Auction Numbers And...

Contains a bit of an editoral
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Not to step on the "stat man's" shoes.... but here are some early Auction Numbers from the first half.

125 - Racers sold
$156,510 - Average Price
$10,000 - Most Common Sale Price
$15,000 - Median (Middle) Price
55 - Racers sold for $10,000
60 - Racers sold for $10,000 or $11,000
104 - Racer Sold for $100,000 OR LESS
21 - Racers sold for MORE than $100,000
2 - Racers sold for $5,001,000
9 - Racers sold for more than $500,000

Okay... so those few high numbers are really pulling up the average. I took out the top four (2 @ $5.01 Million and $800K and $851K).

New Average: $65,378

But 104 out of 125 sold for $100,000 or less. That is 83.2%.

And I really wouldn't reccomond buying a horse for more than $70,000 if your a newbie... and 101 horses sold for $65,000 or less. (Although many older vets picked up some nice racers for pennies).

With too many horses being bred each year, with not enough stables or races for them, the world of Photo Finish is quickly becoming a buyer's market. The large breeding operations are simply breeding too many foals each year. And those who can not pay for the expansions at the end of each year they are forced to sell either their racers (which can be solid money makers, and those who have not hit their maturity yet) or their young prospects.

Simply put the demand for horses is not growing fast enough to keep up with the supply.

Here I was going to insert some data to back up my claim (and every good argument needs one); however, I don't have enough information to provide you with facts.

I can tell you that last year we bred 440 horses, which is down from the year before at 489. But the 2007 crop (year born) there are 422 horses. In 2006 there were only 273. And people wonder why this year (when 2007 was 2) the juvenile racers were so crowed.

In 2005 there was 251 horses born. 2004 boasted 175 foals. 2003 there was only 135 horses born. 2002 there was 109 foals. In 2001 a mere 103 horses born. And 2000 there was 100 even horses. Other than horses created only for breeding no other racers have been born.

But this brings us to problem number 2 with too many foals born. With more foals each year, that means more fillies and when they retire more broodmares. It is a circle that will continue to spiral until something stops it.

With that said, keep this in mind: Our stable numbers and races have increased. However, (though I do not have numbers... %racers/stable) they have not increased with the number of foals born each year.

So please keep that in mind as breeding season looms.