The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) announces remarkable success for the very first NRHA Sire & Dam Program online auction. The online auction for 2007 breedings began November 15th and ran through December 2nd. The “eBay-style” bidding war took off during the 2006 NRHA Futurity at the Oklahoma State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, OK. It went down to the final minutes leading up to cutoff at 8:00 pm CST on Saturday, December 2.
The online auction was created to give the NRHA membership an opportunity to buy a Sire & Dam breeding that in the past may have been pre-sold before it was donated. Also incorporated into the auction concept was the Top 20 Sires Program which was the idea of NRHA Professional Tom McCutcheon. The Top 20 Sires Program is the answer to many concerns by mare owners who had previously not had the opportunity to purchase a breeding to one of the Top 20 stallions.
The list of the Top 20 Sires is comprised of those stallions appearing in the NRHA 2005 Year in Review - 2005 Leading Sires’ rankings. The owners of those Top 20 Sires choose whether or not they want to donate to the Sire & Dam Program. In order to participate, the owners of the Top 20 Sires were required to donate at least one breeding to the online auction. After the first donation, the stallion owners have the option of donating additional breedings to be sold for 60% of the current year’s breeding fee. All other stallion owners were given the option of being in the auction or having their breedings sold at 60 % of their advertised fee.
McCutcheon felt the online auction would be a much better way to make these breedings available to everyone and it would also increase the revenue to the Sire & Dam Program which would provide more benefits to the NRHA Membership. All of the stallion owners agreed. McCutcheon says, “For most of the breeders, it was different and change is always scary and it has been such a good program through the years as far as raising money and I think people are always a little bit afraid to mess with something that has a good track record. I just didn’t see any way it could miss and I believed in the auction.” And he had good reason to believe in it. The new NRHA Sire & Dam Program online auction is being hailed a success bringing in close to $180,000.00. McCutcheon looks forward to the program becoming even stronger in the coming years.
NRHA Sire & Dam Program Coordinator Dandy Oltermann is pleased by the positive response she’s received about the online auction. “I think it went over really well. I get calls all the time now from people who bid on the stallions about how excited they are. They’re people who would never have had the opportunity to breed their mares to those studs if it weren’t for the online auction. It gave them the option and they are thrilled with it.”
The sire receiving the most bids was One Time Pepto (Peptoboonsmal x One Time Soon) owned by Jeffrey Matthews of Warsaw, NC. With 152 bids, One Time Pepto’s breeding went for more than double his regular stud fee of $5,000. With a starting bid of 60% of One Time Pepto’s regular breeding fee, the bids closed at $10,030.00. Next in line came Gunner, one of the NRHA Sire & Dam Top 20 Sires. Gunner (Colonelfourfreckle x Katie Gun) received 80 bids and closed at $7,725.00. Gunner is owned by McQuay Stables of Tioga, TX.
One Time Pepto is a highly sought after sire in the cutting world. Stallion owner Jeffrey Matthews says he never considered the NRHA Sire & Dam Program until Carol Rose approached him with the idea of offering a breeding. Matthews says he credits Rose for urging him to take that leap of faith by offering the breeding in a new market. “I’m overwhelmed he brought in double his stud fee and topped the list,” says Matthews. He grew up reining and has always loved the people involved in the sport. Matthews adds, “I believe in that horse and I think reiners will see he can sire great horses for the sport.” One Time Pepto is booked for the coming year and Matthews says he was forced to turn down 180 mares for 2007.
One of the benefits of participating in the NRHA Sire & Dam Program, stallions are eligible for Futurity and Derby Sire Awards. At the 2006 NRHA Futurity, six stallions were awarded close to $50,000 for their participation in the NRHA Sire & Dam Program. Offspring from those six stallions won top awards in the 2006 NRHA Open and Cinch NRHA Non Pro Futurity.
The NRHA Sire & Dam Program began in 1966. It is a breeding program supporting the NRHA, and offers significant benefits to the participants. In addition to stallions being eligible for Futurity and Derby Sire Awards, mare owners have the opportunity to purchase breedings that they may not otherwise have access to, at reduced rates. NRHA Sire & Dam Program Offspring are eligible for reduced entry into the NRHA Futurity & Derby and Sire & Dam Program progeny are eligible for NRHA Sire & Dam Program Offspring Awards at the NRHA Futurity.
