The Blood-Horse magazine generates new growth from its deep roots with this week’s expanded edition.
Over the past 20 years the magazine’s editors have continuously evaluated and tweaked the content (originally conceived as a newsletter in 1916 to serve hands-on breeders and owners) to meet the needs of a growing dual audience—Thoroughbred industry professionals and horse racing enthusiasts who are passionate year-round supporters of the sport. In 1997 the road toward fulfilling these demands forked.
Down one path the weekly magazine enhanced its standard fare of sire lists, auction results, and detailed race results with more features and personality profiles to appeal to a broader audience. Branching off and taking an entirely new route was an innovative product for owners, trainers, breeders, and other serious Thoroughbred investors named The Blood-Horse MarketWatch. Think Morningstar for Thoroughbreds. Since its inception, MarketWatch has offered a smorgasbord of detailed statistics and market trend analyses for breeding, racing, and all phases of the auction market’s annual cycle. The readers of MarketWatch have been able to dive into a deeper level of detail than had ever before been available. For example, an annual study of trainers allowed owners to see which trainers excelled with juveniles, who found success largely in the claiming ranks, who seemed more adept with turf runners, and who had the lowest percentage of horses that didn’t finish a race. Also, the performance records of consignors was not limited to averages and medians but included the percentage of profitable sales and return on investment.
We never stop monitoring the balance of content in the weekly magazine and the way it meets the needs of our readers. And what we’ve heard most recently is a growing desire for more professionally oriented content—more analysis and more statistics to help owners and breeders make smarter business decisions. We will now provide this much-needed information compiled monthly by MarketWatch as bonus content in The Blood-Horse.
This week we introduce the first integrated issue, which features an analysis of the 2015 stallion market by longtime MarketWatch contributor Dr. Robert Losey, an economist who has taught at several universities, including American University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Louisville. Also included is a yearling market analysis by regular Blood-Horse columnist and economist Bill Shanklin.
In the months ahead look for engaging content related to trends in handle, an analysis of freshman sires and yearling price distribution, a look at the relationship between the Equibase Speed Figures for 2-year-olds and the performance of these horses through the Triple Crown, and a comparison of maiden winners at Saratoga Race Course with those at Del Mar. Besides these unique analyses, we’ll continue offering the in-depth statistics and charts that have been providing valuable insight heading into the auction seasons for 2-year-olds in training, yearlings, and the mixed sale markets for weanlings and broodmares.
The goals of Thoroughbred breeders and owners are the same now as they have been for hundreds of years. For breeders it’s been finding ways to successfully work the genetic puzzle in order to produce elite athletes. For owners it has been accurately assessing the potential of the athlete standing before them. Integrating MarketWatch with The Blood-Horse is a furtherance of our mission to help both meet their goals.
Find more MarketWatch online with the MarketWatch blog.
