A Sign of the Future; Ontario Sales Price

A press release announcing Harrah's Philadelphia, Meadowlands, and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs have agreed to coordinate the scheduling of Opens during the remainder of the Meadowlands meet is certainly welcome news to racing fans and tracks alike. Not only does each track get high quality races, gamblers get races worth wagering on. Perhaps more importantly, it indicates the tracks realize the are merely butting heads against each other by racing at the same time.

It is too soon to say whether or not this cooperation goes any further, but it certainly gives hope for when racing dates are assigned for 2013, perhaps the tracks come up with a schedule which not only coordinates racing dates, but complements each other so the best racing possible is presented. It would be naive to think there will not be any overlap, after all sire stakes races can't be raced early in the year but if racing calendars can be coordinated so you don't have three tracks racing the same night, everyone wins. Even if race dates are not coordinated, it shows the tracks need to work together; an important first step.

The first look at the impact on sales prices in Ontario occurred this past weekend as the 2012 Spring Fling mixed sale was held at Flamboro on Sunday. How did the figures look this year when compared to last year? Let's take a look.

	2011			2012			Difference
	Number Sold	Avg Sales Price	Gross	Number Sold	Avg Sales Price	Gross	Avg Sales Price	Gross
Broodmares	5	$3,840	19,200	0	$0	$0	N/A	N/A
Yearlings	2	$1,050	2,100	1	$700	$700	($350)	($1,400)
Racehorses	92	$6,929	637,500	96	$7,408	$711,200	$479	$73,700
Total	99	$6,655	658,800	97	$7,339	$711,900	$685	$53,100