The Dream Starts Here…
Thousands of horses will be going through the sales at this time of year – and everyone is looking for the next superstar, writes Jason Fildes
As well as top class racing in Britain, Ireland and France, this time of year also sees the sales season in all those countries too.
Trainers, bloodstock agents, new owners, existing owners (and anyone else!) who is interested, are to be found at Tattersalls in Newmarket, Goffs at Doncaster, the Orby Sales in Ireland or Arqana Yearling Sales in France.
Beautifully bred youngsters from all the major stud farms are on the market. These yearlings are usually only about 18 months old, having been born in the first half of 2023, and they are the pride and joy of breeders, both big and small.
Usually the mares live at ‘home’ and are sent to be covered by a certain stallion. The top stallions are past champions and much sought-after – and expensive! Having your mare covered by Frankel, for instance, will cost a cool £350,000 payable on the birth of the foal. If you can imagine that Frankel will sire perhaps 300 foals in a single year, you can see that it’s an amazing business.
But he’s the best. He’s the highest ever rated racehorse, being an unbeaten 10-times Group 1 winner. In fact, if you decided to send your mare to Frankel (who stands at Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket) in 2013, the first year after his retirement, it would cost £125,000 as he was an unproven stallion at that time. It would have been an excellent investment as since then he has sired 34 Group 1 winners, including 10 Classic winners and holds the distinction of siring 100 Group Winners in a record time of 3144 days, ahead of Danehill, Galileo and Dubawi.
It’s not just all about Frankel’s yearlings as thousands of horses will be going through the sales ring over the next few months and everyone is looking for the next superstar. I’m fascinated by the ‘pin hookers’ – these are usually knowledgeable horsemen, who buy a yearling at the sales, keep them for a few months, during which they are ridden for the first time, before being sent back to the Breeze Up Sale in the spring. Rather than just walking around a sales ring, the two-year-olds (as they are then) gallop for two furlongs at the Breeze Ups so the buyers are able to see their prospective purchases at full speed. The pin hookers can make a quick turn on their investment (or it can easily go the other way) but there’s no shortage of people willing to try!
I like having the trainer around when buying horses as he or she will be the key individual in that horse’s career. I also encourage them to keep a leg (25 per cent) in any new purchase so they have a vested interest in their future.
Let’s see how we get on over the next few weeks and I’ll give a first update on the yearlings we have bought in the next edition of LRV!
Fildes Racing
07721 311778
fildesracing@gmail.com
