Some nice yearlings selling for nothing today.
Taylor sure wasnât kidding when he said that California Chrome wasnât stamping his get.
They really are, âall over the placeâ.
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What is strapping?
I guess it is pretty old school. Itâs a massage and muscle toning technique where you take a sort of pad (my employer had them specially made where you could put your hand in, apparently in the old days they used a hand made rope-like twist of straw) and bring it down with a good slap and then a push backward (sort of a wipe) with the hair growth. You only do this to the large muscles, not legs or head.
Itâs pretty hard work, you have to put your weight into it, but the horses loved it and they looked great. We did this every time after they had a strenuous ride and with any horse that was being backed.
I wonder if this is done with racehorses or if it is part of the prep for the sale yearlings?
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No strapping, but we hot towelled all the sales horses in daily grooming.
Well, they do look good. I think hot toweling is fairly old school too, we did plenty of that as well. Both of the TB people I worked for were originally from Great Britain so that may explain their propensity for strapping.
Do you think that some of the yearlings in the sale were a little heavier than is ideal at that age? I know that they are exercised to build muscle but a few of them seemed (to me) to be a carrying a little more weight than Iâd want for a yearling.
I worked in a barn once where a girl from England was a groom, and she strapped all her horses. They didnât run any faster than the rest.
An update from Taylor Made Farms on CCâ yearlings.
No, thatâs not the point of strapping. It is just a part of grooming. 
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When compared with the other first crop sires: Frosted, Nyquist, and Runhappy (the sale statistics are easily available on the Keeneland site) he didnât do nearly as well as they did. Itâs Taylor Madeâs job to promote him however, and they are doing so.
Itâll be fun to see how CCâs get do at the track. If they are good runners, it wonât matter that his first crop wasnât as well received at the sales as were the other fist crop siresâ get.
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Iâd love to see him surprise everyone. Nobody thought Seattle Slew would be the stallion from the Bold Ruler line who would carry on that dynasty. And whoâd have predicted that it would be Mr. Prospector and not Alydar who would become the standard bearer for Raise A Native? Alydar himself was a helluva sire, but his sons didnât reproduce his talent.
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Not sure if you were actually responding to me or just in general⊠but I never said or implied anything about how well CC did or did not doâŠ
Just shared the article as it had popped up in my news feed & it pertained to this sale.
It will be interesting to see how all these freshman sireâs get do once they hit the track
I read the article from Taylor Made that you linked to, and I was responding to that.
I know that you didnât write it.:yes:
It really is fun to see how the new boysâ babies do at the sales and then on the track. Some years are more interesting than others and I think this group will be a fun one.
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Need to keep in mind that CC doesnât have the blue blood pedigree that Kentucky breeders drool over which, I think, is playing a role in the results of his sales. He is a California bred horse by a sire who spent his career in California. We all know that CC was a bit of an anomaly to turn out the way he did. He was a bit of a freak. For a first crop sire by a less conventional pedigree; I think his yearlings have done pretty darn well.
The ones selling in book 10 all sold for 50k and under. Need to remember that the book 10 horses often donât have the whole package (they make up the majority of whatâs on offer)âŠ. something on their vetting, not the tallest, not the most robust physically, immature etc. I liked the Bay colt, hip 3315; nice female line and his dam has produced 2 good ones. Nice buy for 40k.
He has produced quite a few six figure yearlings and weanlings and those have been purchased by some pretty known names in the business. Obviously those are the best ones from his first crop. But I think the reason why we see his demand taper off is his pedigree isnât rich enough for Kentucky and perhaps the dams are not the shiniest tokens either.
I think they look very balanced and athletic. I personally really like CCâs pedigree. If I was in the market for a racehorse; I would certainly give one of his a few good looks; especially for the more affordable prices.
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skydy, I agree. There are several stallions in this new crop that particularly interest me. I canât wait to watch their offspring run next year.
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Itâs kind of silly to keep insisting that people are buying (or not buying) yearlings based on reasons like where their sire came from or spent much of his career. Shoppers at KeeSep are looking for athletes and potential racehorses. They want horses they can race successfully themselves. For the most part, they are buying on the physical they see in front of them. Horses that look the part sell well, those that donât bring lower prices.
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Its hard to deny that before California Chrome even went to Taylor Made people were wondering if he would be well received because of what he came from. That topic was well discussed long before he started covering mares. Iâm just repeating the conversation.
The offspring from him that had the complete package: looks, size, stature, maturity, clean vetting and most importantly came out of notable mares; have sold very well for their consignors. As I noted in my post. Heâs had quite a few six figure offerings this year.
Anything that wasnât mature enough, didnât have a glitzy page and didnât vet clean didnât sell well at all; in fact they tanked; that goes for every sire that had offspring in the sale.
I think the later books have a lot for buyers to offer at very reasonable prices if you can find one that vets clean. If theyâre not the most physically imposing at the sale, that can change rapidly down the line. But as with any animal being sold anywhere; those with the big coin are spending it on the most perfect specimen they can find on offer; that doesnât guarantee a turnout on the track.
I am honestly surprised to see Nyquist so well received. Not a ton on offer from him in the sale but what sold, sold pretty well.
I think the Exaggerators could be something special. I will be very interested to see how they start to perform in the next 2 years.
Nyquist - Eclipse winner, BC winner, KY Derby winner, by Uncle Mo, fantastic conformation, moves like a champion. He appears to stamp his get with his characteristics.
Exaggerator - they will be plodders who like the mud.
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I am curious⊠you keep mentioning that horses that donât vet well are why some horses arenât selling. Have you looked at the vet reports on file at Keeneland to know some of the more, shall we say, âaverageâ sellers vet issues or you just guessing that a reason buyers arenât buying the individual?
Yes, I get that some will have a vet issue that will turn off prospective buyers but do you know these horses had issues or you donât see any other reason you wouldnât buy them it must be a vet issue?
As I noted earlier upthread, I was at the sale in the early stages. I am no longer there. Nor do I have the time, or energy, to look up the repository for every single horse offered. A horse doesnât sell-well for a variety of reasons: vetting (some buyers willing to look past minuscule things while some want a completely clean vetting), not mature enough, not tall enough, Not from a proven dam-line, by a sire who hasnât produced much in his first crops, not physically correct enough, etc
I think that once you get by the initial books of the best horses on offer for the worlds richest elite, the sale results offer a more indicative view into where the market and industry currently stands. When you get past the never ending money being traded in the first few days, the majority of the industry is composed of the type of horse and people in the later books and a more honest viewpoint of the type of money willing to be spent. The best will still command top dollar but the ones with issues (whatever that may be from the list) will suffer.
There are plenty of people cutting their losses on stud fees and boarding bills and deciding to sell and there are plenty of people not willing to cut their losses and take home what they planned to sell.
