Sales protocol after COVID-19
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By Jeff Lowe
Adapting to the new world with COVID-19 has led to a rapid integration of online bidding for Thoroughbred auctions across North America, presenting sale companies and consignors with a new challenge to supply potential buyers with enough information and technology for them to feel comfortable making a winning bid from afar.
Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton and Ocala Breeders' Sale Co. (OBS) all added online bidding platforms by the time the sales calendar relaunched this summer after more than two months of dormancy, with sales either canceled or postponed during the height of pandemic restrictions in April and May. Regional sales scheduled for later in the year in Ohio and Ontario also moved toward a more flexible format with the option of online bidding.
OBS was the guinea pig on two fronts amid COVID-19's impact. The sale company pushed forward with the OBS March sale of two-year-olds in training on March 17 and 18, which was right in the middle of lockdown announcements and steep stock market declines. The sale company did not yet have online bidding capabilities, but that would change by the time the OBS spring sale of two-year-olds in training took place from June 9-12.
"We had a couple of months between sales to get the technology up and running for online bidding and it sure seemed necessary," OBS Sales Director Tod Wojciechowski said. "In the March sale, we just needed to get through it and do what we could to move horses along during a very tumultuous time, and then regroup for the sales this summer. COVID-19 was certainly a catalyst to bringing online bidding to market quicker. We had talked about doing it previously but with the pandemic, we felt we needed to get it up and running as quickly as we could."
OBS relied on Xcira, a Tampa-based provider of auction software and technologies, to introduce online bidding functions to the OBSSale.com website in time for the spring sale. As it turned out, that sale occurred just as many COVID-19-related restrictions were being lifted.
"We had a boost in buyer attendance from the timing there, but then in July we were back with the sale coming up when there was a big spike around us in COVID cases, and online bidding helped fill that gap in attendance," Wojciechowski said.
Of the 517 horses that changed hands in the July sale, 72 of them (14 percent) were sold through online bidding.
Fasig-Tipton also made a quick move to online bidding for its revised auction calendar, beginning with the Midlantic two-year-olds in training sale in Timonium, Maryland, on June 29 and 30 (with Fasig-Tipton reporting 15 horses were sold online) and continuing with an even greater emphasis on a remote marketplace in the July horses of racing age sale.
Fasig-Tipton’s coronavirus protocols and precautions in place.
This was the eighth edition of the July horses of racing age sale and the first time it was conducted without an accompanying yearling sale. According to Fasig-Tipton CEO Boyd Browning, more than 100 people registered to make online bids for the sale, and 45 of them followed through with submitting bids. Seven horses were sold to online bidders.
"With everything else going on in the world, we were certainly glad we added that capability for buyers to participate," Browning said. "In addition to the horses who sold to online bidders, those buyers also were immediate underbidders and second underbidders in a number of cases. There was an activity at all levels and all price ranges too.
"A horses of racing age sale lends itself to online bidding; buyers can see past performances and past races and they have a lot to go on. We'll be moving into the yearling sales and that's a little different. We'll be providing walking videos for every horse that the consignors want to do it. We'll be strongly encouraging them to do it. We'll work with them to provide the services ourselves or provide a stipend if they want to use their own vendor."
Keeneland took online sale capabilities one step further by adding a new Digital Sales Ring platform that debuted on June 23 with a horses of racing age sale that was conducted entirely online, with technology developed by Horseco. Only 12 of the 38 horses cataloged changed hands, with a filly named Trapezium selling from Juddmonte Farms' consignment to St. Elias Stable for $327,000 as the top price.
Keeneland officials are planning to add new online and phone bidding technology to the traditional live sale formats for the Keeneland September yearling sale and November breeding stock sales this fall, especially in light of international travel restrictions. Still, Keeneland does hope to have some international buyers in attendance. …
