dates of yearling sales

does anyone agree that putting the APG sales (as the quality sale in aussie) later in the year ie the gap between the TB easter yearling sales and may sales that they have

just on the basis that the major cost of breeding is the service fee + vet fees to get it, so the extra cost of feeding it for 2-3 months will be covered by a better price for a better grown and developed horse (the saying goes that buyers pay by the kilo)

i think the time lost to the trainer is minimal because as anyone knows that has taken one home from the sales they are already half broken in from all the handling

Excellent point Buster. I have long thought that our Standardbred Yearling Sales are held WAAAAAAAAAAAY TOO EARLY.

They are held early but if youy leave them to late you have to rush them so it's a catch 22.

yes, i can see that people would rush them, but nobody is forcing them to have them racing in jan/feb (i think its too early to be racing, esp when its 35+ at day meetings)

i think theres still plenty of time to have them going for april APG series and if it means that less babies are being risked to get going in april then thats for the better imo

Being able to lead them and pick up their feet is a lot different than them being broke to the cart.

Personally I say leave it as it is.

just think they should do more to support the vendors and maybe this could be beneficial for both buyers and sellers

Maybe they should shift the money from 2yr olds to 3yr olds and then there would be know problem.

Hi Buster

It's all good to say leave them for the A.P.G in april with having a sale latter on in the year but people will still have to rush them to have them ready for Bathurst.

everyone should boycott bathurst until they rebuild the track

Quote:

Originally Posted by mango

Maybe they should shift the money from 2yr olds to 3yr olds and then there would be know problem.

That is what I believe too. I would be overjoyed if there was more money for 3yos than 2. There is no country in the world that places the importance on 2yo racing like Australia. Even America has more money for the 3yos than 2yos despite being obsessed with early retirements for their colts.

I think it would be better for the vendors, no doubt. But for the horseman... it takes a lot, lot longer to get standardbreds going than gallopers. The gaiting up and rigging up process isn't a short one if done properly. To start off with, most of them have to learn a new gait. And even while most can free leg at the slower speeds or in the paddock, it takes months to bring them down in times from the initial breaking to being raceready. The gallopers already inherently have the ability to run, and as fast as they can, from day dot. It is more making sure they steer straight, getting them to concentrate and building up their fitness to allow them to maintain that speed for as long as they can. That's why they can get away with later yearling sales.

I reckon Buster makes a very good point there where he says there's still plenty of time to have them going by April for the APG etc.
Something to consider along with that is the structure of the 2yo feature race calendar. When you take a close look at it...it is already back-loaded.
The big $$$$ 2yo season is obviously condensed because the baby races basically don't start anywhere /or in anything like half reasonable numbers until late December/January at the earliest and then only for the basic $$$$. Aside from maybe 1 or 2 events that are pretty much out on their own (e.g. The Linden Huntley) the bulk of the 2yo $$$ available is to be be found well into in the 2nd half of the season & most of that is to be found in between April & the end of August.
I think it's crazy that we have Sales as early as we do here in Oz. We're talking 14 months +++ subsequent to the Sales before things start to heat up in any meaningful way.
IMO there's plenty of room to move the Sales back by 1 month-6 weeks. The amount of development that occurs in a Yearling in such a time frame is often quite extraordinary as we all know. For example....I believe the current APG Premium Sale routine is crazy. I say this because they're putting yearlings on the promo DVD's in late December come the first week/s of January & yet they're meant to be the flagship group. In effect this serves to collect the colts & fillies which are arguably the best/better yearlings being offered and put them to DVD when they are relatively most often at their worst. 1 month-6 weeks- 2months makes all the difference in the World to how they look on Sale Day...but it will make no difference whatsoever to whether or not they will be up & rolling 14 months + down the line. They'll either go early or they will not.