Owner's View: Attending the March OBS Sale (by Tom and Roberta Butler)

During the 2019 racing season at Monmouth Park, we enjoyed the camaraderie, fun and excitement that come from being a member of the Kenwood Racing group.  In the interest of discovering more about Kenwood’s thoroughbred acquisition process, we signed on to attend the March Ocala Breeders’ sale for Two Year Olds in Training. It was an educational, interesting (and exhausting!) outing… and worth every minute.

Photo courtesy of George Katzenberger

With enthusiastic explanations from Kenwood partners Robb and George, we witnessed all of the steps they took each day with the goal of making the best purchase. The sale included three  days of Under Tack shows, two days inspecting the colts and fillies they had marked for further observation and two days of  auction sales.  Each day was more exciting than the last.

One of the first things that surprised us was the number of horses for sale.  The sale book (which is an education in itself) listed each horse’s lineage by Hip No. and had 681 entries.  Of the 681, we learned that 130 had been withdrawn from the sale, leaving 551, still an amazing number to us.

Over the first three days, every horse worked out on the track for an eighth or a quarter mile and the times are recorded and published.  We learned that the horse’s gallop out is just as important and Kenwood hired a clocker to observe and report on the gallop. After watching hundreds of horses, videos tapes were  available to study and help in fine tuning selections.

The next two days were the most interesting - and tiring.  We joined Robb and George as they moved from barn to barn and physically inspected every horse on a list of about 98 that they must have worked long overnight hours to whittle down from the original 551. It was hot and the barns stretched as far as the eye could see. At the end of those two days, the list was further sharpened and our trainer Kelly Breen participated in evaluating the remaining horses.  Finally, Robb, George and Kelly agreed on the horses worth vetting.

The auction days were both exciting and frustrating.  The process was amazing, including watching the auctioneers somehow keeping track of bids coming from the auction room, out back where they parade the horses and telephone bids.  The banter and speed of the auctioneer was entertaining to hear.

The first auction day was challenging as every horse Kenwood was interested in was bid up far above their carefully considered bidding limit, confirming the partner’s ability to choose good horses.  Finally, on the last day, Kenwood was successful in purchasing one of the colts near the top of their list, Hip #492, at a very good price.  It was a well-deserved finish to the partners’ hard work and an exciting moment to witness.

Photos courtesy of Tom and Roberta Butler

Whether you are a racing novice or a long time horseplayer, attending the sales will give you a keen insight into the complex business of purchasing a thoroughbred race horse. We enjoyed our time in Ocala and highly recommend this wonderful learning experience.  

Tom and Roberta Butler