The general trend among pinhookers in the select 2-year-old marketplace this year has been to reduce their financial risk. But for the Keeneland April sale of 2-year-olds in training, the expenses they are carrying into the auction are greater.
There are 82 horses cataloged for the Central Kentucky sale that were reported as being sold at public auction as yearlings. Pinhookers paid an average price for that stock of $120,131. The median price was $90,000, and the gross expenditures totaled $9,850,705.
Compared to the amounts for last year’s 61 pinhooked horses that were cataloged, the average rose 21.4% from $98,918. The median advanced 5.9% from $85,000. And the gross expenditures increased 63.3% from $6,034,000.
The 2010 average price is the highest for pinhooked horses in the sale since 2006, when it reached $122,073. The gross expenditure total is the highest since 2007’s figure of $11,318,000.
For pinhookers to make a profit, an upswing in business will be more crucial at Keeneland than it was at some of the earlier juvenile auctions. The sale is scheduled for April 5 in Lexington, beginning at 4 p.m. (EDT).