Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs has cancelled its spring two-year-old sale for 2009 and perhaps beyond, it was announced Friday.

Adena’s two-year-old sale was held annually in conjunction with the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale of selected two-year-olds in training.

The Adena sale, which debuted in 2002, featured untimed gallops, in contrast to the timed workouts at the rest of the American two-year-old auctions.

The Adena sale had supporters who believed the slower gallops were better for the horses. However, it failed to bring the kind of prices the mainstream two-year-old auctions did.

“We put a lot of time and energy into getting these horses through the two-year-old program, but at the end of the day there’s only so much a horse will bring if they don’t breeze,” said Adena’s Mike Recio. “[The two-year-old sale] was really starting to gain momentum. A lot of stakes winners were coming out of it, and people liked the fact that the horses weren’t pushed.

“But we’re going to give people an opportunity to get in on our Eclipse Award-winning program through yearlings.”

Adena’s current crop of 217 yearlings will be divided between the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings (7), the OBSC August yearling sale (37), and Keeneland September (173).

Adena is going to open its Adena Springs South training center in Williston, Florida—where its two-year-olds previously were prepped—to outside clients.

“We’ve elected to go the yearling route with the current crop and forego our annual two-year-old auction entirely,” Stronach stated in a press release. “We’ve decided to open our breaking and training facility at Adena Springs South the public and this change in strategy will free up valuable stall space there.

“Our training center is a world class facility with a gifted staff that includes Randy Bradshaw. We’ll treat client’s horses as if they are our own and offer very competitive rates.”

Adena’s 2008 sale saw 97 horses sell for a total of $5,283,500 and an average of $54,469. An A.P. Indy colt out of Smok’n Frolic topped the sale at $380,000.

Graded stakes winners sold at the Adena sale include Boomzeeboom, Thunder Touch, Bear’s Kid, The Niagara Queen, Buffalo Man, and My Princess Jess.

Ginger Punch, champion older female of 2007, was offered at the 2005 sale but was listed as reserve not attained on final bid of $27,000. Stronach kept Ginger Punch and raced her himself. Her record currently stands at 11 wins from 19 starts, with earnings of $2,705,603.

Recio said Stronach has not ruled out bringing the two-year-old sale back in 2010 or beyond.

“This was a hard decision to make. Frank was very proud of our two-year-old sale,” Recio said. “At the end of the day, it benefitted some horses, particularly the less-bred horses, because people got to see how they moved. But [the gallop format] did put some restraints on what a horse can bring.

“By no stretch of the imagination is this a red flag. Every year you have to analyze your program, and we’re going to try the yearling route and open our training facility to the public.”
(Source: Thoroughbred Times)