board screw you over . Breeder looses every time . Bathurst is the only sale where you can set a reserve . The Gold has a race worth $300,000 for girls and boys but the breeder usually doesn't see a cent because his horse has been sold for pittance . Breeders are a dying race

[Greg Hando]

A point being missed is also the number of horse's from NZ coming over isn't helping our breeding industry either but by christ it's helping the NZ breeder's a whole lot.
You can't blame people for doing it they can get one up and running and go to the races straight away rather than waiting to see if a yearling work's out or not.
I notice with the TAB no 1 and NSW trotting club syndicate they even buy NZ if your principal club wont support home grown why should anybody else.
Yes it's good to get new people into the game but at what cost to the breeding industry in NSW.
I don't know the answer's to the breeding problem but i believe we have got to stick with it and see what happen's and i totally agree with their not being enough fillies and mare's races .
Also a point why some people don't breed is the cost's associated with it ie agistment cost's .Some place's in my opinion charge way too much, i know grass cost's money but be realistic with the pricing and it may help.
I don't know.Also with some buyer's they really get shitty with buy back's ( fair enough if you haven't been offered what you think it's worth ) but some are only put in the Gold sale's to be eligible for the race's and have no intention of selling the horse anyway. Is that fair to the buyer's .
Just some thought's i was having and typing aloud.

[Triple V]

That's a very good point Greg.
The flood of NZ going horses into Oz tells me that most Owners really don't give a fat rat's arse what their horses are eligible or not eligible for in terms of the various futurity events. For years and years I have laboured under the (false) impression that our yearlings had to be APG/NSW Breeders Challenge/VicBred/Australasian Breeders Crown/Gold Crown eligible in order to be attractive lots at any sale...but you know what?
I think it is all bullshit. I think it's a HUGE waste of money. Breeders are the poor bastards who think they're doing the right thing & pay up for these things. They're all along thinking these futurities are prerequisites as far as buyers are concerned....when in fact nothing could be further from the truth and these are nothing more than pleasant windfalls to buyers for which they are generally not prepared to pay any more.

[Zyuganov Leis]

I was mortified at the recent APG Sydney and Melbourne results.

The amount of buybacks were quite simply, staggering and trying to entice my wife to part with some of our hard earned to buy a filly, with view to become a broodmare, once outlining the potential numbers involved vs the potential return had her look at me like I was stupid (well more stupid than when she looks at me on other occassions!)

No seriously though, you don't mind a small loss for a hobby/passion, but unless your filly does the business on the racetrack and banks well before breeding, you really are up shit creek otherwise, no matter how well she may be bred and your staring at a humongous black hole of costs that will drain you.

I don't know, it's just my 2c's worth, but Harness Racing just keeps finding ways for people to not get involved and want to support the game going forward.

[LisaB25]

true Greg..
was talking to a trainer the other day on his thoughts about a yearling in the upcoming sale in WA, and he said dont bother, take your money to nz and get a going horse for the same price..

[Greg Hando]

A minimum cost i think for a yearling (mare stud stay ) would be about $9000 + to get to a sale from first day mare at stud with a $3000 service fee and no rego or futurity payment's made or transport to sale just agistment cost's and sales prep.

[Triple V]

I was mortified at the recent APG Sydney and Melbourne results.

The amount of buybacks were quite simply, staggering and trying to entice my wife to part with some of our hard earned to buy a filly, with view to become a broodmare, once outlining the potential numbers involved vs the potential return had her look at me like I was stupid (well more stupid than when she looks at me on other occassions!)

No seriously though, you don't mind a small loss for a hobby/passion, but unless your filly does the business on the racetrack and banks well before breeding, you really are up shit creek otherwise, no matter how well she may be bred and your staring at a humongous black hole of costs that will drain you.

I don't know, it's just my 2c's worth, but Harness Racing just keeps finding ways for people to not get involved and want to support the game going forward.

[VVV] G'day Craig,

Over the weekend and for the first time ever, the disdain with which yearling fillies are viewed really frightens me.
They've never, ever been an easy sell, I realise and accept that...but honestly, last Sunday it was just absolutely shocking.
I've been to a lot of sales including all of the Sydney APG's that have ever been conducted & have never seen a more depressed marketplace and have never seen nor felt such a widespread lack of interest.
I didn't expect it to be bountiful, in their heart of hearts I don't think anyone did...however when the colts started to cop it in the neck almost from the jump I knew we were all in for a rough ride.
I worked in the Wool Trade for about 15 years from just after I left school and in the auction room, over & above the individual prices being paid, we always used to focus on/talk about the general feel of/the tone of the market. Viewed in that fashion, to me Sunday's marketplace had a tone comparitive to that of a Blamange.