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REFLECTIONS i By Nelson Dunstan One Hundred Breeders Preparing Yearlings About 440 Head to Be Sold in Kentucky Mereworth Farm Top Consignor With Forty Conditions of Sale Important Document DocumentLEXINGTON LEXINGTON Ky June 16 16Down Down here in the Blue Grass approximately 100 breeders are preparing 443 yearlings for the sales which open at Keene land on the afternoon of July 26 and continues through the eve ¬ ning of July 29 The largest group this year will be the 400 head offered by the Mere worth Farm of the New York realtor Walter J Salmon On the other hand many con ¬ signors will send only one colt or filly into the ring for what the traffic will bear There is naturally a great deal of specula ¬ tion as to how this years market will com ¬ pare with that of 1947 when there was a decided drop from the peak year of 1946 It is this writers opinion that of 1948 of ¬ ferings will average close to those of last season and if there is a change in the mar ¬ ket for better or worse it will be but a slight one The sale of these youngsters who next year will compose part of the two yearold crop presents one of the most colorful phases of the breeding and racing worlds Around the ringside gather the men and women who are seeking colts and fillies to carry their olors on the race tracks of the country countryThere There is a considerable gamble in the buying of year ¬ lings for often the prices run well into five figures There are various classed of breeders and probably the first of these is the market breeder who disposes of every youngster he breeds There 15 another group who retain a few fillies for their breeding operations Others sell some privately and consign the remainder to the market Since the organization of the Breeders Sales Company in Kentucky they started the practice of having the breeders consign only their top colts and fillies to the summer sales at Keeneland and hold the others until the fall sales One of the duties of the sales company is to compile a catalog giving full particulars as to the pedigree of every youngster sent into the ring Tliese catalogs have a hip number at the top of the page and this number always coincides with a sticker on the yearlings rump It is plainly visible as the coll or filly is led out for inspection and also when it is sent into the sales ring In general the sales companies charge 5 per cent commission on the price that the yearling brings at auction The Breeders Sales Company withholds 5 per cent and later figures actual costs and refunds the balance if any to the con ¬ signor signorThe The average man often wonders where the responsibility lies in yearling transactions Sales companies stress that they act as agents only and endeavor to protect the interest of both the seller and buyer In every sales catalog special attention is called to the conditions of the sale Usually there are about six conditions The sale is for cash with 25 per cent to be paid immediately after the animal is sold if required or the sale may be declared void at the option of the seller the balance of the purchase money being paid the same day The most im ¬ portant condition of all states that unless expressly announced at the time of sale no guarantee as to the soundness of any animal is made other than that the horse must be sound in wind and eyes and is not addicted to the habit known as crib ¬ bing The conditions say nothing about ringbones or other faults visible to the eye that is where the oftheard expression caveat amptor let the buyer beware applies in the purchase of a horse Unless the buyer is familiar with such ailments he should obtain the advice of a competent trainer or veterinarian before purchasing horses horsesSales Sales organizations have been active for about 175 years Probably the first organized company was Tatter sails which came into being in 1776 in England and is still operating William Easton a representative of that company conducted sales in this country prior to the turn of the present century The FasigTipton Company was organized here in 1899 to carry on the work and it grew r apace when the late E J Tranter became a partner This company was successful until 1909 when a legal bomb ¬ shell tore racing asunder closed the New York tracks and made horses so valueless that they could scarcely be given away There were no organized sales in this country be ¬ tween 1910 and 1916 In the latter year Tranter made a bold move by building a new and modern sales pavilion with paddocks at Saratoga Springs The new pavilion was ready early in 1917 and from that year until the out ¬ break of World War II it was the yearling sales center of this country in fact it was called the Tattersalls of America Some of the most colorful sales history was written in that pavilion where this years sales will be conducted in August AugustWar War brings the same rapid changes in racing and breeding that it does in almost every sport and industry When the Saratoga meeting was shifted to Belmont Park in 1943 to re ¬ duce transportation of horses and fans it meant a change of locality for the yearling sales and they were transferred to Meadow Brook Long Island For some years a group of Ken ¬ tucky breeders had contended that the sale of yearlings be staged in the Blue Grass thus avoiding the hot weather ship ¬ ment of the youngsters to Saratoga and oftentimes back to Kentucky In 1944 the Breeders Sales Company of Kentucky came into existence From its first sale its activities have been highly successful When conditions permitted the FasigTipton Company reopened its Saratoga quarters and it now is engaged chiefly in the sale of the yearlings raised in Virginia and other eastern states Some Kentucky breeders who do not sell under the banner of the Breeders Sales Company ship their stock to the Spa There is room for these two organizations As matters stand today the Breeders Sales Company of Kentucky has all it can do to limit its sales to youngsters bred in and around the Blue Grass The FasigTtipton Company requires almost two weeks to complete its sales at Saratoga It is obvious that the two companies play a very important part in the scheme of American racing and breeding
