SARATOGA BLINDERS
Sheik Mohammed provides case study for examining the impact of wearing blinders in an auction environment, purchases limited to progeny of Darley stallions at FT Saratoga.
Back in October of 2006, we wrote about the perils associated with not examining the totality of information and opportunities at a public auction. Building upon research conducted by the late Don Engel, we examined the long term 
racing results for yearlings purchased out of that year's Keeneland September sale that commanded at least three times their sire's overall average. Such purchases were clear indicators of a buyer's willingness to place an emphasis on conformation over pedigree and narrow their approach to only stand out physical specimens.
The results closely paralleled those derived from Engel's work. To put it kindly, those ignoring pedigree attributes altogether gleamed poor results and a virtually nonexistent return on investment.
So when the results for this year's Fasig-Tipton Select Sale in Saratoga came out, like everyone else, we immediately noticed Sheik Mohammed's reluctance to pursue yearlings by sires other than those standing at his Darley operation and wondered if a unique version of putting on figurative blinders
would lead to similar results found in our 2006 study and Engel's study from 1997. Of the 13 yearlings purchased by Sheik Mohammed for a combined $8,530,000, 11 were sired by Darley stallions. The only exceptions were an Exchange Rate filly and a Tiznow colt.
Only time will tell whether or not Mohammed's strategy will pay off, either at the racetrack or as a means to promote the Darley stallion roster. But Mohammed's Saratoga spending spree undoubtedly provides students of the bloodstock sciences with another piece of evidence on the ramifications of significantly narrowing one's scope in a public auction setting.
Like our 2006 project, our analysis of Mohammed's strategy will be ongoing and a function of his purchases' racing performance relative to a control group (in this case, the balance of the yearlings sold from the same catalog). Past performances of Mohammed's purchases will be updated regularly and compared to the control group at the conclusion of our study in 2012.
| Name |
Pedigree |
Price |
Record |
Earnings |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Unnamed |
Bernardini - Mountain Mambo |
750,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Bernardini - Nataliano |
600,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Medaglia D'Oro - Summer Flash |
500,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Medaglia D'Oro - Supercharger |
1,200,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Medaglia D'Oro - Alta Love |
525,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Street Cry - A.P. Interest |
550,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Bernardini - Cologny |
750,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Street Cry - Dance Swiftly |
625,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Bernardini - Easter Bunnette |
1,200,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Bernardini - Habiboo |
725,000 |
|
|
| Unnamed |
Bernardini - Lauren's Tizzy |
500,000 |
|
|
