Sweezey Explains Havre de Grace Colt Faux Pas

Wayne Sweezey had a sleepless night Sept. 13, after a well-bred horse he consigned to the Tuesday session of the Keeneland September yearling sale went unsold following a rare mistake by the well-respected horseman.

The colt, a son of War Front   produced from Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, was one of the most highly sought offerings among the elite yearlings offered in Keeneland’s Book 1 and went unsold on a final bid of $1.9 million.

Sweezey, an affable professional, and his wife, Cathy, offered the colt through their Timber Town consignment.

Shortly after the colt left the sales ring, Mandy Pope, whose Whisper Hill Farm bought Havre de Grace for $10 million and bred the colt, explained that the incorrect reserve price had been given to the Keeneland sales. Pope said the actual reserve was to have been at a lower price point, and that potential buyers had been told that. So once the bidding rose above the intended reserve, Pope, and others, assumed the colt had been sold.

“When I went into the room and put the (reserve price) money in the box, I put $1.9 million and should have put $1.19 million,” a remorseful Sweezey said Wednesday morning. “We had already told everyone what the reserve was and then it ran up. It was a terrible, terrible mistake. There is no excuse for it because it is my job to go there and do that.

“It was a tremendous disappointment to all because we thought we had the horse priced fairly at $1.2 million (the next bid above the intended RNA),” he added.  “My whole career has been based on honesty, so this hurts and it hurts a lot.”

Sweezey said that after being unable to sleep Tuesday night, he got out of bed and walk around the Timber Town farm property for several hours to sort his thoughts.

“It was a sleepless night for me last night,” the consignor said. “I worried for Mandy, I worried for Cathy and myself.”

Although not offering it as an excuse, Sweezey said the mistake is a result of the large number of tasks that consignors deal with—most of which are taxing and extremely important to the process of getting a horse sold—at any horse sale. Mistakes do happen.

“When you’re juggling clients, and you’re juggling reserves, and you’re worried about getting the horse done, mistakes are going to happen, and this happened to be one of the biggest of my career,” said Sweezey, 60, who has been involved with every Keeneland fall yearling sale for the past 40 years.

Sweezey said Keeneland officials and his client have been very understanding about the incident, noting that Timber Town had done well with its sale horses on behalf of Whisper Hill up until the Havre de Grace colt went into the ring late during the sale session.

“We had a great sale up to that point,” he said. “I have worked with Mandy for 20 years and we are kind of like family. We go through bad times together—like mares or foals dying—because we are all in this together and we all want what is best for Mandy and what is best for Timber Town. So when you have a faux pas like this and there is only one person responsible and that is me, I am obviously going to step up and take responsibility.”

Sweezey reiterated what Pope initially said after the incident, that they hope they are able to bring in a partner or partners on the colt and eventually race him.

“We have a couple of people we are still working with,” Sweezey said.