Tattersalls has the right idea, for the right reason as well as for a few more

Tattersalls, an Old World company, is taking a new approach. And a good one at that.

The venerable Newmarket, England, auction firm recently announced that it would reduce by half its commission on buy-backs to encourage more honest reporting of its sales activities. Like all sales companies, it is plagued by inaccurate sales reports. The problem stems from when consignors get a shill to sign a sales slip for buy-backs, to give the impression that the horse sold when actually it did not.

In England and anywhere else that people are selling horses at public auction, consignors are reluctant to report that their horse was bought back. Consignors want to be known for selling horses, and they fear that they will scare off potential buyers at future sales if they report their offering did not meet its reserve.

To avoid the appearance of buy-backs, consignors get accomplices to sign sales tickets. The sales company is then informed that it was a buy-back so that the person who signed the sales receipt is not billed for the horse.

Sales companies, however, are party to the charade, because they also know when a horse is bought back. Still, rarely is a phony buyer's name taken off the sales summaries and replaced by RNA (reserve not attained) or Not Sold. Sales companies also want to be known for selling horses.

Tattersalls's incentive for more accurate reporting aside, a better argument for reducing commission for horses that fail to meet their reserves is that the sales company did not fulfill its role in getting a horse sold. In many respects, it is an unbalanced fee structure that penalizes the seller for bringing a commodity to market when the storefront-the conduit for completing a transaction-is not able to fulfill its role.

Sales companies no doubt will point out that they are performing a valuable service, recruiting potential buyers, incurring expenses in getting the horse into the sales ring, and offering a setting that enables a horse to be sold. If a horse does not sell, a sales company may suggest, it is because the consignor has an unrealistic reserve.

The inventive move by Tattersalls bridges a gap in the sales company-consignor relationship, plus it literally pays consignors to report the truth. On a horse sold for $100,000, for example, a standard 5% commission equates to $5,000. If that horse was actually bought back, though, the new structure at Tattersalls would make the commission $2,500. That is a substantial incentive.

The move by Tattersalls will help to strengthen a sometimes rocky relationship between consignor and sales company. It will also help the sales company to gain credibility with its most important constituents-buyers.

Auction companies in North America would be smart to follow Tattersalls's lead and adopt a similar commission structure.

Think big

Sheikh Mohammed has the right idea: Make racing an event.

Before this year's Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Dubai's crown prince, said that he wants to make the crowning race day in his country an even bigger event in coming years. He said this would be accomplished by offering higher purses and attracting more horses and more visitors from around the world. To accommodate this growing interest he intends to foster, he suggests that the event will be held over two days.

That makes a lot of sense, particularly to someone who is traveling halfway around the world to attend the races. Two days of the sport are much more satisfying than one.

This is the same approach we have suggested for the Breeders' Cup. When Breeders' Cup Ltd. added the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) last year, making eight championship events held on one day, we suggested that a weekend of racing, with four races each day, would be more entertaining for fans. It would help spread out the races to allow more time to understand the importance of each race, create more drama between races, and help the Breeders' Cup become a much bigger event.

A Breeders' Cup held on a Saturday and Sunday, we think, would increase total handle for the weekend, give the sport more time on television to tell its story and build drama, and avoid the madhouse that now surrounds the day. Races are run so fast to accommodate television that fans have little time to handicap and get in a bet.

If the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) were held on the second race day, a Sunday, it may permit the race to be shown closer to prime time, in the 6-to-7 p.m. slot, a time similar to when the Super Bowl starts.

Showcase events for a sport must be used to create new fans, not merely to satisfy existing ones. Hold the Breeders' Cup over a weekend to allow the sport to reach millions more people and broaden the audience.