Auction Guide by Pablo_P
"After taking some time out from my auction reviews I‘ve decided to kick off with an auction guide on my return.
There’s guides/newbie’s help etc to most part of the game; however there has never been a help section for the buying side claimers/auctions so hopefully this can answer a few questions and raise some points of discussion...
The key thing before buying is to understand the race programme, what is available/how often and the remuneration for winnings..
Remember you need to pay a supplement to be eligible to run in any challenger series.
Challenge Series
2 Year Old
Ladbrokes Monthly Series - You don’t need a win to enter into these, so many break try their maiden in qualifiers, which then also qualifies your horse for the sprinter/classic/stayer 2 yr old series.. Monthly finals are currently worth £510 cash, so £205 to the winner.. Remember for every win you incur a 2lb penalty for future challi races.. So weigh up the reward of cash (£284.07 for a full field qualifier) for a quali win against the cost of the weight in the final.
Sprinter/Classic/Stayer Challenge – 1 win is needed to qualify for these.. With an additional 2lb added per win.. Your campaign here will be guided by your 3 yr old/4 year old plans..
3 Year Old
Ledger/Nunthorpe - You need 1 win to qualify for these and all horses run off the same mark (there are no weight penalties) which means you compete against the best, therefore many are held back from a 3 yr old campaign to compete in the 4 year old series, where many of the monsters have come and gone .The ledger alternates each season from 2850-3200 and the Nunthorpe over 1200-1400 with a total final price money of £1020. Be aware over the 1200-1400 distances monsters lurk ;)
Derby/Oaks – The blue ribbon events for the best of the best. Same eligibility as the above, but carries double the prize money coming in at £2040, these alternate over 2200-2400, but remember 2200 is the preferred distances for many of the monsters, Many of which don’t get 2400, so that could be argued is slightly easier to win.
4 Year Old +
Cesarewitch/Newbury/Queen Elizabeth/King George - Eligibility of 2 wins, with a 2lb penalty for every win thereafter, very few can compete after 6+ wins, so usually these finals fall to horses which are just under top draw @ 2 which have been held back with these specific targets in mind, 3 seasons + of patience.. They all hold a £1020 prize poll. They alternate between 2850-3200 (Cesarewitch), 1200/1400 (Newbury), 2200/2400 (KG and QE.)
Note – Outside the Ladbrokes series there are never any finals over 1000 1600 and 1800, so price those types according.
So let’s kick off with Auctions...
Auction Basics
As a rule of thumb Auctions are held every fortnightly open for entries from Friday Midday to Saturday Midday, with the bidding closing @ 09:00 Sunday..
More info on how the auction works? http://www.raceclubs.com/BuyaHorse/AboutAuctions.asp
Auction Tips
Do your homework you have the best part of 48 hrs to study, so no last minute bids without homework!
Just because someone else is pushing the bidding up against your bid don’t increase you bids blindly, use your own knowledge (or seek that of another experienced owners) to put guide prices on your targets prior to the hectic morning of closure.
Don’t buy a horse just because of it’s Grade...
Don’t dismiss a horse just because of it’s Grade.
Don’t rely solely on TT’s Guides, they are often outdated and can be misleading.
Be aware of the cost and risk of tack for naked horses, sometimes they can pay off, others you can be disappointed An average geld can be anywhere between 1-3 lengths, blinks can be positive or negative up to around 1 length
All unraced horses entered in the auction will have there latest 3 tt’s available for view, take advantage of this to learn what rough value these are worth, and also copy these into your notes section, mark the horse to your watch section, and you can find out more how to manage and run certain types.. Will give you the basics..
If you are spending what you consider significant money, always get full tt’s via the inbox from the seller, if these aren’t forthcoming and you have a doubt DON’T buy..
If you are spending what you consider significant money, before committing seek seek an experienced owners advice, most of them are very approachable.
Don’t be afraid to specialise learn an area of the game inside out, fillies/colt/sprinter/stayers/B’s/C’s the options are endless, an example of one such stable to make a big impact is Only Fools and Horses, who’s established one of the best g2 stables, and then developed in the challenge area (initially very successfully) much in the same way the BigBoySteve stable developed.
