Search for Top Yearlings Sees Buyers Head Overseas

After seeing record-shattering yearling sales this year in North America at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, as well as the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, young horses also have garnered plenty of interest early at one of the key sales across the Atlantic Ocean this week. Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale saw numbers similar to its record-breaking opening sessions of 2024 as 70 lots sold for 500,000 guineas ($705,000; 1 guinea = US$1.40) or more. "Last year's renewal of Europe's premier yearling sale was widely regarded as one of the more remarkable sales of recent years, bucking the trend of earlier yearling sales that autumn with wide margin increases in all the key metrics," said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. "Those results saw the bloodstock market take a significant upturn over the last 12 months, and whilst a drop in average and median were to be expected with the larger catalog, it has been gratifying to return figures that are second only to last year's record renewal." While Godolphin finished as the leading buyer in Book 1, landing 23 yearlings for an aggregate of 19,625,000 guineas ($27,671,250), buyers representing United States-based owners also proved active during these sessions—and figure to continue that trend through Book 2 this week. BloodHorse managing editor Joe Perez made the trip to Newmarket and focused on those buyers. Perez estimates that agents for U.S.-based buyers tied their record haul of 2022 with 45 yearlings purchased, and the 16 million guineas ($22.56 million) are the second-highest investment (not accounting for changing exchange rates or inflation). Prominent bloodstock agent David Ingordo said because there only are so many top yearlings available for sale in the U.S., a look at overseas auctions can provide opportunities. "Americans have been very fortunate. The backyard for the sales was in America in Keeneland. Now we're going to have to get off our bums and go," Ingordo said. "It's a much bigger backyard. The backyard is the world." An Oct. 9 Financial Times story noted that with U.S. purses dwarfing the prizemoney offered locally, the United Kingdom will lose some top future stallions and broodmares. The story noted that trainer John Gosden, speaking at an event in September, said it was "risky and presumptuous" to assume that foreign investors would maintain their interest in British racing. "The Japanese, Australians, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and all the Americans, they buy our stock and they export it," Gosden said. "They buy quality horses, and the result is that our equine population is diluted and downgraded." Of course, the U.S. is plenty familiar with the other side of this as well. Ingordo sees these trends as cyclical. "We're obviously coming and cherry-picking the best," Ingordo told BH. "But how long has Europe come to America and Japan come to America and done the reverse?"