Fleet Valid in for a tag?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by ELA

Breed to race is very live, and breed to sell -- if that's your business -- OK, there's a market there. But I'll tell you, I buy/claim fillies all the time and with the residual value in that marketplace, it's not easy to sell those mares these days. I've had several -- good pedigrees, but not great of course (or else they wouldn't be cheap, LOL) -- and they are tough to move. That's part of my business, and there is weakness in that segment of the marketplace. We all know that marketplace has nothing to do with the mega-numbers we are seeing.

Of course each mare is a case specific basis. We all know that. But when I have a $10k to $25k mare to sell, even with pedigreee, sometimes it's hard to give 'em away. I think the smaller, commercial breeders, the solo and family operations, etc. -- in today's day and age of not being in the top echelon -- they look at carrying costs, and everything moving forward, and I don't think the economics dictate the marketplace being solid. Don't get me wrong, you can sell those mares, but it certainly isn't a given.

Eric

Eric
If you had been at Keeneland for books 6 and 7 you would have seen a lot of strength in the lower end of mares. The keys are being relatively young, having a blacktype in the 1st dam or good blacktype in the second. There is a huge interest in the secondary markets like PA, NM and some emerging foreign markets. It is not like these mares are being bought for 200% of value, but the ones who qualify are getting the right money.
One of the problems at that level is stud fees still being too high in KY. The problem in the regional markets is the lack of quality stallions period, regardless of price. I know people laugh at a horse like Noble Causeway but at $5000 he is actually not a bad play. At least his owner is going to support him with better quality mares than a typical $5000 stallion will get.