Chapter 23 #2
“Some people like to raise their stick so the auctioneer doesn’t think they’re bidding when their nose itches.”
I giggled. “Noted. I will bow my head and scratch my nose in a way that is not at all misinterpreted to be a bid.”
“You can just gesture to indicate it wasn’t actually a bid,” he replied with a grin. “But that’s not a bad plan.”
As soon as Lucifer and Darlene were seated, with Darlene on the far side of our little group, the auctioneer began with a list of the HIPs who had been withdrawn from the auction along with the terms and conditions of participation, seller’s right to elect to donate a percentage to preserving retired racehorses, and otherwise reminded people their bids needed to be fed and watered and cared for after purchase.
“Is that actually a problem?” I whispered to Yuless while flipping through the book.
About twenty pages in, I spotted the prettiest horse I’d ever seen, with a golden tan coat and pitch black legs, mane, and tail.
Lucifer had drawn an x through her picture, and I grabbed the fresh copy to better admire her.
I loved everything about her, and I wanted to take her home and cuddle with her for the rest of her life. “Oh, Yuless. Look at this one.”
“She’s out of the Triple Crown winner last year,” he informed me, pointing at a name in the registry. Then he pointed at another horse. “That horse won the year prior.”
I could understand why Lucifer had put an x through her picture.
She was going to cost a fortune, even I knew that.
I wanted her anyway.
A woman in a blazer and slacks led the first horse out into the sales ring, and the bay colt favored a hind leg, promising a medical bill for whomever decided to purchase him.
The bidding started at a hundred thousand, and within a matter of moments, the auctioneer whittled the animal’s value down to five hundred.
I raised my hand, confirmed the auctioneer had seen my bid, and waited.
Less than a minute later, the auctioneer announced Lake Hancock Racing Ranch as the winner.
I almost regretted the name I’d assigned my homestead when filing my registrations, but I moved on through Lucifer’s copy of the book in search of a few new lovelies to bring home.
The first high value yearling to go up on market, a chestnut colt with a blaze, started a bidding war right out of the gate, and Lucifer opened the show.
More than a few other bidders went in as well, and the price rapidly jumped up to over half a million dollars, and it stuttered at the seven hundred thousand mark until Lucifer won, spending seven hundred and twenty thousand on the animal.
While the catalog listed the horse’s lineage, I hadn’t seen anything all that impressive in it.
His sire had winnings less than what he’d purchased the colt for, and none of the other horses in the line had any starts.
How strange.
Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention, and to my surprise, Alex Dryden sat beside me. As I had at least seven horses before my next rescue came up, I said, “Fancy meeting you here, Alex. How are you?”
“I’m good. An owner I race for is here, so I’m available for consulting, but he told me he isn’t going to need me until later. Why did you buy that colt?”
“Slaughter prospect,” I replied, flipping through my clean copy of the catalog and pointing at the animal’s lack of pedigree.
“He’s going to be a pasture prince, and unless he moves for me after I treat that lameness, I’ll geld him and give my Clydesdale a friend.
But mostly, I saw him limping and favoring his hind leg and decided I’d end a problem before it began.
I was coerced into coming by my friends. Tricked, even.”
Alex laughed. “You’re really one of those, aren’t you?”
“One of what?”
“You’re in it for the love of the horses.”
I nodded. “When I brought Alligator Bait home, she kept trying to get on the track. So, I got her a proper saddle, and I breezed her on the track a few times a week so she could at least pretend she was going back to the races. After a few weeks of that, I entered into a low stakes race near home. She thrived. She loved everything about race day. She wasn’t just bred to race, she lives for it with every fiber of her being.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s tough on the days I don’t breeze her and she doesn’t believe she’s getting breezed soon.
If she had her way, she’d be breezing every day for the rest of her life. ”
Several horses went by, and the next slaughter prospect came out, and while technically healthy, I narrowed my eyes at the evidence of being underweight.
