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The 2021 Tattersalls December Mares Sale top lot Waldlied, who fetched 2,200,000gns, was sold through Tuesday’s “golden” session. Voute believes that it is time a serious look was taken to cataloguing alphabetically, in a similar fashion to Keeneland November, to ensure that the sale’s quality is maintained
Photos courtesy of Tattersalls and by Laura Green
The industry is in danger of becoming “merely a hobby” for many involved
Ted Voute discusses the need for change to that what has become a highly polarised racing and bloodstock industry, while he believes we should proactively act on sale finish times and cataloguing before Health and Safety, as well as employment law, insists on it
EACH DECEMBER the Tattersalls Sales shows us many things about the widening gap and value of bloodstock in the UK.
The most popular sale days to be selling are now confined to Thursday and Friday of the foal Sale – Thursday is the most popular for vendor.
In the breeding stock section, the “golden” afternoon of selling is on the Tuesday afternoon.
Tattersalls has the unenviable task of juggling late finish times and bowing to the vendor pressures or demands to sell on each of the days mentioned above.
I am not sure as to how it affects the logistics of stabling, but the December Sale remains the last of the “non-alphabetically” lotted sales of the year.
Vendors follow the age-old tradition of selling by draft and are guided by the Tattersalls ever-helpful team of cataloguers, headed by Gavin Davies.
There are many complexities surrounding changing to an automatically lotted sale governed by the alphabet rather than a complex combination of pedigree quality, which has been guided by years of support by individual support by a vendor and, ultimately, success they have when promoted to the lofty positions in the catalogue.
Changing to an “alphabet system” would eradicate the tailing off in quality in the catalogue and a different set of purchasers arriving for Wednesday and Thursday of the mares’ sale.
In theory this is a fair solution, but, in practice, purchasers like to have all the quality presented at the same time.
Wealthy owners for whom time is money aren’t available for a four-day sale, but can spare a few golden hours on a Tuesday afternoon.
This very afternoon showcases the bloodstock industry as an industry in healthy state, but deep down the real barometer exists on the Wednesday and Thursday of the mares’ sale.
As a comparison, and a half way meeting point, Keeneland sells alphabetically in their November Sale by day, which spreads the sale throughout the day which certainly could be a compromise if logistically possible.
As a side note, on the sharp end of the sale, working hours for many staff have been extended on these popular days. Many start work at 5am and can end up with a last horse through the ring just before 10pm and will be driving home 17 hours after starting work.
Consignors with the luxury of excess staff can operate in two shifts, and during the winter nights of 4.15pm darkness, can give grooms a few hours off before returning for a late sale lot.
Trainer Clive Britain used to pull out his string at 4.30am, which was part of Newmarket’s history but, as time evolved and yellow jackets were introduced as the traffic has increased, it came time for the Jockey Club to introduce a later opening time for the gallops in Newmarket.
The bloodstock side of the industry is heading down a similar road governed by Health and Safety, and the various employment laws now bestowed upon employers by government.
A compromise should be visible down this complex road, whether it is governed by law or derived from proactive change in how we sell our horses at public auction in the future.
The New Year brings in resolutions and change to many.
Our industry, or hobby depending on which camp you feel you are a member of, is controlled by the very few.
As mentioned earlier the industry looks at the health of the industry on the Tuesday on the Tattersalls mares’ sale, the Thursday and Friday of the foal sale and Book 1 at the October Yearling Sale.
The “hobbyists” take a look at Thursday of the Mare Sale, the Saturday of the Foal Sale and Book 4.
The British bloodstock industry is governed by eight stallions, five Newmarket trainers, three important jockeys and six superior owners of which half have recently died.
The crux of the problem many argue is prize-money and media rights and the equal distribution amongst all the industry members.
Let this year be the year we change and encourage our British Horseracing Authority’s Horseman’s Group and all stakeholders to work together quietly behind the scenes and come up with a joint solution before the entire industry becomes merely a hobby.
The top lot at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale went through the ring on the favoured Friday evening session
Godolphin breaks record in the US
GODOLPHIN, the leading US owner in 2021, set a new prize-money record for earnings, while trainer Brad Cox broke the earnings record for a trainer.
Godolphin’s final figure of $17,401,604 (equibase.com) was some $10 million ahead of the second-placed Klaravich Stables.
