Most consignors at auction employ a sales agent. An agent usually has a number of horses from many sellers. The agent knows the system, takes care of paperwork, and make vanning and stabling arrangements.
Usually an agent charges receives a commission of five percent on any sales. Sellers must add Consigner Fees and Commissions to any expense estimates.Some sale catalogs also list the actual owner of the horse being sold. In the example, Wings of Eagles Stables is the owner of the colt and has contracted with Country Life Farm to act as sale agent.
Hip Number
Each horse in a sale is assigned a sales number. This number is printed on a sticky tag and stuck on the horse's hip. Hence the term "Hip Number."
Potential buyers often examine horses at the sales agent's barn. In this example a buyer (or buyer's agent) interested in the chestnut Press Card colt would locate Country Life's barn (number 6) and ask a representative to show Hip 586.Hip Number Sequence: At first glance, there does not seem to be any rationale for the order of horses in a sale.
In most sales, the order is determined alphabetically by the name of the broodmare. To be fair, a letter is drawn by lot to be the starting point for the sale sequence.
In multiple-day sales, horses may first be grouped by quality into the earliest days or sessions.
In many catalogs, the horse's foaling date is listed. You can quickly determine the horse's age -- especially important when buying a weanling or a yearling. If you see a late foaling date, you should not be surprised to see an immature colt or filly.
PedigreeChart
Catalog pages usually display a four-generation pedigree for the horse being offered. (See learning activity on pedigree charts.)
Sale Horse's Sire
This brief summary gives a little information about the horse's sire. If a young sire (such as Press Card), content will consist mostly of his race record. For an older sire, his record at stud will be featured.
Always remember, the information on a catalogue is a form of an advertisement, prepared by the sales company to maximize sale potential. Positive points will be stressed, negative ones minimized or ignored.
The first dam (mother) begins the data on the female line.
Notice that the name of the first dam, Princess Blue, appears in boldface capital letters. This indicates that she won a stakes race (note the Colfax Maid and the Gold Digger Stakes). These were modest stakes. Nevertheless, they count as stakes wins, hence the all caps, bold type.The number of dams shown on a page varies with the individual. If the first and/or second dams are filled with quality, there may not be room for more generations.
On the other hand, if this is a first foal, or the second dam was lightly raced or didn't have a stellar produce record, the catalog may stress the third and fourth generations.
This shows the amount the first dam, Princess Blue, earned in purse money in her racing career. Similar amounts may be shown for others in the female line.
Purses for important races are also shown. This may be important to put the boldface black type in perspective.Notice that the second dam, Blue Double, only earned $3,585 during her racing record.
This item appears in each generation of the female line. It indicates the mare's offspring and any records. This chestnut colt in the sale is Princess Blue's second foal. She has one earlier foal, which as of the catalog date had not raced.If you intend to buy at sales, listen to and note any updates. You are bound by the announcements and updates made from the auctioneer's stand. Catalogs are printed months in advance.