The art of yearling sales preparation

When we walk onto the sales grounds for a yearling auction conducted by Fasig-Tipton or Keeneland, buyers and breeders rest assured in the knowledge that some of the best Thoroughbreds in the world are available for purchase. The breeders have produced the horses for whom they have high hopes, and buyers will select the ones they believe will fulfill the hopes of each crop of Thoroughbreds by winning major stakes, earning championships, and retiring in glory after a few years to become breeding stock for the next generation. Getting those promising yearlings to the sales in the condition best suited to attract buyers and likewise promote that young animal’s progress into a top racing athlete is a fine balance. WORDS: FRANK MITCHELL PHOTOS: FRANCES J. KARON, HORSEPHOTOS, CRESTWOOD FARM, GAINESWAy NOT too many decades ago, especially before the 1970s, sales prep was a mostly homegrown, rather relaxed affair. Many yearlings spent their time grazing under the heat of the summer sun and came to the sales with little more than a light trim of their feet, mane, and tail. Lee Eaton, more than any other consignor or horseman, was responsible for the changes in the management of yearlings and evolution of sales prep into what we have today. Neil Howard, now farm manager of Gainesway Farm outside Lexington, recalled that the “program I went into in 1976, basically as the general manager of the farm for Lee Eaton,” was one designed to systematically make every yearling as attractive as its natural qualities allowed. Howard said, “Lee saw a need for someone to sell for other people, and with that came responsibilities and expectations. To provide a consigning and prepping service, you had to have a plan. Lee was a very meticulous person; he would send out letters to clients about how to prep each horse, telling everybody what should be done and when it should be done. That way, the yearlings would all come in to the sales grounds looking the same. “For instance, he instructed people to put on the first set of plates 45 days ahead of sale and the last set 10 days ahead of sale. That gave you 30 days of foot protection and growth before that final trim and set of plates. So you had plenty of foot to work with. “Everything was planned right up to the day they sold.” Not everyone was fully prepared to rise and shine with the new day in yearling prep. Some of those who prepped for themselves but sent yearlings to Eaton Sales for consigning still sent in sunburnt coats and other blemishes. That wasn’t the program for Eaton, however. Getting with the program To produce the yearlings who made buyers look twice, Howard recalled, “We had one groom for every four horses. We were walking horses every other day. One day for fillies, the next for colts, then practiced showing them in the rings on the farm, getting them to stand and pose. Allowing them to present themselves properly.” If these things sound surprisingly like common-sense horse management, they are. This wasn’t exactly how Thoroughbred breeders had been accustomed to preparing their yearlings, but it was a highly effective way of presenting young horses at the sale. And the best yearlings, when presented well, began attracting the most important buyers and bringing top dollar. The relationship between financial success at the sales and the visual appeal of the yearlings as they were presented became a driver in the marketplace. Howard noted that “Lee came from a show horse background, and he used professional showmen at the sales, rather than someone who half-showed a horse. It cost more, but he said that it paid him back in the ring.” of yearlings who are too fit, and they aren’t mentally ready to handle the pressures of the sales environment. If you put them into a restricted space, they had too much energy; if you tried to give them a sales walk, they couldn’t handle the need to stand when they wanted to go.” These are issues that consignors and sales prep professionals have learned to adjust for as they work with young horses, and most consignors arrange their prep around a central plan, then tailor it to suit the individual. As Evans noted, “Some of these horses are not mature enough mentally to handle the conditioning to make them truly fit and then to behave sedately in very close quarters at a sale. Trainers at the racetrack know that you don’t wait till your two-yearolds are dead fit to start schooling them at the gate.” Neil Howard also voiced concern that yearlings can be over-prepped for their stage in life. He said, “Experienced horsemen who came before me, like Lee Eaton, Ted Carr, and Ted Hughes, raised good horses on good feed, corn oil, and moderate exercise. We’ve gotten away from raising racehorses; we’re raising show horses.” The reason for this, of course, is money. The cost of land, of bloodstock, of labor, and every other aspect of creating and maintaining a Thoroughbred operation is so high that there is never too much money to be made from selling young prospects. In the effort to leave no money on the table, farms and consignors leave no stones unturned in the truly ceaseless INDUSTRY effort to maximize the return from their yearlings. As a result of this pursuit, the prep and sales process is not the kindest and gentlest of arts. It is an art, though, and part of the finesse of the practice is how much to leave for the buyer to develop further. Both for an end-user who will put a colt into training and for a pinhooker who will rev up a yearling with hopes of showing off high speed at the two-year-old sales, one of the unknowns is how the still-growing animal will respond to the further stresses on its body and mind as it progresses toward becoming a racehorse in training. At Gainesway, Howard said, “We try to present a horse that is going to sell well and also leave plenty for the buyer to develop. So we don’t use a treadmill or have a swimming pool. We do use a walking machine. It’s a balance you have to tread between the older ways and the demands to keep everything fully funded.” Likewise, Evans noted that “Trackside does a little round pen work, a lot of hand walking. People tell me they like our horses because they look like horses. Some of our horses look more forward than others after this prep, and buyers usually pay more for the ones that look muscular, with that thickness through the body and the ‘premium sales yearling’ look.” Maintaining this balance between producing a sales yearling and producing a racehorse is a delicate one because of the economic interests involved. Consignors, of course, are not just selling their own horses but those of clients, and consignors have a responsibility to do the best they can for them. In some respects, however, the answers are pretty simple if put in the context of the bigger picture. Marc McLean said, “We want them fit, but this isn’t the Derby. We want to tone and condition but only to the extent that it produces benefit for the horse. “Because we breed a lot of the yearlings we sell and have the mares at the farm, we are looking for the long-term benefit of the horse and the long-term benefit of our mare. The yearling needs to become an athlete, a successful athlete, and within reason, prepping will help the yearling become the best athlete that its physiology will allow.” So, out of the complexities of sales prep comes the most straightforward principle of horsemanship: Do the best you can for your horse, and he will do his best for you. n

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This article appeared in - North American Trainer Issue 41

RACING, INDUSTRYWeb Master26 July 2016NAT41, Sales Ring, Sales Prep, Yearling sales, Crestwood Farm, Gainesway