Letters to the Editor: Dr. 'Pug' Hart

This past week wasn't easy on anyone at the Fasig-Tipton Timonium sale–consignors, buyers, horses, bloodstock agents, veterinarians, office staff and grounds keepers. And what about all the grooms and riders! Horsemen are a resilient group.

But somehow in true Fasig-Tipton fashion, they managed to pull off a successful sale. It was a difficult decision for Boyd Browning and his team to make the call for “Gallop Only” the last day of the show. But it was the right call, and once again Fasig did what was right for the horses first, and worked to make a bad situation the best it could be.

The training sales have become so biased to the fastest horses and fast horses are simply fast, that's a fact. But maybe it's a good time to open the conversation to possible options for upcoming sales. I heard everything from taking the sticks away to not having published works–they do fine in Europe without timed breezes and people simply have their own stopwatches and time the horses themselves. One person even suggested taking the poles down!

A prominent consignor said horses won't bring as much if they don't breeze. I vetted Sandman, and he sold quite well when he just galloped, but most of the time that is correct. So I don't propose eliminating breezing, but let's keep an open mind on how to best present the horses without the often negative visuals.

I digress. This isn't so much about changing the format. That's a conversation for another day.

This is to say kudos to Fasig-Tipton for once again being proactive and thinking out of the box.

Good team work!