Laffit Pincay III - son of Hall of Fame and one of the most winningest jockeys Laffit Pincay Jr
Jerry Bailey - in the Hall of Fame and one of the most winningest jockeys
Mike Battaglia - professional horse racing analyst and race caller etc
Randy Moss - professional horse racing analyst for decades
I’m not doing everyone’s bio, but they are all very well versed in racing and working in professional positions related to racing.
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Then they would have been that much more qualified to give a bit more info on the auction these horses are currently consigned to.
Have you (general) never gotten involved with something that you know absolutely nothing about in the beginning?
I think most of those in the know tend to forget that the majority of people who may watch horse events/racing once or twice a year, have very little knowledge of the ins & outs of the behind the scene stuff.
There’s no harm in sharing a bit of info, yet quite a bit of bad press can be had when withholding info.
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One person found the idea of the best Turf mare in the last decade in the US would be sold at auction as a broodmare prospect to be odd.
One person.
One person.
As to the contention that the majority of people have bad connotations with horses and auctions? WTF?
I know scores of people that either have no interest in racing or watch a race or two a year, and pretty much most of them are aware that TBs get sold for millions and millions of dollars at auction houses, while they may not know the names of said auction houses (Keeneland, Fasig Tipton, Tattersalls etc). It’s hardly a bizarre confusing concept that needs to be explained.
And no, Moss, Pincay, Luck and Bailey don’t need to dumb down the commentary any more than they already do, they already dumb it down more than enough as it is.
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One person on a horse related BB.
I would be willing to bet if I asked people on the street how much top race horses sold for, they would have no clue. It’s not like this info gets posted on CNN or Breitbart on a regular basis.
When you are involved with a sport, any sport, you are fairly knowledgeable. If you aren’t, you don’t know.
If I watched just the first game of the World Series and was the first baseball game I watched, I might not know the game is 9 innings or a full count is 3-2.
If I watched only the Super Bowl as the first football game I watched, I might not know how many points are in a safety.
I once watched a soccer game in Europe and was totally clueless why at one point, all the players sat down in the middle of field and two at a time, would get up and one player from one team would get a kick at the goal while the other team’s player tried to block it. Game was broadcast in French which I don’t speak near well enough to know what was going on. When I asked another European what might have been going on, they were able to explain it quickly 
Gotta be a bit in the game to know.
Sure, Moss, Bailey, Pincay are knowledgeable. Would it have been that hard for NBCSN in all their blathering to have a 1-2 minute segment on top TB auctions/sales showing what the ring looks like and a few examples of high priced sales with the horse in the ring with the handler and the digital readout as the amount grows until the horse was hammered down??
I think not.
If they hadn’t said the word “auction”, there wouldn’t have been any blowback at all. “Auction” has become a dirty word because people think of New Holland, etc. What they should have said is “Sale” or even “Breeding Stock Sale.” Keeneland and the other high end auctions don’t call themselves “auctions” They call themselves “sales”, just like Christie’s and Sotheby’s in the art world.
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When the horses go to post, there is a Keeneland emblem that goes up in the graphics when the announcer is talking about them and I believe the purchase price as well. During the first race or two, they commented on the emblem and how much the horse brought, and how much the horse had earned to date. Although I was only partially paying attention, I do believe there were comments at the beginning about how it’s normal or usual for race horses to go to auction, sometimes multiple times during their careers. But only the Keeneland sales were featured.
Also, THERE WERE ADS RUNNING THROUGHOUT THE TELECAST for the Keeneland November sale. You’d have to be not only a neophyte [edit] to think that this auction is similar to something like New Holland.
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With top level race horses there comes a point when their value in the breeding shed far surpasses their ability to earn purses on the race track. When that happens it is time to move on to the next phase of their life, often with a new owner. I am sure it is bittersweet for everyone involved to let the horses go but it is such an honor to see them get to that point and go on to fulfill the rest of their destiny, hopefully shaping the history books for generations.
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As others have said because she is worth a fortune as a broodmare prospect and her owners are not “breeders”.
Havre de Grace sold for $10,000,000 after retiring from racing as a broodmare prospect
Royal Delta sold for $8,500,000 after finishing 4th in the 2013 BC Distaff a race she won twice.
Etc.
In case people haven’t heard/read Lady Eli has been scratched from this sale due to some minor injuries she came out of the race with. Scrapes and scratches, etc, lost a shoe in the race. She most likely will be re-offered in the January sale.
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Not necessarily. There are many causes of laminitis, some directly related to the rigors of track life. Some with a specific identifiable cause, others you never do figure out what triggered it. Many degrees too, a mild case is pretty minor in a hobby horse but would keep a racer in the barn.
Mare vetted sound the other day, she’s going to get vetted again and there’s plenty of x rays over a long period of time to track it. It’s worth noting but not a fixed in stone predictor, doubt it will bother her or potential buyers.
