Every year before the sales, we get a sizable number of excited owners who write and say something along the lines of “I got the catalog and have been looking at it. What do you think of Hip #----?”, or “I like such and such a sire” or “can you give me the numbers you are interested in so I can look at them?”  We always reply (undoubtedly to their chagrin and disappointment) “we don’t have numbers to give you, the process doesn’t work that way”.  No doubt some of them think we’re just keeping our selections close to the belt and while confidentially is important, what we say is really true; no serious professional buys horses by looking into the sale catalog, that’s for total novices (especially billionaires who want to become millionaires by throwing away their fortune on well-bred horses who end up as unraced maidens). Why? Here’s an analogy; suppose you are building a professional basketball or football team, trying to recruit the best, most talented players, and someone said “I’ve been looking at a catalog that shows the family lineage (and nothing else!) of all the top college players. Can you give me the numbers of the players you like best, so I can look at them?”. The only sensible reply would be “that’s not how it works, we start by personally observing them play in actual games, then we meet with them and do physical exams. From that we compile a list of the most promising players, and yes, at that point we will certainly look into their family history, but that’s a final screen, NOT a starting point”. 

Hopefully that helps, because it’s not really different in looking for racehorses. Sadly and understandably, most people have it totally 180 degrees backwards. Ask anyone who has attended a sale with us (or any other capable, professional team), and they’ll tell you how the process really goes down.