Yearling Buyers with the Sharpest Eyes

The Keeneland September Yearling Sale is a treasure hunt, with buyers searching through thousands of entries to find the ones who will distinguish themselves in black-type stakes. It takes a keen eye and experience to spot the potential in these young athletes.

Determining which buyers were the best treasure hunters, BloodHorse MarketWatch compiled a list of the North American yearling sale records from 2013-15 by buyer. For each of these, we looked at the number purchased, the average price paid, the average earnings their purchases produced at the track, and how many became winners, black-type winners, graded stakes winners, and grade 1 winners.

Compiling this information may seem straightforward, but because there are a variety of types of buyers, it is quite difficult. A "buyer" could be an owner who intends to race the horse or an agent who is buying and/or selecting the horse on an owner's behalf. Sometimes the agent lists the buyer. At times owners will use their name, and at other times they will use the name of their stable.

Adding to the complexity are partnerships, well-known agents who will occasionally sign under another entity, buyers who sign as both "Joe" and "Joseph" throughout the years, and finally typos and spacing issues that might force "Red Wings" and "Redwings" to be considered separate entities. MarketWatch has done its best to account for these variations and consolidate the records in a meaningful way.

Another important caveat that affects numbers is that buyers and agents may get credit for the same horse. A good example would be bloodstock agent Kim Valerio and owner Michael Dubb. Valerio has purchased yearlings in Dubb's name as his agent, and they have been listed together as the buyers on others. In this case, Valerio gets credit for every yearling for which she is listed as the buyer and/or the agent. Dubb is credited for every yearling in which he is listed as the buyer, even if it is with Valerio.

After consolidating the information, MarketWatch then produced three lists: leading buyers with four or more black-type winners among yearlings bought in 2013-15; buyers of at least 10 yearlings during the three-year period whose purchases went on to average $100,000 or more at the racetrack; and the average earnings and stakes records for buyers who spent $5 million or more in total on their 2013-15 yearlings.

Among the leading buyers by black-type winners, three have been represented by 10 or more black-type winners: Gatewood Bell's Cromwell Bloodstock Agency, De Meric Stables, and David McKathan's Grassroots Training and Sales. 

Leading North American Yearling Buyers by Stakes Winners, 2013-15

Bell leads the ranks with 12 black-type runners out of 69 purchases. His top picks include grade 1 winner Hootenanny , whom he bought for $75,000 from St George Sales, as agent, out of the 2013 Keeneland September sale. The son of Quality Road  banked $876,698 for trainer Wesley Ward and partners Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor. Cromwell also bought Mastery  at the 2015 September sale for Cheyenne Stable from breeder/consignor Stone Farm for $425,000. Trained by Bob Baffert, the son of Candy Ride  won the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity (G1) and the San Felipe Stakes (G2) before injury derailed his racing career. He entered stud at Claiborne Farm this year as the undefeated winner of four races.

Both Nick de Meric and McKathan were represented by 10 stakes winners each.

De Meric bought Paid Up Subscriber, another son of Candy Ride, for $135,000 at the 2013 Keeneland September sale from Blackburn Farm, agent for breeder Dunwoody Farm. Racing for Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence and trained by Al Stall Jr., Paid Up Subscriber won the Fleur de Lis Handicap (G2) and was second in the Delaware Handicap (G1) and Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1). De Meric also bought grade 2 winner Malagacy for $130,000 at the 2015 Ocala Breeders' Sales August Yearling Sale from Stuart Morris as agent and resold him at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale for $190,000 to agent Steve Young. Racing for Sumaya U.S. Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher, the son of Shackleford  won the Rebel Stakes (G2) and earned $627,920.

McKathan's top horses include Sheikh of Sheikhs, a son of Discreetly Mine he bought for $50,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September sale and resold for $330,000 at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale. Racing for owner Abdullah Saeed Almaddah and trained by Wesley Ward, Sheikh of Sheikhs won the Juvenile Dirt Sprint Stakes at Keeneland during the Breeders' Cup World Championships and placed in the Hutcheson Stakes (G3). Another top McKathan purchase is Ocho Ocho Ocho, a son of Street Sense  he bought for $50,000 at the 2013 Keeneland September sale from Taylor Made Sales Agency and later resold for $200,000 at the OBS Spring sale. Ocho Ocho Ocho won the Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (G3) and went on to place in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) for D P Racing and trainer Jim Cassidy.

Juddmonte Farms is the leading buyer in the MarketWatch study by average earnings with an astounding $1,508,063 average. No surprise, considering the farm's key earner is champion and four-time grade 1 winner Arrogate , who captured the world's most lucrative races and became the richest North American-based racehorse with $17,422,600 in earnings.

Leading North American Yearling Buyers, 2013-15, by Average Earnings

Following Juddmonte on the list by average earnings are Three Chimneys Farm ($422,488), agent Tom McGreevy ($359,441), Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farms ($333,519), and Maverick Racing ($290,572).

Leading Yearling Buyers by Total Spent at North American Sales, 2013-15

Among the buyers and agents who spent $5 million or more combined from 2013-15, both de Meric and Dr. Barry Eisaman's Eisaman Equine distinguished themselves with the largest number of yearlings who went on to earn more than their purchase price.

De Meric led this category with 45 (35%) out of 129 purchases. His yearlings averaged $111,508 during the three-year period and earned an average of $126,637 at the races. Eisaman was not far behind with 44 (41.5%) of 106 yearlings bought. They averaged $52,958 when purchased and went on to earn an average of $88,963.