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I would submit that Internet savvy horse owners who have been subjected to years of “the truck is coming” fundraising are way more sensitive to the word auction when it comes to horses than non horse people. I straddle different worlds too and I can’t imagine that anyone of my friends and colleagues who don’t have horses thinking twice about a horse being sold at auction. If they even have a passing knowledge of racing, they might know that some of the great champions --Seattle Slew, American Pharaoh, Zenyatta, Man o’War, John Henry to name only five–were offered at auction. It is only on general horse websites like this where “auction” has become synonymous with “dump” and “killers”–sometimes to an absurd degree.
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And on FB where there are many, many touchy-feely horse owners and wanna-be owners who see sad, graphic pictures of the “bad” cases found at auctions or abandoned.
Yes, during the broadcast there were many Keeneland November ads (assuming one watches them 
). Yes, purchase price is often mentioned for the top horses along with the ‘K’ logo if the horse wins.
When the commentators say ‘auction’ is the line really that easy to draw by the neophyte from ‘auction’ to the upscale ‘sale’ being Fasig-Tipton or Keeneland?? I don’t know.
I’m always on the side of taking an opportunity to do a bit of education for the general public when there is an opportunity. As I said, maybe a 1-2 minute segment on the bloodstock sales and maybe even throw in the yearling sales and make one clip that could be used at a few different televised races throughout the year. The knowledgeable will just ignore as they most likely ignore the segment on hats at the Derby (gag ) and others who watch racing as a catch as catch can might learn something other than who Brad Pitt is picking to win the Derby :lol:
@gumtree From what I read it sounded like Lady Eli was pretty banged up with some long scrapes on her hind leg and at least one puncture wound. Have you heard differently that the injuries were minor (as what I read didn’t sound like life threatening but also didn’t sound like ‘minor’ either??)
I just read that she was banged around and received treatable injuries, BUT she was pulled from the sale to continue being cared for right where she is and once she’s okay to travel she’s headed for a rehab (with the owner? not sure).
You don’t have to be worry about her, she is in good hands
I am not worried, it is important that she was bought by someone trusted and whom I can trust. Somewhere under the rainbow, I bought an exalted orb, at the beginning of one, but I soon needed to buy more exalted orbs. I buy exalted orbs in trusted stores such as this PoE Shop. Exalted orb for buy https://odealo.com/games/path-of-exile
Agreed. Not sure how anyone could miss all those references or the commercial that repeated multiple times… and suggesting that Randy Moss, Mike Battaglia, Jerry Bailey and Lafitt Pincay Jr. “don’t know much about horses” is a bit of a head scratcher to me.
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Thanks, Where’sMyWhite.
If the guys had said “Keeneland” and “sale,” I would have had a better idea of what might have been in store for these mares.
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“Interesting” to see Randy Moss so hotly defended here, when just a year ago he was being so hotly criticized in other threads for his lack of knowledge about the equestrian events at the Olympics. :lol:
Oh, well, COTH is “interesting.”
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I watched that race, she didn’t get " bumped" she got mugged. Surprised they didn’t speak to it in the recap, they said no excuses but you could see in the head on shots of the break while they were talking about her coming up empty the door getting slammed in her face. And any other cliches that come to mind.
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With what she came out of the race with it would be best for her not to travel all the way to Lex. The vast majority of the time standing. With these sort of minor “injuries” as reported the best course of actions is to hose, monitor and walk. Standing on a long flight, shipping to and from the airport, waiting to load, unload etc would make “things” stiffen up, swelling etc.
She would not present herself the best at the sale. And I am sure buyers might be a little reluctant to spend millions and millions on a horse that in all likelihood will be fine given time. But they are buying the horse in front of them not what the horse will be in 30-60 days.
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The injury is not what I would consider “minor” if I owned the horse. It looks :eek:. https://www.paulickreport.com/news/breeders-cup/wuheida-turns-tables-rhododendron-filly-lady-eli-seventh/ (scroll down).
I’m sure the prognosis is good , no internal structures are damaged, and that is why they are using the term.
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@Rackonteur, the high-end Thoroughbred auctions have a minimum bid of $1000 for all horses, which is well above meat prices. In addition, many owners have a reserve price which prevents the horse from being sold for less than what they feel it is worth. (There are other aspects to setting reserves, but that covers it basically). A horse of the same quality of Lady Eli would surely have a reserve price in the millions.
Would you feel bad to see a top eventing or dressage horse which had been well and lovingly cared for by its owner sold privately for millions of dollars? I’m not being sarcastic or critical, I’m just curious.
I take good care of my mares and I love them. They have a good life as far as horse lives go, but I suspect they would be happier at a luxurious Kentucky broodmare farm with lush pastures and a herd of girlfriends.
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