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There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the rotten economy during the recent Thoroughbred marketplace meltdown, but John Sikura of Hill ‘n' Dale Farms doesn't think the global financial crisis is the biggest reason for the sharp downturn in the auction business. ''I might be in the minority but I don't believe the economic crisis ...

Long before the domestic recession and the global financial crisis, it was a challenge to sell a Thoroughbred and it's an even more daunting prospect today. In this blog post, I'd like to look at two of the problems a little closer. The first is a change that has been dramatic since I came to Kentucky in the 1980s. When I first arrived, there was ...

I remember this time last year when I was constantly clicking my computer keyboard to get the latest update on the stock market. It was horrifying to watch its plummet, and I couldn't stop checking in to see how low it would go. But earlier this year, the stock market found its bottom and started to rebound a little bit, providing a glimmer of ...

If you were a commercial breeder, finding the silver lining in the cloud at the Keeneland September yearling sale was difficult. High stud fees for this crop of yearlings, a huge supply of horses at a time when demand was falling, and the effects of months of economic woes here and abroad created at perfect storm of misery for sellers and for ...

One of the Keeneland September yearling sale's biggest strengths is its large number of horses. With thousands of yearlings on offer, there is a horse to suit nearly every taste in pedigree and conformation and to fit every pocketbook. The auction is a one-stop shopping destination that often has been compared to Wal-Mart with its large variety of ...

  One of the highlights of the Keeneland September yearling sale, which begins Sept. 14 in Lexington, will be the Overbrook Farm dispersal with its royally-bred young horses. Ric Waldman, a key Overbrook consultant, talked recently about which yearlings he thought would be the stars of the dispersal, which is being handled by Eaton ...

  After hearing rumblings at work and on the sale grounds about Jim Squires' new book, ''Headless Horsemen,'' I decided to read it and find out what all the fuss was about. It's one man's view of the Thoroughbred industry, and it's not pretty. But I also can't say that a lot of it isn't true.   In regard to underhanded dealings at ...

Earlier this year, I was at a flea market and saw a woman setting out a box of books. She said she was selling them for a $1 apiece, and that made me very happy because I had spotted ''Man o' War,'' by Page Cooper and Roger L. Treat, complete with its cover showing a photograph of groom Will Harbut holding the great horse. Man o' War is pictured ...

  With the economy still struggling and the Thoroughbred marketplace taking some big hits late last year and earlier this year, there was more anxiety than usual heading into the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select yearling sale. As expected, the auction was down from a year ago in three important statistical categories: gross, average price, ...

Fasig-Tipton officials want to make the Saratoga select yearling sale the premier yearling sale in the world, and this year they've made progress toward reaching that goal based on sire power. This year's sale will have offspring of certain prominent veteran stallions than the 2008 edition of the auction did. There are seven yearlings sired by ...