Glencrest Farm?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

they sell really valuble mares, too much risk keeping them (insurance, stud fees, dead or bad foals, etc)

case in point, the two fellows who got second mortgages to buy a horse, and were lucky enough to find and purchase she's a devil due. they had true beginners luck with her as a racer. they were offered a lot of money for her as a broodmare, but opted to keep and breed her. she died while foaling, and they lost the foal as well.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Danzig

case in point, the two fellows who got second mortgages to buy a horse, and were lucky enough to find and purchase she's a devil due. they had true beginners luck with her as a racer. they were offered a lot of money for her as a broodmare, but opted to keep and breed her. she died while foaling, and they lost the foal as well.

Better to be lucky than smart?

I think some of those mares like Better than Honour and Madcap Escapade are to dissolve a partnership, which at that level needs to be done by public auction.

[Linny]

Breeding can be very risky. Read the BH headlines during the spring and see how many mares die during foaling or from complications. That's just the prominent mares, and assume that those mares are getting (literally) the best care in the world.
Mares get hit by lightning. Strawberry Reason was kicked in the head by a pasture-mate. Mares colic after a late term foal twists strangely in utero and both mare and foal die.
Breeding also requires a willingness to wait a long time for possible profits. Retire a mare today and breed her in spring of 2009. Before the foal is on the ground you have board and care bills for possibly 18 months. It's spring of 2010 and the blessed event occurs. Add in mare and foal board plus expenses for the baby and of course the stud fee, plus costs involved in getting mare re-bred after the 2010 baby is born.
The soonest you can get anything back (unless you choose to sell the mare in 2009) is when you can sell the foal as a weanling in 2010. Weaners don't bring a ton of money but that mare and baby are racking up tons of bills. You opt to keep foal and sell as a yearling. Now you send him off to a consignor's farm to be spiffed up, taught to walk nicely for buyers, fed a rich diet and hopefully make you some money. Those services are not cheap and the sales company gets their cut as well.
Maybe you do OK. You sell the foal for 3x the stud fee which sounds like a nice profit but the sales agent, sales company, vet, farrier, etc all get paid. Meanwhile the mare has had another foal, but this one was born crooked and you still have to pay the fee, plus board etc and the baby might need some surgical procedure to ever make him viable. There goes the profit from the one just sold...

Obviously, when you have a herd of mares the economies of scale can help, but sometimes that "big one" needs to be pretty big to carry the whole operation.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Better to be lucky than smart?

I think some of those mares like Better than Honour and Madcap Escapade are to dissolve a partnership, which at that level needs to be done by public auction.

til the luck runs out.
and yes, some mares being sold are to dissolve a partnership, point ashley is also in there-she's in foal to distorted humor, madcap is in foal to ap indy.

others for sale as broodmare/race prospects, but not part of that dispersal are backseat rhythm, intangaroo, lear's princess, unbridled belle and pure clan.

[VOL JACK]

Originally Posted by Danzig

case in point, the two fellows who got second mortgages to buy a horse, and were lucky enough to find and purchase she's a devil due. they had true beginners luck with her as a racer. they were offered a lot of money for her as a broodmare, but opted to keep and breed her. she died while foaling, and they lost the foal as well.

When these foolish owners get offered tons of money for a horse and turn it down, they lose 99 out of 100 times. I cant tell you how many times I know of owners paying 25k for a horse at auction. Then when the horse runs big a time or two they get offers of 200-250k and turn it down. I know that sounds made up and unrealistic but it happens all the time.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by VOL JACK

When these foolish owners get offered tons of money for a horse and turn it down, they lose 99 out of 100 times. I cant tell you how many times I know of owners paying 25k for a horse at auction. Then when the horse runs big a time or two they get offers of 200-250k and turn it down. I know that sounds made up and unrealistic but it happens all the time.

which is why i can't believe that Vallenzeri was a buyback for that kind of money a few weeks ago. i think tho that paulsen only did that for PR, and to try to draw a partner.