Mark Taylor Joins TDN Writers' Room to Talk Sale Market, Not This Time

As the sale season finally restarts, Taylor Made vice president Mark Taylor joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland this week to discuss where he sees the market going from here, the early success of Taylor Made stallion Not This Time (Giant's Causeway) and a host of other hot-button industry issues.

Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week on the heels of OBS Spring, Taylor said, “I don't see any scenario where the market's not going to be off from 2019. I think just [with] everything that we've been through, it's just too much to overcome not to expect some decline. I was actually relieved a little bit from the OBS results. I thought that it could have been worse … With the high volume of horses they have there, you really rely on a lot of those foreign buyers that come in to pick up a lot of those horses. And with some travel restrictions, logistical problems, and just fear factor, I think the participation from those groups was noticeably down. And that's really a struggle. We need those buyers.”

Taylor Made Stallions has been the early winner of the freshman sire race with 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up Not This Time being represented by several impressive maiden breakers and the topper at OBS Spring when a filly from his first crop sold for $1.35 million.

“It was fantastic,” Taylor said. “When you're in the stallion game, that's what really breathes hope into your whole organization. When you can get a horse that's starting to gain momentum and you think there's a lot of blue sky there … He had really elite level talent. And now his babies are showing that they can run. But still, we're in the first four miles of a marathon. So we're just hoping that it keeps going.”

Elsewhere in the show, the crew previewed Saturday's GI Belmont S. card and the action at Royal Ascot and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, had a spirited debate about the new whip restrictions introduced in California and Kentucky. Click here to watch the podcast on Vimeo and click here for the audio-only version.