The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association will sponsor an upper Midwest sale of 2-year-olds in training and unraced Thoroughbreds at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., May 10. An under tack sow and time trials will be held May 9, beginning at noon, weather permitting.
Del Sand, president of the MTA, said the organization hadn’t sponsored a sale in around 10-15 years. The main reason for reintroducing the sale this year, he said, was due to the significant 35% increase in gross at its yearling sale last July.
“We had such a successful yearling sale, and we had a lot of folks interested in becoming owners and partners in ownership groups, so we decided to offer it,” Sand explained. “When Iowa decided not to do a 2-year-old in training sale (this year), they contacted a number of their owners that contacted us and asked us to do a sale.”
The MTA sale will feature around 35 2-year-olds from the upper Midwest states of Wisconsin, Iowa, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska. A few Florida- and Illinois-bred juveniles will also be offered.
Sand said it was difficult to estimate a ballpark figure of what the sale might bring.
“Since it’s our first year, it will be a benchmark year for us, so we’ll just have to take a look at that and see,” he said. “With the amount of interest we’re having, we’re pretty hopeful that we’ll have a good sale.”
If the sale is well received, the MTA anticipates making it an annual event.
Sand is especially optimistic about the sale considering the state of Minnesota’s economy and horse industry in general. He related how the state deficit is now at almost $1 billion.
“If they had passed the racino bill at Canterbury allowing for slot machines four years ago, the state deficit would have been half of what it is now,” he said.