Bloodstock

Hang on a minute. Weren't the seven fat years supposed to be followed by seven lean years? The way the market has gone in 2021, we have barely had seven lean minutes. Nothing, certainly, approaching the kind of reset required, logically and historically, for the cyclical functioning of capitalism. The prospect of some such "correction" had been the only latent comfort, cold as it was, for a bloodstock market confronted by the global economic shock of the pandemic. Because a decade of almost relentless growth wasn't even ending due to...

By Chris McGrath NEWMARKET, UK--Well, maybe these guys just don't have radios or newspapers. Maybe they haven't heard about the challenges at least affecting the domestic environment: chronic deficiencies in prizemoney, new volatility in the economic landscape. Or perhaps the international investors who might be relatively immune to such concerns have forced even the local market to new highs by putting such a squeeze into Books 1 and 2. Who knows? Just conceivably, this show of faith in our industry could yet prove the foundation for a sustainable bull run....

Sean Tugel, who served WinStar Farm as its director of bloodstock services and assistant racing manager for the last decade, and Lakota Gibson, who spent the last five years working alongside David Ingordo in the bloodstock department at Lane's End Farm, have joined the team at Gainesway. A native of Rochester, New York, and a Lexington resident since 2004, Tugel has been named the director of stallion sales and recruitment. He has also served in management roles at Hill 'n' Dale Farm and Paul's Mill. "We're excited about adding Sean...

The concept of selling bloodstock online has never caught on in the U.S., but an Australian named Anthony Gafa thinks he can change that. Gafa runs Bloodstockauction.com, which has been selling horses based in Australia and from every imaginable category since 2014, and will be launched in the U.S. May 7. "When we started, the plan was to reach out all over the world," Gafa said. "The next country we are going to is America. We have a staff in America and have established an office there. For us, it...

by Brian DiDonato & Steve Sherack The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company will hold its two-day March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Tuesday and Wednesday amid unprecedented circumstances as the nation and world grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused most major events to be canceled or postponed and racing conducted without spectators, if at all. Add to that a plummeting stock market--circuit breakers were again triggered as trade opened Monday despite the Federal Reserve announcing Sunday evening that it would slash interest rates to 0% and launch a $700-billion quantitative...

Michael Behrens has very suddenly--and a bit unexpectedly, he admits--found himself in a position to be buying a significant amount of bloodstock. Behrens is the co-founder of MyRacehorse, the micro-shares syndicate that acquires partnership interests in racehorses then slices those assets into far smaller investment opportunities that generally cost below $400 per share and usually equate to one-tenth of one percent of ownership in a race-ready horse, all training costs included. The firm barely existed a year ago and only bought its first 2-year-old at auction this March. Yet Behrens...

The second edition of the boutique Goffs UK Goodwood Sale, held immediately after racing in the Goodwood parade ring, was topped by dual winner Red Armada (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 1), the first horse offered. Overall, trade was very selective, with only two of the seven horses offered finding new homes for a gross of £475,000. Consigned by Clive Cox Racing, the son of listed winner Alumni (GB) (Selkirk) brought a bid of £275,000 from Charlie Dee of Lillingston Bloodstock. One of six winners of six runners from him...