Unlike the colt, the gray filly seemed sound enough but lacked any spirit whatsoever.
Otherwise, her lineage was about as weak as it got with no famous horses and minimal winnings earned by her dam and her great dam.
The instant the bid dropped to five hundred, I raised my hand.
Once again, I won without a peep of competition.
“Well, I’m going to give you credit; you know when the horses aren’t prospects—or we’re blind to what we’re missing.”
I observed the filly as the handler led her off. “Do you know the farm that raised her?”
“I do.”
“Reputation?”
“It’s not great.”
I made a thoughtful sound. “Do me a favor, would you?”
“What do you want?”
“If that owner shows up at races, do your best to absolutely crush them on the track.”
The jockey gave a low chuckle. “I do that for every owner I’m not riding for, but I’ll do it with a little extra pleasure this time. Are you just bidding on the poor prospects today?”
“There’s one filly I want, and I’m confident the price tag is going to leave me sobbing in a corner when the bidding is over.”
“I don’t suppose you’ll help a fellow jockey out and spill which one you’re after?”
Beside me, Yuless sighed.
I bumped his shin before flipping through the clean catalog, finding the buckskin mare, and pointing to her. “She’s the prettiest horse I’ve ever seen, Alex. And I have that gorgeous little colt.”
“What’s the pedigree on the colt?”
“Registered?” I laughed. “I got him because his dam died and he wasn’t going to make it otherwise.
I acquired a nurse mare for him. Go ahead and make me the laughingstock of the jockey world.
I don’t mind. I’m here shopping for poor prospects to decorate my pastures and one I’m buying strictly on color despite her exceptional pedigree.
Now, don’t get me wrong. If that beauty wants to fly, we’re going to fly.
But she’ll decide that. But that’s the nice thing about this auction, isn’t it?
Those poor prospects might fly if I give them the care, the training, and the opportunity.
But they might just mow down my grass and spend their days in horse paradise.
It could go either way. Just drop the owner you’re working with a tip that on that beauty: I’m not leaving until I’ve won. ”
“In good news for you, the owner I’m working with is the seller and consigned her.
But I will pass on the tip. I think he’s going to be quite pleased if you walk out of this place with her.
If she doesn’t race, she’ll be treated well, and he’s a lot like you in that regard. He wants what is best for his horses.”
If I judged from the man’s reputation, the owner didn’t care what happened to the horses of others.
I could accept that despite disliking it. “Do you think there’s a horse I should be bidding on?”
“HIP 2843,” he replied. “She’s out of a line of tough horses with the same temperament as your Alligator Bait.
A lot of jockeys don’t like riding her sire, her dam, or the other horses in her lineage because they’re mean on top of being tough.
If you can get through the spunk and her tendencies, I bet she’ll be fast. The winnings in her line aren’t bad, but they’re not good, either.
The horses put up too much of a fight during the race and don’t tend to win.
But they accumulate value from hitting third place. ”
I could understand the jockey’s perspective. “Line’s health?”
“Good. They tend to be sound horses. I’d love a chance to race against you while you’re riding her. It would be interesting.”
I flipped to HIP 2843’s entry, which confirmed the winning values he’d indicated. The chestnut filly’s picture also showcased the temperament issues, as she looked ready to kick her handler into next week if only she could get into position. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks, Alex.”
“Anytime. I hope to see you on the track soon.”
He left, and only once he was far enough away he couldn’t tell what I did, I switched to Lucifer’s catalog and flipped to HIP 2843’s page, which indicated the filly would be the last one up on auction for the day. To my dismay, she had a black x through her picture.
I waited until Lucifer was finished buying yet another horse to lean across Yuless and whisper, “I’m spending all your money today.”
“That’s a bit better on the selfish front. And which horses are you buying?”
I told him the page numbers and waited for him to review the entries.
“Why HIP 2843?”
“Alex Dryden would like to run against me and her in a race because he thinks we’d be a challenge, I guess.”