Pinhookers Could Boost OBS October Sale Market

As the already shrinking Thoroughbred buyer base has become even smaller due to impacts from COVID-19 and other factors in 2020, the Ocala Breeders' Sales October Sale taking place Oct. 13-14 may rely more upon pinhookers for support.

The sale begins Tuesday at noon ET with the 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age section, cataloged as Hips 1-59. The Selected Yearling Sale begins immediately following the Horses of Racing Age, selling as Hips 101-270. The Open Yearling Sale, now cataloged as Hips 301-721, is set for Wednesday and will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Consignor Francis Vanlangendonck of Summerfield, which has some 90 head entered in the OBS sale, said the yearling sale season that began late due to interruptions posed by the pandemic has been more of the same.

"The good horses sold fine, but if you had a horse with a problem or it didn't make the cut, there was no one to buy that horse," Vanlangendonck said. "That's the market right now."

While the polarized market is nothing new, Vanlangendonck said what is different in 2020 is there is a paucity of back-up buyers.

"It wasn't that bad before because usually there was a safety net," he explained. "If you had a $50,000 horse and it had an issue, you could still get it sold for $15,000 or $20,000. But that safety net was not there.

"There are a multitude of reasons people aren't showing up," Vanlangendonck continued. "Maybe the people they buy for don't want to spend the money. You've got the election coming up and you don't know what's going to happen after that. With the COVID situation you can't go to the racetrack to see your horse, so that's taken some people out of it. Of course, people from out of country didn't show up because they couldn't and there were a lot of people from places where they would have had to quarantine once they got back from Kentucky. There were a lot of reasons (people didn't buy) and I don't see that changing for awhile."

Vanlangendonck said there has always been a stable buyer base in Ocala, ostensibly due to the prevalence of pinhookers who buy to re-sell as 2-year-olds, with the key being able to provide what they are looking for while having realistic expectations.

"We've got people in Ocala that buy horses so there is a buyer's base that is going to keep it at a certain level," he said, adding that pinhookers have also become more conservative in their buying. "They have been very careful on what they are buying, which is part of the problem. The bulls eye has gotten smaller for those guys and they are still being careful on what they're buying. We have a broad spectrum of sires represented in our yearlings that are solid horses and should attract plenty of attention."

During the selected session in 2019, 130 horses averaged $43,763 on gross receipts of $5,689,000, with a median price of $30,000. The open session saw 267 yearlings gross $3,356,400, for an average of $12,571 and an $8,000 median.

According to BloodHorse MarketWatch data, there were 113 yearlings sold at the 2019 OBS October sale that were re-sold as 2-year-olds. From an aggregate yearling gross of $3,044,200, the group sold as juveniles for $5,349,200. There were an additional 51 yearlings from last year's sale that went unsold and ended up selling as 2-year-olds for total receipts of $1,214,200.

Jay Goodwin, who with Meredith Krupp is selling at OBS under the K P Sales banner, said the barn area had been busy with pre-sale inspections over the weekend, not unexpectedly populated by a large number of pinhookers.

"The showing was busier than I expected," Goodwin said. "There are a lot of pinhookers that didn't get many horses bought in the other sales. It seemed to me like there are some serious buyers out there looking to buy."

Danielle Loya, who chose the OBS October sale as the first for her as a consignor on her own, said she has brought a group of yearlings by young sires that have physical traits appealing to pinhookers.

"The horses I brought I thought their physicals were a good match for the sale," said Loya, who assists Gainesway Farm and consigns through that entity at yearlings sales in Kentucky and consigns at OBS under the name of her Silver Oaks Farm. Loya took over operation of the training center following the death two years ago of her mother, veteran horsewoman Brenda Jones.

Loya's consignment includes a filly by second-leading freshman sire Not This Time  (Hip 139) that is described as "a beautiful individual. She's correct, with a great mind and disposition;" an Upstart  filly (Hip 209) that "is a big, beautiful two-turn Saturday afternoon filly;" a Tonalist  colt (Hip 224) that "has a good beautiful walk;" and a "typey athletic Classic Empire  filly (Hip 228)."

Loya said the traffic at her barn had consisted of "mostly the Ocala pinhookers. That is typically what you get at OBS. I am not unrealistic. There are not a lot of end-users coming to this sale. If you bring the right kind of horse you can really stand out."

The COVID-19 protocols in place at previous OBS sales this year, including a recommendation that sale attendees wear a mask and practice social distancing, will also be in place during the October sale.