After months of carefully planned development, design and testing, Preferred has now launched its new digital horse sales platform, Preferred Equine Online — or PEO, for short — to host full service online auctions.
To learn more, visit preferredequineonline.
PEO’s inaugural online sale, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 28, will feature both horses of racing age and breeding stock. Entries will be accepted through Feb. 23, allowing time for the advertising and promotion of horses to Preferred’s own buyer database and the public at large.
Just like an in-person sale, horses will be sold in hip number order, in timed increments for each horse. Live pedigrees and past performances, photos, videos and more will be available for each entry.
As the world’s leading Standardbred sales agency, owner and manager David Reid said it was simply the right time for starting an online sale and a “natural progression” for his growing, multifaceted company.
“It’s not like we invented the online horse auction, but I think we bring a natural skill set to that arena that’s possessed by no one else,” Reid said. “Our 30-plus years of sales experience, along with our strong base of both buyers and sellers, gives us the resources — and the quality of horses — that no other online sale has at its disposal. I think that will make us the best in class.”
Reid said the point person working on the online project’s launch has been Preferred’s Kate Jones, who will work with Reid and other team members in overseeing and conducting each sale.
In addition to running Preferred Equine Marketing, Reid is manager of the Tattersalls Mixed Sales at the Meadowlands and co-manager of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.
With that in mind, he says there will be no conflicts with live, in-person sales, as Preferred’s online sales will be integrated with the traditional sales calendar.
“Our intention for these sales is to maximize a customer’s ability to strike while the iron is hot… a racehorse coming off a lifetime best win, or a mare whose pedigree got ramped up with an important stakes winner,” Reid said. “In those cases, you won’t have to wait months for a traditional mixed sale to sell or buy a good horse. PEO will have a sale that’s right ahead of you.”
Reid said PEO utilizes the latest technology available in the auction space, and that online sales will be woven into Preferred’s existing social media and advertising platforms. “That expanded reach and promotion will result in an increase in bloodstock trade across the industry,” he added.
“In-person mixed sales like Tattersalls at the Meadowlands aren’t going to be displaced,” he said. “As a sales agency, we’re just trying to look ahead and make it easy to move horses and create commerce throughout the year while providing the best customer service. Preferred Equine Online will accomplish that. There’s a reason we’re Preferred!”
(Preferred Equine)