Azeri goes to Keeneland January
December 4th 2008 03:43
I see that Azeri has been consigned to the Keeneland January sale. She's reported in foal to Ghostzapper. Her first foal, an A.P. Indy colt already named Vallenzeri, went through Keeneland's September sale and was an RNA at $7.7 million; I think it's safe to assume that as the "factory" that produced a yearling that drew that large a final bid, Azeri's reserve is probably somewhere in the $7-10 million range.
While it's true that Azeri was one heck of a racehorse, she won her Horse of the Year title in a weak year-- the males who were her competition for the title were a weak lot. Vindication was champion 2-year-old male off an abbreviated campaign that culminated in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile victory; War Emblem was champion three-year-old male, but was not considered an outstanding champion; Left Bank beat out Volponi for champion older male, but neither of the two was considered memorable; Orientate was champion sprinter but not considered a force outside the sprints; High Chaparral was the champion turf male, and in my opinion the best of the male champions, but his only US victory was his Breeders Cup score. So the voters gave the Horse of the Year title to Azeri off an undefeated season in which she never raced outside her division.
Azeri isn't from a a strong female family, certainly nothing like Better Than Honour's family. I have to wonder, just a little, why Michael Paulson is consigning Azeri for the family trust that owns her, because I think, based on the RNA on Vallenzeri, that he has unrealistic expectations for price. Was it Preston Madden of Hamburg Place who said, "It's better to sell and regret than keep and regret"?
FWIW, the number of horses consigned to the Keeneland January sale is down from last year, with 554 fewer horses catalogued. I wonder if some potential consignors are holding onto mares, hoping that the market will go up by next fall...or if some of the mares that represent the bottom of the market are culled at other auctions or sales where the mjnimum bid is lower than at Keeneland or the commission and expenses for sale are lower. From a business standpoint it would be insane to hold onto a low-end mare, continuing to put expenses into her, hoping the market will turn around. "You don't get out of a hole with a shovel," as the saying goes.
From a humane standpoint, I sure hope people out there with mares they can't afford to keep (or weanlings or yearlings or racehorses, for that matter) will do the right thing by their stock and try to find good homes for at least some of them...and have the cojones to pay for euthanasia for those who they can't find homes for, rather than selling them at a meat auction.
I'm sure that at the January sale, there will be people sifting through the offerings late in the sale, hoping against hope to find that hidden diamond in someone else's discards. It happens. That's the wonder of breeding horses.
While it's true that Azeri was one heck of a racehorse, she won her Horse of the Year title in a weak year-- the males who were her competition for the title were a weak lot. Vindication was champion 2-year-old male off an abbreviated campaign that culminated in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile victory; War Emblem was champion three-year-old male, but was not considered an outstanding champion; Left Bank beat out Volponi for champion older male, but neither of the two was considered memorable; Orientate was champion sprinter but not considered a force outside the sprints; High Chaparral was the champion turf male, and in my opinion the best of the male champions, but his only US victory was his Breeders Cup score. So the voters gave the Horse of the Year title to Azeri off an undefeated season in which she never raced outside her division.
Azeri isn't from a a strong female family, certainly nothing like Better Than Honour's family. I have to wonder, just a little, why Michael Paulson is consigning Azeri for the family trust that owns her, because I think, based on the RNA on Vallenzeri, that he has unrealistic expectations for price. Was it Preston Madden of Hamburg Place who said, "It's better to sell and regret than keep and regret"?
FWIW, the number of horses consigned to the Keeneland January sale is down from last year, with 554 fewer horses catalogued. I wonder if some potential consignors are holding onto mares, hoping that the market will go up by next fall...or if some of the mares that represent the bottom of the market are culled at other auctions or sales where the mjnimum bid is lower than at Keeneland or the commission and expenses for sale are lower. From a business standpoint it would be insane to hold onto a low-end mare, continuing to put expenses into her, hoping the market will turn around. "You don't get out of a hole with a shovel," as the saying goes.
From a humane standpoint, I sure hope people out there with mares they can't afford to keep (or weanlings or yearlings or racehorses, for that matter) will do the right thing by their stock and try to find good homes for at least some of them...and have the cojones to pay for euthanasia for those who they can't find homes for, rather than selling them at a meat auction.
I'm sure that at the January sale, there will be people sifting through the offerings late in the sale, hoping against hope to find that hidden diamond in someone else's discards. It happens. That's the wonder of breeding horses.
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