Tags
auction of seasons, congrats, demand for stallions, fasig-tipton kentucky, no-guarantee seasons, supply and demand for bloodstock
At the Feb. 7 sale at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in Lexington, seven no-guarantee seasons to Bluegrass stallions went up for auction. A season sold NG is simply the right to breed a mare to the stallion in question but without any guarantee of a live foal. It is simply cash paid and “thank you.”
As a result, most NG seasons are sold at a hefty discount from the live foal prices because they pass on considerably more risk to the mare owner. Depending upon the demand for the stallion and the horse’s stats for getting mares in foal, the discount typically ranges from 25 to 35 percent, with a greater discount for less popular sires.
For the rather popular offerings at Fasig-Tipton, the results were: Malibu Moon ($57,000), Medaglia d’Oro ($78,000), More Than Ready ($27,000), Sky Mesa ($29,000), Speightstown ($40,000), Bluegrass Cat ($20,000), and Congrats ($33,000).
The latter price was more than twice the 2011 stud fee for the 2010 leading freshman sire, who is a son of AP Indy. The demand for the stallion is obviously there, and Vinery, which stands Congrats in Kentucky, has turned down several hundred mares. The horse is book full.
Of the seven seasons auctioned, those to Malibu Moon and Sky Mesa did not sell. The 2011 stud fees for those stallions on a contract for a live foal, due the foal stands and nurses, were $60,000 and $30,000. Malibu Moon is book full, although Sky Mesa is not quite there, as yet.
*Please note that the sales company does not disclose the names of buyers for stallion seasons.