The increasingly strong U. S. dollar is one of the prominent economic developments of 2014 and 2015. The buoyant dollar should have a telling effect on upcoming select summer and fall yearling sales in the United States and Europe.
The following list depicts countries in which Thoroughbred yearling buyers often come from and the respective percentage change of their currencies versus the U. S. dollar in the past 52 weeks.
Argentina (Peso) -10% change
Australia (Dollar) -16%
Brazil (Real) -28%
Canada (Dollar) -13%
France (Euro) -24%
Germany (Euro) -24%
Ireland (Euro) -24%
Italy (Euro) -24%
Japan (Yen) -16%
Mexico (Peso) -15%
Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 0.0%
South Africa (Rand) -13%
South Korea (Won) -5%
Turkey (Lira) –15%
United Arab Emirates (Dirham) 0.0%
United Kingdom (Pound) -12%
What the palpably strong U. S. dollar means, of course, is that yearling buyers from the vast majority of the forgoing countries will face consequential price increases at Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton. By contrast, United States buyers at, say, Tattersalls in Great Britain and Ireland will benefit greatly.
While currency valuations ebb and flow, the U. S. dollar will likely continue to be strong when the select summer and fall yearling sales get underway. This is a bearish sign for select yearling sales in the United States, but should be a nice boost for yearling sales in Europe.
No time in recent history has provided American buyers with the opportunity to go shopping for the best European-bred yearlings at historically bargain prices.
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