Author
A Kansas native who has worked in racing journalism since 1974, he is the co-founder of the newsletter Racing Update, and served as the paper's editor until 1993, when he moved to Scotland. Oppenheim developed a reputation as an independent observer of the sales scene in the early 1980's, and he and the staff of Racing Update originated a number of methods of stallion and sales analysis which have been adopted throughout the industry. For the past 10 years he has written a weekly column for TDN, as well as reporting from the major sales. He also works as a consultant, primarily for pedigree analysis, in a private capacity.
Though there are two more days of Tattersalls’ December Sale today and tomorrow, and Arqana’s four-day December sale is on deck next week, the trends for the 2013 Thoroughbred auction market have been pretty firmly established. From the Keeneland September Sale (gross up 28%) through last week’s Tattersalls’ December Foal Sale (gross up 30%–see the...
In 2012, according to The Jockey Club’s ‘On-Line Fact Book,’ around 15,000 of the 34,000 mares bred in the U.S. were bred in Kentucky. That’s 44% of the mares covered–four out of nine, and not far off half– and, as the market shrunk and the number of mares bred and foal crops contracted in spite...
Europe’s three major season-ending mixed sales are already underway. Today is the third of four days of Goffs’ November Foal Sale, to be followed on Friday and Saturday by mares and fillies. The exception are the foals and yearlings in Paul Makin’s Paulyn Dispersal on Friday, featuring six filly foals–three by Galileo and one each...
To those of us who have seen the rises and falls in Thoroughbred prices for the last 35 years, the 30% surge in prices at the major North American auctions this year is something we think about in context. Example: it’s not just that prices are up, but they are up, at a fairly consistent...
Last month I ran into one of the Coolmore operatives at Tattersalls’ October 1 sale in Newmarket. What is that wizard trainer of yours going to do this year for the Breeders’ Cup Turf B a race he knows how to win B I asked? St. Nicholas Abbey, unfortunately, injured and retired; Camelot, retired. What...
When he cruised to a four-length win in the 2010 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs, equaling Street Sense’s race-record 108 Beyer figure, it looked like the sky was the limit for Uncle Mo, the best horse sired by the very good sire Indian Charlie. It didn’t really pan out for him at three,...
This is an exciting time of the racing season: the year-end championships. On Oct. 6, France hosted an outstanding day of racing culminating in the sensational victory by Treve (Motivator) over a good field in the…
Over the weekend, Team Valor’s Brad Weisbord tweeted Ajust put it in the books. The fat lady has sung, meaning just hand the Eclipse Award for Leading Owner in North America to Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey right now. You’re right, Brad; their stable has alreadyamassed over $10.6-million in earnings this year, and it would be...
The honors are pretty much divided, so far, after North America’s most important yearling sale, Keeneland September, last month, and Europe’s most important yearling sale, Tattersalls October Book 1, last week. Qatari Sheikh Joaan al Thani has had a pretty busy week: last Sunday he won the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with the...
In yesterday’s opening session (of three) of Tattersalls’ October 1 yearling sale, 124 yearlings changed hands for a total of 26,319,000gns–a 14% rise from last year’s opening day, with 11% fewer sold; an average of 212,500gns (+28% from last year); and a median of 117,500gns (+7% from opening day last year). But how exactly did...
The biggest news in the breeding world last week was the announcement that Kirsten Rausing’s Lanwades Stud near Newmarket has done a deal to bring Animal Kingdom’s sire and Dansili’s cousin Leroidesanimaux over from his current base in Florida for the 2014 season. It’s great news for European breeders, who knew ‘Leroi’, as he seems...
It’s a great expression, isn’t it– Aa rising tide lifts all boats–and that pretty much describes Keeneland’s super-energized 2013 edition of its September Yearling Sale, which ended last Saturday after a two-week run; 12 days of selling, four in Week 1 (Book 1), and eight in Week 2 (Books 2-5). When the numbers were all...