Platinum Racing

I have come back to earth with a thud! Being one of those luddites that likes to think that the world is hunkydory and bad behaviour is the exception more than the rule, has never been one of my strong points despite leaving one prone to disappointment on an all too regular basis.

Like most racing devotees, I am always looking for alternative viewpoints to counter criticism of the racing industry - after all we live in a world of spin - so why should racing be any different? But I soldier on, trying not become a conspiratorialist and just batting for the Platinum racing team.

However, the events of last week's Easter Yearling Sales left a very rancid taste in my mouth and made me extremely disappointed, not to mention feeling like I had a prism shattered on me.

On Tuesday I was interested in Lot 138 - which had been passed in on Monday for $20K with a reserve as advertised on the Inglis website for $50K. I attended the horse's box and had the colt by Nadeem dusted off and brought out for inspection not once, but twice, once by myself and once with a friend and further asked if I could have my vet come and have a look at the horse.

The guy from Twin Palms Stud (the vendor) said sure and I did ask my vet to check the horse out. There were some issues on the colt's size and me, assuming that they had already knocked back 20K in the ring, they would not be interested in an offer under that.

Imagine my horror when I checked up the Inglis website today to find out the horse had been sold to Peter Moody Racing for just 10K! How could this happen? Well it prompted me to start thinking about the sale in general. I remember thinking at the sale I was surprised how many horses had been passed in just one bid short of their reserve.

In fact I mentioned this in an earlier article on the sales. So after being more than a bit peeved at the Nadeem colt going for less than was knocked back in the ring I decided I would look at other passed in lots and their advertised reserves according to the Inglis website - posted each day after the sale with a blue hyperlink "make an offer."

While many still remain for sale and some did achieve their reserves in "out of ring" sales in the following days - there were some glaring post ring sales.

Some examples:

Lot 12 Passed in 325K Res 400K sold to D. Ellis (New Zealand) for 280K.

Lot 30 Passed in 90K Res 120K sold to Portelli Racing for 80K

Lot 35 Passed in 140K Res 150K sold to P. Ng (Hong Kong) 100K.

Lot 40 Passed in 95K Res 110K sold to William Inglis (as agent) for 75K.

Lot 88 Passed in 90K Res 100K sold to Tim Martin Bloodstock 75K.

Lot 91 Passed in 130K Res 140K sold to Vin Cox Bloodstock 120K.

Lot 106 Passed in 70K Res 75K sold to Vin Cox Bloodstock 75K.

Lot 107 - this is a doozy! Passed in 440K Res (surprise surprise) 450K sold to Gai Waterhouse for just 300K!

Lot 131 Passed in 240K Res 300K sold to D. Ellis (NZ) 185K.

Lot 166 Passed in 190K Res 200K sold to Bruce Perry Bloodstock (New Zealand) 165K.

There were other lots who similarly sold for less than the vendor was offered in the ring. Now there are several avenues of spin available here - like the underbidder was not known, the underbidder did not speak to the vendor to negotiate, the vendor had a change of heart by gauging the softness of the market, where an agent was acting for the vendor they could not get hold of them etc etc.

All plausible avenues of spin - but call me a cynic - I don't buy it in all instances.

For starters Inglis has a group of very switched on "bid spotters." People like Stephanie, Nick, John "Dodds" Dodemaide etc are not new to the caper and have those jobs for exactly that reason. That is why they are able to yell out to the auctioneer at the completion of a successful sale who the buyer was in 99% of instances within seconds.

Secondly too many passed in horses got remarkably close to their reserves before being passed in - it was just too coincidental to my way of thinking. Take day one for example where 30 lots were passed in 20K or less below their reserve, and many of these lots were passed in 5K below their reserve, so in most instances they were passed in just one bid short of reaching their reserve. Are breeders getting that accurate that they can get that close to the reserve that many times? There goes another pink pig flying backwards!

But it is beyond belief that vendors would not pursue negotiations with underbidders or would knock back amounts in the ring that a matter of a day later are being discounted by significant sums of money  - up to 50% in some instances.

There have been rumblings within the industry for some years about the bidding process at the sales and, dare I say it, the authenticity of some bids.

Sure, I realise this is a matter that is out of the control of Inglis', or any other auctioneer for that matter at the time of the auction, but surely these auctioneers can ask some serious questions of vendors when post ring sales are not within a "bull's roar" of the price offered in the ring.

If prices of horses are being inflated by vendors, or worse still being falsely "chased up" in the ring, I think that is incumbent on the auctioneers to ensure that the authenticity of their sales process is protected for the betterment of all in the indsutry.

Sure I take on board that many vendors think horses may be worth than the market is willing to offer but these horses generally fall well short of their reserve - not just one bid away!

I am not peeved that I did not get the Nadeem colt and I wish "Large" (Peter Moody) and his clients all the best with the horse and good luck to them for having the temerity to offer less than was offered in the ring. Hitherto now I would never have dreamed of insulting a vendor's intelligence by doing that - but in light of this week's events that won't be happening again.

The last thing Platinum probably needs at the moment is another horse - but the subsequent revelations in relation to the sale of the horse and others that were sold for well under the highest bid in the ring - raises scepticism and makes one wary of the auction process.

On a period where the game is trying to attract new owners, interest young people in the industry, raise the level of current horse ownership and be transparent, anything that casts doubt over any process within the industry is unacceptable.