Planning....or not

Good Morning All!

Yesterday I had my first grand adventure here in England. It snowed during the night, and then again today, I'm starting to think that I had never moved, and that somehow all of campus was stashed in Wyoming somewhere. Upon leaving my class, I realized the chances of me going out on Friday were pretty much nil. I was already down by the train station, why not just go now? I didn't have anything going the rest of the day. And voila. After much study, I decided to make a trip to the Jewelery Quarter. Birmingham, in olden days was called "the Workshop of the World", and more than 3/4's of all UK jewelry is still made here. There is a museum here, called the Jewelry Quarter Museum. I went to that, not having much use for window shopping unless it's for books or looking at horses.

The museum is an old jewelry making factory, originally owned by Smith and Pepper. They did operate this factory for a shade over 80 years. I went on the hour long tour, where a member of the museum staff took me around the factory. I have a scotty dog, stamped from brass to prove it. Overall it was very entertaining, and extremely interesting. Incidentially, I am starting to find my way a little bit better around Birmingham.

My first day at the races will be February 20, 2009 over my Friday of Break Week. I bought a ticket to attend Warwick Racecourse, (so excited.) Now I just need a train ticket that I will be buying a little closer to the date, and voila. As well, I emailed a Thoroughbred auction company last night. One of their sales takes place during the break after spring term (mid-April.) I'll keep everyone updated with how everything goes. It was a very productive week in terms of homework, exploring, and making arrangements to explore in the future.

The auction I hope to attend is a "breeze-up" sale of 2-yr olds in training. Thoroughbred horses can race as early as two years of age, so there is a market for 2-yr olds yet to make their first start. An example of this would be The Green Monkey, and I would love to tell you I made up that name, but the sad thing is, that is the real deal. He sold for $16,000,000 a couple years ago before the economic crises and the Thoroughbred sales industry (technically the entire Thoroughbred industry too) took a big hit. Based on his pedigree--who his relatives are, conformation--what he looks like/how he's made, and his breeze-up time--which is anywhere from one furlong in length (1/8th of a mile) to 2 furlongs in length (2/8ths of a mile) which was exceptionally fast, and just overall impression he set a new auction record for 2-yr olds in training.

Turned out he couldn't run a lick, (All Gear No Talent, anyone?) and is now at stud (being used for breeding) for $5,000 a pop in Florida. That is a cheap stud fee in the Thoroughbred horse industry. Before the economy crashed, there were stallions that commanded $500,000 per breeding session. This is no longer the case. Stud fees have dropped tremendously for this year, (I feel they should actually drop by a bit more.) Breeders are definitely feeling the pinch. Hypothetically, if I had the capital and the mares, I would not be breeding to anything unless it was a proven sire who actually sired runners who earned money at the track. This is known as an AEI or average earnings index. It is one of the indicators used to determine good sires from poor ones.

Please comment, through email, on this blog, or however you would like to get ahold of me if anything confuses you, and I'll do my best to explain it. Like with any occupation or interest, there is an entire language of Thoroughbred breeding, racing, and selling. If I misunderstood something, I'll explain it better in another post. :)

Cheers,
The Flying Sunshine