Although there were some home runs among pinhooked horses sold at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s Aug. 20 select sale, the one-day event was not particularly kind to pinhookers.
Figures compiled by The Blood-Horse indicate a 36.7% rate of return when comparing the final purchase price with the initial cost of the horse sold, the estimated cost of upkeep, and the sale commission. That rate was well below the sale’s ROR of 74.8%, 53.3%, and 70.7% in 2006, 2005, and 2004, respectively.
Pinhooked horses are those offered for sale after having been bought at public auction. Professional pinhookers hope to condition and prepare such horses for resale at a profit. Most yearling pinhooks were purchased the previous year as weanlings, although a few had been bought at mixed sales earlier this year.
The 47 pinhooked horses at the OBSC select sale had been originally purchased for an average price of $31,021 and averaged $54,070 when resold. At the same sale in 2006, 48 pinhooked horses that averaged $65,844 had been bought for an average of $29,781.
Top return for a pinhooked horse was achieved by a Put It Back colt who had initially been purchased for $10,000 and was sold at OBSC for $160,000. Bred in Florida by Lee Rattray, the colt produced from the winning Dynaformer mare Nuvem was bought as a weanling by Evergreen Park Thoroughbreds at the 2006 OBSC October mixed sale. Consigned by agent Beth Bayer at the OBSC yearling sale, the colt was purchased by Harry J. Aleo. After factoring in estimated upkeep costs of $10,000 from time of purchase and the sales company’s 5% commission, the net profit of $132,000 represented a 1,320% gain for the owner.
The sale’s top-selling weanling pinhook, a Chapel Royal colt initially purchased for $82,000, was sold for $80,000 Aug. 20. The Ontario-bred colt was bought out of the 2006 Keeneland November breeding stock sale by Classic Bloodstock and was listed as being bought by Newmarket & Best from the consignment of Lisa McGreevy’s Abbie Road Farm.
With return rates of 46.5% at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky summer sale, 52.7% at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select sale, and 36.7% at this month's OBSC select sale, pinhookers will be seeking to end the major yearling auction season on a high note at the marathon Keeneland September yearling sale Sept.10-25. – Ron Mitchell