Trained by Cox, Godolphin’s Essential Quality was the owner’s leading money earner. The son of Tapit, who remains in training, won the Belmont and the Travers Stakes (G1), and was one of 14 US graded stakes winners in 2021 for Godolphin.
It was the first leading owner and trainer title won by Godolphin, an achievment mirrored by Cox whose own prize-money haul totalled €31,832,345, some $560,000 ahead of the second-placed US trainer Steve Asmussen.
Godolphin was also the leading breeder with earnings of $18,447,150 from 804 starters and 136 wins.
Calumet Farm, leading breeder of 2019 and 2020, was runner-up with earnings of $16,127,515 achieved by 470 wins from 3,516 starts. Despite finishing second, the figure was still the best-ever prize-money total for the farm. Joel Rosario was leading jockey for the first time after placings in the top five every year since 2018.
The Korea Racing Authority’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Knicks Go, another Cox trainee who won five of his six North American races in 2021, was the leading horse by North American earnings with $5,824,140.
In addition to his win in the Classic, Knicks Go (Paynter), who has been retired to Taylor Made Farms at a fee of $30,000, won the Pegasus World Cup, the Invitational Stakes (G1), the Whitney Stakes (G1), and two other graded stakes.
Completing the list of top five horses by North American earnings were Medina Spirit with $3,520,000; Essential Quality with $3,420,000; Yibir with $2,615,000 and Hot Rod Charlie with $2,127,500.
Navarro and Rhein sent down
US trainer Jorge Navarro and veterinarian Dr Rhein given prison sentences for their roles in the US doping scheme uncovered by the FBI in March 2020
Trainer Jorge Navarro (next to horse and jockey) in the Meydan winners’ enclosure after X Y Jet won the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in 2019
ON DECEMBER 17 AND JANUARY 5, in two separate court appearances, the US trainer Jorge Navarro and veterinarian Dr. Kristian Rhein were sentenced to prison terms for their roles in a race doping scheme.
The scheme involved racehorses trained by Navarro, and those treated by Rhein for trainer and co-defendant Jason Servis, the one-time trainer of Saudi Cup winner Maximum Security and yet to appear in court.
The 46-year-old Navarro, who has trained more than 1,000 winners including the 2019 Dubai Golden Shaheen hero X Y Jet, pleaded guilty in August to intentionally giving, or directing others to give, banned performance enhancing drugs to his horses over a fouryear period. He has received a five-year prison term.
Rhein, who pleaded guilty to distributing adulterated and misbranded performanceenhancing drugs to Servis and then hiding his activity from regulators, has been given a three-year sentence.
Navarro was previously ordered to pay $70,000 in forfeitures and $25.8 million in restitution to offset his financial gain, while Rhein has to pay $1,021,800 in forfeitures. He is also facing a bill of $729,716 in restitution and was fined $10,000.
“This is a serious offense and was not an isolated or one-time offense,” said the US District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil when announcing Rhein’s sentence. “It was a long-term and ongoing offense. Once he [Rhein] became aware of the investigation, he and his co-conspirators took steps to hide their offenses from regulators and the public.
“He has been depicted as someone who wants to help others, but he had that chance as a veterinarian and he abused that trust by betraying those he was supposed to help.”
Navarro, Rhein and Servis were among 27 people arrested in dawn raids carried out by the FBI in March 2020 after an undercover investigation into allegations of the use of performance enhancing drugs in racing.
Court documents in the case include a wiretap of conversation in which Navarro boasted about giving such drugs to X Y Jet, including a blood builder that prosecutors say can cause cardiac issues. X Y Jet died in January 2020 from a heart attack, according to a statement by the trainer.
Trainer Servis denies the allegations and pleaded not guilty. He is expected to face a trial over the next few months.
Rhein became the fifth to be sentenced to a prison term, time served, or probation and is one of 10 to submit a guilty plea.
Vyskocil voiced a message to others in horseracing and other sports regarding the use of drugs.
“I have little doubt Dr. Rhein learned his lesson, but a message of deterrence has to be sent to others in this sport and other sports that cannot be ignored,” she said while emphasizing Rhein’s role as a leader of the conspiracy.
Prior to the announcement of the sentence, Dr Rhein said to the court: “I want to apologise to the victims whose trust I violated as a professional. I am ashamed of my actions and what I did was inexcusable.”
