Shell-shock, then relief, at the Yearling Sale

Even in the best of times, the auctioneer’s job is somewhere between begging and cajoling.  In a marketplace where the only certainty is continued uncertainty, the begging aspect takes center stage.

And that’s exactly where the good folks at Fasig-Tipton found themselves during this week’s Eastern Fall Yearlings sale.  For one thing, of course, the thoroughbred market has been taking a beating of late; as a second-tier sale in a market largely, these days, devoid of a second tier, the Eastern sale began with problems.

Moreover, as one of the auctioneers noted in a listless pep talk at the beginning of the sale, Maryland breeding and racing have traditionally been the engine driving the yearling market in the region.  Given the status of Maryland racing — and the concomitant decline of the state’s breeding industry — that’s an awfully balky engine.  Sorta like driving an Edsel.

Driving the point home, this year’s sale was two days, down from three in 2008, and included 220-plus fewer horses than a year ago.

It took all of five minutes to smash the unspoken hope that reduced quantity would generate better prices.  The first four hips through the ring on Monday brought a combined total of $9,000, which is not exactly the tone one might have hoped would be set.

And so we were left with a lot of dazed looks on the faces of long-time breeders and buyers.  “Shell-shock” was one popular word; “bloodbath” was another.  The sale-topper was a sharp-looking Malibu Moon colt, but his $117,000 price tag didn’t have anyone turning handsprings.

In good years, the auctioneers often sound like scolds.  “C’mon, folks, this is a racy-looking Orientate colt out of a stakes-winning mare,” they might note.  “There’s just not enough money out there for this kind of horse — he could be anything.”  All said in that tone of voice that means, “Do you dunderheads not see what a nice horse this is going to be?!?”

This year, though, it seemed almost as if the auctioneers were bobbing and weaving, ducking what they feared would be yet another blow.  They may have said the same words, but this time the tone said, “Err… if you could see your way clear to possibly re-examine the pedigree on this horse, it’s possible that you might discover he’s worth more than what you’ve bid, though most likely I’m wrong and I certainly don’t want to offend.”

A funny thing happened on the way to disaster, though. As a friend observed to me on Tuesday, “The sharpies came out of the woodwork when they saw how cheap everything was yesterday.”

As a result, Tuesday’s bidding was far more spirited, and the average price of a horse climbed from less than $13,000 on Monday to more than $16,000 on Tuesday.  Even though the median continued to fall (to $5,000 on Tuesday and $5,500 for the sale as a whole), there was a distinct feeling of relief in the sales pavillion.  The sales had got their groove back.

Still, the last four through the ring brought a combined total of $15,700.  Which suggests that it’s not quite time to put those begging voices away just yet.