Post-mortem at Mountain Springs

Now that I've had a few days to digest what transpired at the Pennsylvania Racing Bred Spring Mixed Sale at the Mountain Springs Arena in Shartlesville, Pa. on April 18, there isn't any way to sugar-coat the results.  They were depressing.

More than half of the horses that went through the ring did not sell, and the ones that did sell represented a net loss for their breeders.

Here's an example: Hip 77, named Toccet's Hope, is a 3-year-old daughter of Toccet out of Quixote's Hope, by Conquistador Cielo, an earner of over $265,000.  She brought a bid of only $1,500.  That sale price was merely a fraction of Toccet's 2006 stud fee of $15,000, plus it cost roughly $8,000 per year in vet fees/board/farrier fees to raise this filly from birth.  In addition, she is a registered Pennsylvania-bred ($50 fee for non-members) and Breeders' Cup nominated ($500).  She also sold as "broke and galloping," which means a day rate of at least $40-50 per day at the more inexpensive farms.  A minimum of $30,000 was invested in her by her owner/breeder Nick Taras.

The only way in which Taras can recoup some of his losses will be if Toccet's Hope wins or places at tracks in Pennsylvania, and he earns some breeder awards from the PHBA.  If her new owners take her out of state to race, he is out of luck. 

In speaking with the Mountain Springs Mixed Sale manager Rich Miller, he indicated that the results of this sale were the worst - ever.  He began these Pennsylvania-bred venues in 2007 with the intention of getting breeders and buyers together, for the benefit of both, but in his own words "nobody has any money."

In a normal year, Miller has both a Spring and a Fall Mixed Sale, but he stated that there will not be another sale in 2010.  Despite all the money being distributed at Pennsylvania's racetracks, the bottom line is that the recession has hit Keystone State owners and breeders hard.  The books of many Pennsylvania stallions will be smaller this year than last, as the influx of new sires from other states just served to further dilute the available mare population.

Let's hope that when the hammer falls again in Shartlesville, it does so on a more positive note.