Denali Creates 'Virtual Shortlist' for Sale Buyers

Like many other consignors heading into the 2020 yearling sale season, the team at the Bandoroff family's Denali Stud realized there were going to be challenging elements to buying and selling during a pandemic.

As an accommodation primarily to buyers unable to attend the Keeneland September Yearling Sale due to COVID-19 restrictions or other reasons, Denali has established the "Virtual Shortlist."

In addition to providing a vast amount of information, including videos, photos, and the consignor's analysis of each horse on offer, the feature permits buyers to schedule appointments with Denali personnel to discuss the horses on an individual basis.

"Heading into this sale season, we realized we were heading into some challenging and unprecedented times," Denali's Conrad Bandoroff said. "We just wanted to put our heads together and try to come up with something that was going to provide a service not only to our clients we were selling for but also to our buyers, some of whom we are not going to see for the first time in 30 years."

Faced with the unusual circumstances created by the novel coronavirus, Denali enlisted the assistance of Jon Siegel and his team at PM Advertising for a way to accommodate off-site potential buyers.

By clicking on the "Virtual Shortlist" icon under the consignments section of the Denali website, the buyer can schedule a time before the daily on-site showing begins or after show times to discuss the prospects on an individual basis with Bandoroff; his father, Craig; or sales director Sarah Fishback.

"They can let us know which horses they want to see, and we can do a video conference with them in the morning before showing starts or at the end of the day when showing is over, and we can walk them through the horses and answer any questions they may have," Bandoroff said. "This is to bring the horses to them because we understand whether it's an international buyer or domestic buyer, there are some people who may not be able to travel to Kentucky for COVID-19 or unrelated reasons, and we just wanted to make sure we were doing everything in their best interests and our clients' and horses' best interest to make sure we could be accessible to facilitate anything we could."

Another consignor that tweaked the presale inspection process is Taylor Made Sales Agency, with a reservation system aimed at cutting down on congestion in the barn area, especially with the concerns over social distancing on sale grounds this year.

Reservation showing was used only during the mornings of Sept. 7, the first day of showing at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, and on the first day of showing for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale on Friday, Sept. 11.

At Fasig-Tipton, each person or team with a reservation was assigned to one of the 12 showing rings, with the prospective purchases then brought out for inspection. Taylor Made is using 18 show rings at Keeneland.