SHAKOPEE, MN – “It’s really rough up there,” said one handler heading to the sales ring on Sunday for the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association’s yearling sale. The sentiment was echoed by many that become used to the run of record breaking sales the past few years.
While prices were weaker than past years, there wasn’t much faith back in May that there was even going to be a sale so, by that measure, just having a sale and getting horses changing hands was a success.
The gross proceeds for this year’s sale was $359,800 versus $548,000 in 2019.
“My initial reaction is I was hoping for a better all around sale, but a couple months ago we didn’t know if we were going to even pull this off,” said MTA President Cameron Mahlum. “Thanks to Kay King , our MTA board members, Canterbury Park and our consigners in pulling this off.”
Several unknowns stalked the sale. The joint marketing agreement between Canterbury Park and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is set to expire after the 2022 season and, thus far, there is not an agreement in place to extend that accord. The agreement pumped $75 million in to Canterbury purses over 10-years along with marketing funds for joint programs.
Additionally, the extended shutdown period may have stagnated disposable income that may have been used in the past to purchase horses.
“Overall I think our consigners once again provided us with quality horses,” Mahlum said. “I personally think the COVID times and economic unknowns combined with a shortened racing season provided some values for buyers. I fully expect many of the yearlings to find their way into the winner’s circle in the next few years.”
Eric Von Seggern, breeder of the sales topper, a bay filly out of Sahm’s Sweetheart by Midshipmen, said “We would have liked to have gotten more for our gray filly (Guerrera Azul), but overall I really can’t complain. You want to see all your friends do well and some had a tough time.”
The sales topper, named Harlow’s Harmony, was purchased by Barry and Joni Butzow for $42,000.
The Von Seggerns were the top consignors at the sale in terms of value of horses sold with $91,800. Osborne Farm was leading consignor of horses sold with six.
The top buyer this year, spending $56,000 for two horses, was Victoria McGowan while Carin Offerman, Anthony Didier, Dave Hansen and Tailored for Gold Stable bought three horses each.
The median and average were both down considerably for this year’s sale:
2019 Median Selling Price: $5,000 2020 Median Selling Price: $4,000
2019 Average Price: $12,140 2020 Average Price: $9,724
In 2019, 52 Minnesota bred yearlings were consigned to the sale with 48 going through the ring and 43 changing hands.
In 2020, 52 horses were also consigned with 51 going through the ring with 34 changing hands.
“We did see a decline in gross sales, averages and median prices,” said Mahlum. “Maybe the biggest factor for over sale declines was a significant rise in those not achieving reserve levels. Last year we saw a record of only 10% that were RNA’s. History we are in the 20-25% range but unfortunately we hit 35% this year. This definitely impacted our total sale amount.
“While the average saw a 25% drop, the median was historically in alignment to our norms,” Mahlum continued. “In fact our median was a 15% increase from our 2018 sale. The last two years our sale toppers of $83,000 and $100,000 were records historically. Obviously our sale topper closer to the $45-50,000 recent norm also impacted the overall numbers.
“The MTA board will analyze the results and look for ways we can improve on for next year.”
The results of the MTA sale can be seen here:
