Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
2020 proved year of change in the bloodstock industry
Changes rolled through the Thoroughbred bloodstock world in 2020. Some of those, were a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and may be temporary. Others were seismic changes, as new industry rules, the deaths of major stallions and the emergence of others, and the loss of major farms will have an impact on the bedrock of the industry.
The world was saddened early in the year by the loss of Hall of Famer and breed-shaping sire A.P. Indy, who died at Lane’s End Farm on Feb. 21 at age 31.
“Champion A.P. Indy’s list of accomplishments range far and wide, as his legacy continues to be carried through the outstanding performances of his sons and daughters across the globe,” Lane’s End said. “He was the most important and popular member of the Lane’s End team, and we are deeply sorry to all who loved him as much as we did.”
A.P. Indy had been pensioned since 2011, but the loss of two active stallions shook the marketplace in the first half of the year. Classic winner Empire Maker, the grandsire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, died at Gainesway Farm at age 20 in January after a battle with a disease that compromised his immune system. He had been scheduled to stand his fifth season since being repatriated from Japan. In June, Eclipse Award champion and leading money-winner Arrogate was euthanized after an illness caused neurological issues. The 7-year-old was nearing the completion of his third season at Juddmonte Farm.
Spendthrift Farm’s Into Mischief emerged as the nation’s leading sire for the second consecutive year. Led by Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Gamine, both likely Eclipse Award champions, Into Mischief’s progeny banked $22,506,085 in 2020, easily surpassing Tapit’s single-season earnings record of $19,907,973 in 2016. Tapit finished a distant second to Into Mischief on the 2020 earnings list, with $12,379,942. Into Mischief also led Daily Racing Form’s Beyer Sire Performance Standings, with 87 benchmark Beyers of 90 or higher and 11 of 100 or higher. Curlin and Speightstown each recorded 63 Beyers of 90 or higher, while War Front had 10 triple-digit figures.
“We think he is making a positive impact on the breed that will be felt for years to come, particularly with the heart and durability that are signatures of his offspring,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said of Into Mischief.
Into Mischief was the leading sire by gross sales at the Keeneland September yearling sale, one of the commercial events able to hold its traditional date. The pandemic upended the juvenile season – just four live auctions were held, compared to seven in 2019 – and forced Fasig-Tipton to consolidate three summer yearling sales in Kentucky and New York into a single showcase in September. The sale was positioned near Keeneland September, allowing the rival auction houses to coordinate biosafety protocols.
In the summer, the nation grappled with unrest over race relations, and the bloodstock world was not immune. Keeneland banned prominent breeder and consignor Tom VanMeter from its race meets and sales after he made racist comments on social media.
The pandemic caused economic uncertainty and restraint in what was already a highly selective marketplace. Keeneland September, considered an industry bellwether, failed to top $300 million in gross for the first time since 2016. The average and median dropped 25 percent and 17 percent, respectively. The buying bench was dominated by domestic interests, owing to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. For example, the international Godolphin operation made no purchases after having spent $16 million in 2019.
While some of that money may return, the marketplace now faces another economic factor. The Jockey Club board of stewards adopted a rule that put a cap of 140 mares bred annually by North American stallions born in 2020 or after. Colts born in 2020 will thus face different considerations at auction in terms of their residual value. The Jockey Club, in its annual Report of Mares Bred, said 1,067 stallions covered 27,950 mares in North America in 2020, with 42 covering 140 or more. The number of stallions and mares declined 6 percent and 4 percent, respectively, from 2019, keeping in line with the projections of a shrinking foal crop, a trend that will likely continue in the years to come as the pandemic puts economic pressure on breeders.
Online bidding was integrated into live auctions, and Keeneland reported grosses of $12.1 million from that platform in September, and $16.2 million during the November breeding stock sale. Mares, as a proven commodity with racing or production records, may lend
themselves more favorably to online inspection than young horses.
“We’ve heard a couple people say they’re more comfortable with buying mares on the internet maybe than yearlings,” Keeneland’s interim director of sales Shannon Bishop Arvin said. Arvin officially took over as Keeneland’s president on Friday from the retiring Bill Thomason, making her the first woman to head the racing and sales company.
Eclipse champion Monomoy Girl sold for $9.5 million to Spendthrift at the Fasig-Tipton November sale the day after her second Breeders’ Cup Distaff victory, making her one of the most expensive broodmare prospects ever sold at public auction in North America. The farm plans to keep her in training in 2021 before eventually adding her to its broodmare band.
The ongoing mixed sale season will feature the dispersal of the storied Sam-Son Farm, founded by Ernie Samuel in 1972 and responsible for numerous Sovereign and Eclipse Award champions. Sam-Son is in the process of dispersing its racing and breeding stock. Maryland’s Sagamore Farm is in the process of shutting its doors, as owner Kevin Plank announced in November that the property will now be used to focus on a whiskey brand.
In addition to Sam-Son horses, the Keeneland January sale also will include a dispersal of the late classic-winning owner Paul Pompa Jr. Other prominent figures in bloodstock who died in 2020 included breeder and consignor Gerry Dilger of Dromoland Farm; Preston Madden, who bred champion Alysheba at his family’s historic Hamburg Place; and Brushwood Stable’s Betty Moran.
Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs moved three stallions led by champion Ghostzapper to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm at Xalapa. Stronach also moved his homebred Canadian Hall of Famer Awesome Again, the sire of multiple champions and classic winners, to Old Friends from his Kentucky property, which remains on the market. Awesome Again died in December at age 26.
Other stallions who died in 2020 included stalwart Belong to Me; two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Conduit; champion Forty Niner; Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect; European champion Shamardal; Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tapizar, the sire of Monomoy Girl; and dual classic winner and champion War Emblem. Prominent broodmares who died in 2020 included champion La Verdad, and Grade 1 producers Alittlebitearly, Preach, and Tizso.