Be aware of what you are racing against, for examples don’t overpay for anything between 1400-2200 for colts, you are likely to meet one/or more of the monster in your future races.. Again as above I prefer with WFA types to concentrate on Stayers and 1000 runners for Colts and Fillies..
Keep an eye out for conso runners that are going cheap (especially under 6 wins) I managed to pick a few of these up and hit big BC wins from conos’s.. Pay especially attention to when the finals are at specialist distances 1000 (monthlies only) and 3200 many don’t get this distance especially the fillies division. See “River Queen II” bought for £16.49 and it’s conso win yielded £196 bonus credits.
A lot of horses are run at the wrong distance/wrong races/.wrong conditions, learn to spot things not only in tt’s but in form, trust your gut instinct when the purchase price isn’t too high, it’s amazing how many of these can improve when moving stables.
Private Sales
One of the most controversial area’s of the process, personally I’ve bought and sold privately however firstly you need to understand “THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PRIVATE SALE IN A PUBLIC AUCTION.”
However the community is a hospitable lot most of the time, and usually if something is marked up, and priced down to help a genuine newbie it usually reaches it desired destination.
However if you plan to sell something privately under value and not marked up to a newbie or it’s a bonafide stable transfer then usually there are some eagle eyes (sharper then yoda’s mind control even) out there ready to swoop in the final countdown beware...
Newbie alarms bells should ring if someone asks you to do a private and then requests something like, if I get pushed up by another bidder can you refund the difference or buy another horse off me in the next sale, or with an unraced horse asking you to train it over the wrong distance for the 3 tt’s on show or put tack on that doesn’t work..
Basically this could mean the horse is under the market value if it needing to be disguised up. If someone else is prepared to pay more for it, then you should receive the full market value..
If in doubt double check the pricing with one (or more) of the established buyers who know the market and that area...
To Buy or Not to Buy
Reading and understanding the form is absolutely key to picking up the auction bargains (arise Sir Team Johansson ) TJ is the daddy of this without a doubt, maximising the horses many other forget and in turn pulling healthy profits..
To do this you need to be able to read the form book inside out and also understand the jockey random and the effects they have.. Also have a shrewd eye for horses not being run to conditions/distance and in turn also understand the race programme inside out.. Many horse can’t compete @ 2/3 but held back to 4 yr old can be very profitable..
Challi horses (aimed at finals) are high risk high reward, be prepared to sandbag for 6-8 races to get the final to receive the wrong ground or a poor jockey for a seasons work to go up in smoke, alternatively you may just pick up that elusive winner for a bargain.. As highlighted last year by the every shrewd boys @ Victor Consortia who picked up there soon to be double champion “Joyride” for £962.50 winning the Monthly Final (£240) and the Sprinter Challenge (£720) and then selling on again for £787.50.
However for every success story there are many a broken heart and bank balance so fortune favours the brave but don’t price up your horses on winning finals!
With challi horses consider conso runners Shotgun_Mike “Frank” Sky Castle Stables are both genius’ at these routes, especially at 4 where after 2 wins the horses are penalised 2 pounds per additional win past 2.
Levels horses are some of the safest options out there for developing stables, there form is there for all to see, and you can normally get a good read on pricing, by working out how much that season they have earned (take there noms away from there winnings and then you should have a guide of what is possible in a certain time) use that figure to work out what you can return by what’s by how long they have left before retirement (every horse automatically retires once it finishes it 7 yr old season) in there career (even easier for 4 yr olds + with no age change to move the goalposts.)
Jockeys
Without a good knowledge of the jockeys it is impossible to read form with any accuracy. Jockeys are also one if the most misunderstood areas of the game so it is vital you learn about them to understand their influences in training and racing. The jockeys are a “RANKING OF THE RANDOM” you have received in the race. Their names, positions, winnings, percentages don’t have any affect in the races-
Hope this helps give a few pointers/answer a few question and raise some conversation/thoughts.... There will be follow up parts to this guide in the near future...
Pablo P
(Who defiantly isn’t Spanish or Mexican ;) )"