Dave Landry photo of the sale topping Perfect Soul (Ire) Tapatina colt yesterday at Woodbine.
It was not the results we were all looking for. The select yearling sale for Canadian-breds, held Tuesday by the CTHS (Ont) was supposed to make a little gain back to 2011, erasing somewhat the crash of 2012 when the industry wandered around in a daze.
You know the story. The Provincial goverment under Dalton McGuinty and the OLG took a recommendation to stop the slots at racetracks program and ran with it.
Breeders, owners and all of us did not know if racing could continue. So the sale suffered, badly.
This year, a new Premier, Kathleen Wynne, has offered us hope, vowing to keep horseracing in the fold of the gaming expansion with the OLG. A transition panel ordered up funds to each track owner and Woodbine, at least, has carried on with similar purses and big fields and solid wagering numbers.
And yet, nothing has been said or done about the future of Ontario horse racing in months. All quiet.
So what are buyers, horse owners, breeders supposed to think as some 220 yearling go on the block for possible racing in 2014 and 2015?
Buyers wanted deals but the nice yearlings sold for too much. Consignors/breeders bought their horses back in droves. Words like “frightening” and “bleeding” were tossed around as the final tally came in, another average price drop, gross dollars decrease and media decrease.
From the first crop of champion MARCHFIELD, a $100,000 colt sold by Cara Bloodstock to Rolph Davis and Robert Tiller. Dave Landry photo
The story is in today’s Blood Horse news:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/80461/uncertainty-in-ontario-leads-to-sale-declines
