“It’s very obvious there are huge amounts of money for these [sale] graduates,” said Cara Bloodstock’s Bernard McCormack referring to the Sept. 2 CTHS auction at the Woodbine Sale Pavilion in Toronto that is buoyed by an additional $10 million in funding.

story and photo by Dave Briggs / Ontario Racing

Bernard McCormack said additional annual government funding of $10 million has him feeling more optimistic than he has been in years heading into the Canadian Premier Yearling Sale being held on Wednesday (Sept. 2) at the Woodbine Sales Pavilion in Toronto.

McCormack, the operator of Cara Bloodstock that will sell 28 yearlings at the sale conducted by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society (CTHS), said the funding increase to Ontario’s Thoroughbred industry means the return-on-investment possibility has improved significantly for sale graduates.

“It’s very obvious there are huge amounts of money for these graduates,” McCormack said. “And, there are only going to be about 190 go through the ring. So, out of those horses that go through the ring, those horses are going to run for a million dollars, whether it’s as a 2-year-old or as 3- and 4-year-olds… At the end of the day, that’s a huge incentive.

“The racing opportunities have increased. The sales stakes, and the number of racing opportunities for sales graduates has increased. The maiden races and the Ontario Sired racing program has increased and has more money in it, which is what we needed. We needed more money for the graded stakes program, and that’s gone up as well. It was needed because [Ontario] was lagging behind on an exchange basis with the U.S. tracks. So, I would point to the whole thing. It’s an old saying, ‘a rising tide floats all boats…’ an awful lot of thought has been put into [how to allocate the money]. It gives us the incentive to go and breed horses and carry on, and that’s what we need.”

Highlights of the money available to owners of Ontario Bred horses include:

  • Restricted purses of more than $9 million, with 16 races for Ontario Sired horses, eight for Ontario Bred horse and 16 for Canadian foaled horses (which are predominantly from Ontario).
  • Purse bonuses of more than $7.5 million for open stakes and overnights (20 per cent for Ontario Bred horses and between 22 and 33 per cent for Ontario Sired horses).
  • Access to $3.2 million in purses in the new Empire Trillium Series open to Canadian and New York Bred 2- and 3-year-olds.

“Historically, our sale has had the greatest return on investment of, arguably, any sale in North America, and when you couple it with a 72-cent Canadian dollar, it becomes attractive to Americans,” said David Anderson, the president of both the national and Ontario branches of the CTHS. “And then you add all this further funding.

“I think we’re right now at the bottom of the bell curve, and people are, maybe, not quite aware of [the funding increases] just yet, and so it’s a great time to buy. It’s a great time to get in, and, especially with yearlings, take advantage of a full 2027 race season next year.”

McCormack said, “There’s a pent-up demand for horses because the horse population has decreased dramatically in the last 10 years, and it’s fair to say that these horses are going to win all this money, so it’s exciting.”

He pointed to the new $3.2 million Empire [Trillium] Series open to New York and Canadian foaled horses as another way owners can try to recoup their investment.

“I sold a horse in July, one of our own that did very well, and the buyer was, I think, the CEO of Hyatt Hotels in the States, and the agent mentioned that they were very interested in the Ontario / New York Bred program,” McCormack said. “That’s the industry helping itself… just the fact that there are more racing opportunities for New York and Ontario Breds racing together, I think is an incentive that the market is starting to realize.”

The average price at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Saratoga Sale on Aug. 16 and 17 in Saratoga Springs was a record $121,673. The sale also grossed a record $24.578 million for 203 sold. That’s in U.S. dollars. McCormack said those looking to take advantage of the Empire Trillium Series have a more attractive cost to entry to purchase a Canadian Bred at the CTHS sale using Canadian dollars.

For new buyers, buying a horse at the CTHS sale is a relatively cost-effective way to jump into the game. Just ask Colin Davis of Apricot Valley Thoroughbreds in Cobourg, ON. His family’s journey began five years ago by purchasing Rapid Test at the 2021 CTHS sale. The 6-year-old Ontario Sired and Bred son of Souper Speedy out of Arch Tigress has earned $344,950 lifetime and is expected to be entered into the new $150,000 Caledon Stakes this Sunday (Aug. 30) at Woodbine. The race for Ontario Breds that are 4 or older – along with three more races for older Ontario Breds – was created by Ontario Racing’s Thoroughbred Improvement Program (TIP) committee with the new funding.

The Caledon is part of the CTHS sales stakes card, featuring four races worth a total of $1 million in purses, to be contested on Sunday (Aug. 30) at Woodbine.

