Sean Feld and father Bob Feld have proved their keen eye for horse flesh time and time again, finding graded stakes-caliber horses for a reasonable price tag. They have a different approach than some, as they look at every single horse in a sale, without the help of a short lister.
"Each day is a long one, we get out there early and stay until nobody will show us a horse anymore," said Sean Feld.
Keeneland cataloged more than 4,000 horses for its Keeneland September Yearling Sale, and the Feld duo will look at every single one. If it doesn't meet their criteria they quickly move on to the next, as time is money during the sale.
Some bloodstock agents visit farms and study pedigrees in the weeks leading up to a large sale such as this. They used to do a lot of farm visits but said the horses can change so much in the last month leading up to the sale that they would rather see them on "game day." With an approach highly focused on physicals, if they are between a few horses and have to narrow down the list, then they will dive deep into their pedigree.
"We know what we like and what we don't like. Within three seconds of seeing a horse stand up in front of me, I can tell if I will want to see the horse a second time," said the younger Feld.
In the past, the Felds tried hiring a short-lister, but Sean noted everyone sees something different. Sean and Bob agree on most everything, and said at the end of the process, 98% of the time, father and son both like the same horses on the "final list".
"I look at half the barns, and Bob looks at half the barns, and then we swap lists," he said.
Among their most notable finds are Hall of Famer Beholder, grade 1 winner Hot Rod Charlie, and current runner and millionaire Trikari, winner of the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T).
Hot Rod Charlie cost just $17,000 as a short yearling, and Trikari brought $27,500 as a yearling. Feld said their athleticism trumped their light pedigrees.
"We didn't care that (Hot Rod Charlie's sire) Oxbow was cold at the time and didn't care that the dam of Trikari hadn't thrown a winner in many tries. When you don't have a large budget, you have to be able to cut some corners and if we like one's physical attributes, we ignore the pedigrees," he said.
One of their notable successes at the Keeneland September Sale was Shared Account at the 2007 edition of the sale. She was bought for $170,000, and went on to win more than $1.6 million on the racetrack. She won the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) in 2010 at Churchill Downs for trainer Graham Motion and owner Sagamore Farm.
During the Sept. 10 second session of this year's Keeneland sale, Shared Account's filly by Into Mischief sold for $1.5 million to David Lanigan and Ted Durcan, agents for Mrs. Cindy Heider of Heider Family Stables, bringing the story of success full circle.
The father/son duo make a great team, and will look to add a new potential graded stakes winner to their list before the sale is over.
"He (Bob) taught me what to look for, so we agree 98% of the time. We both work very hard at the sale, some days I might do an extra barn or he might do an extra barn, and we joke about someone slacking but we both know the job will get done regardless. We are both think smarter not harder type of people, which streamlines the process," Sean Feld said.
