NZB can widen sales appeal

This year's NZB National Standardbred Yearling Sale was a success, there’s little doubt about that. Top-level sales prices were achieved at record levels, (for a video of behind the scenes footage of the chart-topping Moet Shard you can click here) the average price for lots offered across the sales increased, the median price, a fairly important figure when gauging the depth of the sale overall, held up well.

Well done NZBloodstock for bringing, for the second year in a row, a renewed energy to the sales ring, a competent, professional, committed and ultimately positive step in the right direction for sure…

Now go one step further.

Take that blindingly obvious step forward and broaden your support for ALL those that present and buy at the sales…

While most of the feedback from the yearling sales could only be positive there continues to be one glaring issue for a decent proportion of the market. The consistent gap in sales prices between the best-of-brand in-vogue sires and the rest. It’s something that will always exist – it’s also a free market so you shouldn’t try to curtail that success in any way , shape, or form – but I do believe NZBloodstock, and its standardbred division, has an opportunity to offer a slightly more rounded, supportive arm to ALL sale participants going forward.

It comes in the form of what racing opportunities flow-on from the sales themselves. At the moment sales entrants, if good enough, can feature in sales finals, consolations and silvers. While these riches are needed as the ultimate reward for sales performers (and a good percentage of those races are funded by vendors and buyers themselves anyway) there could be a few more bespoke post-sales races that look to support those investing in the sale in a broader manner.

One logical sales-related race that should be implemented is a first-year / second year sires race for any given crop. Betting Line and Always B Miki were first year sires that suffered a little of the “first-year sire bias” this year and it’s something that happens consistently with both gaits.

A first / second year sire race is a logical step to support those taking both the risk in standing, and in buying into sires that the overall market may be a little ignorant of. Such a race doesn’t have to be run for big money either with its main purpose being to give buyers of new sires stock something to aim at in the immediate year after purchase. It might also, in time, produce a slightly more balanced look to the sales catalogue and help edge that average price up a little further.     

A colonial-sire or colonial-sire cross race is another opportunity to sure up the vital middle market and support a wider spectrum of bloodlines and sire choices. Home-grown stars/ sires have the most immediate effect and impact on our racing scene so why not support connections and investors and their stock with a colonial sires race? Vincent, Lazarus, Highview Tommy, Terror To Love, Royal Aspirations, these are horses that have made a major impact on the track. Recognition of this fact in the form of a sales race for colonial sires would seem a good way of promoting the best we’ve seen in any given generation. It would also support those that face most probably the biggest bias of all, ironically, trying to persuade those at home that our champions are just as good as the foreign ones!    

NZB could even look to support small time vendors with a “hobby breeders” sales race that offers entry into a sales race for vendors with less than three horses at the sale. Hell, that sort of race could even get a few more side-line types into the game for the love of breeding one of their own to go into the catalogue.

As a last thought the Northern-time bred concept needs to be strengthened and returned to prominence. The performance of NZ-bred exported stock in North America (and the recent naming of Shartin as horse of the year at the Dan Patch Awards) continues to impress and become the ultimate success story for NZ breeders. Northern time bred horses will not doubt attract more interest in the future with this increasingly visible display of just how competitive New Zealand bloodlines can prove to be on an international stage.

These ideas aren’t new concepts or ideas. Some of them have been discussed or suggested before but it does seem the right time to further the sales-races offering. As stated above any additional races don’t need to, and most probably shouldn’t, carry massive purses, what they can successfully do is ensure that all sales participants feel valued and appreciated and have post-sale opportunities that cater for their market positions.

A slightly increased contribution from NZBloodstock would only add to the goodwill the company has managed to accumulate through their relationship with the sales so far.

So all-in-all, a win-win… but only if you take that step..    

Ben McMillan