McCann Bloodstock Celebrates 25 Years

Posted: 02/04/2012

Full disclosure has been Bob McCann’s guiding principle for the bloodstock agency he created 25 years ago. The Winchester, Ky., native’s straightforward approach has been so appreciated that he’s brokered a steadily increasing number of horses and contracts for 22 consecutive years beginning in October 1986, when the door of his agency opened.

Just a couple years into his new venture, McCann recalled how the sale of a stallion season gave him a client for life. The buyer had already agreed to purchase a stallion season for $15,000. Because it was the late 1980s when stud fees—actually the entire industry—were in a state of flux, McCann called the shareholder selling the season to double-check on the fee before sealing the deal. As it turned out, the fee had dropped to $12,000.

McCann rewrote the contract, adjusted the fee to $12,000 and lowered his commission accordingly. “The client had already agree to $15,000 and it would have been easy to make $3,000, but then I don’t sleep at night,” he said. “Th at man has been a regular client for me ever since and a friend.”