The CTHS sale stakes races are:

  • Race 5 – $200,000 Algoma Stakes for 3-year-old and 4-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada. 7 furlongs on the main track.
  • Race 6 – $300,000 Muskoka Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada. 6 ½ furlongs on the main track.
  • Race 8 – $300,000 Simcoe Stakes for 2-year-old colts & geldings, foaled in Canada. 6 ½ furlongs on the main track.
  • Race 9 – $200,000 Elgin Stakes for 3-year-old and 4-year-old colts & geldings, foaled in Canada. 7 furlongs on the main track.

Trainer Julia Carey, who will send out Paynes Spirit in the Elgin Stakes, told Woodbine’s Chris Lomon for a stakes preview, “With the way we have our purse structure here at the moment, it’s a very good incentive to go out to the sale and take a shot and buy one. If you can get one who can run, you can make some decent money. They don’t have to be a champion, but with the conditioned races, and first-level allowance, there is some nice money you can put beside their name. There is certainly nothing wrong with that.”

In the Simcoe, trainer Bill Tharrenos will send out Souper Survivor. He told Woodbine’s Matthew Lomon that purchasing horses at the CTHS sale has been an important part of his program since he was young.

“We’ve won the Yearling Sales Stakes multiple times, and we’re just hoping that we can find another one [at the sale] and continue the progress,” Tharrenos said.

Davis said that, as a new owner, “having money from the TIP program, in general, allows you to buy horses, which have taken us on journeys we didn’t expect. Rapid Test, our first horse, he was just in a Grade 3 three weeks ago, and he’s been knocking on the door of stakes races his whole career. He went in the CTHS stakes races, too. So, that was a huge reason to buy him with [trainer] Catherine Day Phillips. She knew all the opportunities there were – and they just keep expanding, which makes things better. I definitely wouldn’t hesitate again to have an Ontario Sired, Ontario Bred horse. There’s just so much growth [in the program].”

That includes the money now available to Ontario breeders via TIP’s Breeders Awards.

“For a breeder, I know it’s from past sales, but Breeders Awards have gone up for breaking your maiden,” McCormack said. “I think that’s exciting. If you break your maiden, you get $16,000 in Breeders Awards [for an Ontario Sired horse]. That’s huge, and $13,000 if you’re Ontario Bred.

“If an Ontario Sired horse wins a maiden special weight race in an open race setting, it’s hugely beneficial. The incentive to breed a good open allowance horse to an Ontario stallion is very well rewarded… essentially there are maiden opportunities and allowance races for sales graduates. There’s also a sales graduate bonus for the breeder of an open allowance race. So that’s extra on top of the average Breeders Awards. And those Breeders Awards… are on stakes, obviously, but they’re also very much towards that maiden-breaking opportunity. At the end of the day, what you get for the horse in the sales ring, the account doesn’t get closed because of the racing opportunities that these horses have that reward the breeders.

“If you have sold a horse for $80,000, you would say you’ve been rewarded, but you might get another $40,000 or $50,000 in Breeders Awards when that horse gets to the races.”

But it’s more than that, said Davis. As a breeder, the $5 million of the funding that specifically went to TIP programs, gives him, “some long-term hope” after founding Apricot Valley Thoroughbreds six or seven years ago.

“I know a lot of breeders kind of tap out around five years,” Davis said. “It’s the make-it-or-break-it stage. You ask yourself a lot of questions during that time. It’s a lot of money. So, to have that light at the end of the tunnel come through, especially when we’re starting to turn a corner… it gives us a lot more confidence in where things are going, and to kind of stock up and breed more.

“We have way more confidence moving forward with the program.”

Whether the money ends up going to owners or breeders, McCormack said the funding increase – part of $35 million in additional government funding annually for the next five years for Ontario’s three horse racing breeds – will have a huge, positive impact given that previous government funding was not adjusted for inflation and costs have risen significantly.

“We were stuck for five years with the last deal where there was no inflation index improvement, so our purses stagnated, and that’s not good for any business because inflation can gobble up any profit that you might be making, or your break-even point gets even higher,” McCormack said.

“There has been very little good news in the last few years. You had to make what you could make with what you had and survive. While it’s still a tough game, it’s now a little more rewarding, if you have the quality… It’s not a participation sport. It never has been. It’s who gets to the line first. So, you have to have quality. You have to have improvement in your stock, and you have to have output to get input. So, this [extra funding] helps, and I’m absolutely more optimistic.”

For more information on the sale, please visit the CTHS Ontario site.