Question that I can’t seem to find the answer to: how does the select auction work?
Maybe I’m not looking hard enough but:
what are it’s selection criteria? What makes a horse eligible for ‘select’ auction?
I see all the horses have reserves, is there a same set reserve for all?
In threads of previous years I see horses have sold for 1k, so do the reserves go away after a certain time or something?
Couldn’t find it in the FAQ or forum, but feel free to redirect me if I’m just overlooking something. Looking forward to getting yet more shiny horses when this one starts!
I couldn’t see anything in FAQ either although I’m sure there used to be.
I think there was a year where there were no reserves but that’s unusual. In more recent years I think most FF horses have had the same reserve although the first few years that I joined in, there was a variety (I think having them all set at same reserve now makes it easier for Shanthi).
In terms of entry criteria, horses need to be stakes level on the track or a half-sibling to stakes level performer or out of a stakes level dam if I remember rightly. As it’s the Select Auction, horses should be (potentially be for youngstock) of a better quality than those horses you would generally see in the other FF Auctions (there is some overlap as there are horses in the other auctions that would make the cut for the Select Auction).
Sale prices can vary wildly and it can sometimes be just as fun to watch prices sky rocket if there’s a bidding war. Not to say you can’t sometime grab a bargain. I think I paid $31,000 for Quarren as a yearling from the Select Auction.
All reserves are 25k in the select auction (I think the 1k prices were special exception years).
The select auction is also the only FF auction where consigning a horse requires a fee, and you are not reimbursed if you decide to remove the horse from auction or it doesn’t sell. Consigned horses must meet the selection criteria Emma listed.
Prices are definitely going to go crazy this year. Just too much shiny this round. My bank account is going to burn.
For regular consignments, there isn’t any selection criteria, but as noted you do pay a non-refundable fee to consign. So you’re best off ensuring that your horse is likely to sell.
For the script doing FF horses, as @imagine said, it picks horses who are stakes level themselves or have potential to be (half-sib to stakes level, or dam is stakes level).
Stables can set whatever reserve they want. The script does 25k/each (I believe) - it used to do fancy math to figure out what a reasonable reserve might be, but 25k made a lot more sense.
No, this would have been due to individual stables not setting a reserve, or possibly the script forgot to do reserves one year.
Okay, all clear now. Many thanks for the great explanations, now I can go make my auction list with all this knowledge in mind!
I saw 1k horses in the last two years, so I was considering a sweep strategy if reserves were removed at one point. Good to know that it won’t work haha.
