First, any show wins, or lack can be skewed. Look at Orion, he doesn't have any titles to speak of as he wasn't shown or was shown poorly from all I've read. No one can deny he's not a simply stunning mini. So all show info has to be taken in context of the horse itself.
If you really want to market a horse and that horse is shown. In your opinion, what holds the most weight for you? There is not a great number of national champions each year, only a select few, so if you are not one of those select few, what else do you use?
What would be the next in line?
National All Star Winner? Top Ten?
Regional Winner?
Honor Roll top ?????
Hall of Fame?
Other.
I've only recently began showing and learning the whole point deal, and really feel most people do not use the HOF, Superior Dam/Sire type titles enough in their marketing. So, for marketing I use what is available! If you don't participate at the National level, (which for many of us on the West Coast is extremely time consuming and expensive to do as compared to the mid America states), I have to use Regional level competition/wins, and any other awards, etc., the horse may get.
And if you were the a buyer looking for a top horse and show record was important, what would you look for?
If I was buying to show, I wouldn't want a record I would want to do that myself. As a breeder, if buying mature (over 5+) breeding stock, assuming a correct mini, I would be most interested in and have researched their pedigree, produce record (and their parents/siblings) first. But as you asked specifically about show record - I would want to see National level - NC/res, or Top Ten halter or performance. I don't care for color, youth costume, etc. (not that it's not lots of hard work, but not where my interest lies). Then Regional, HOF would all be weighed and considered.
Just wondering, when you find out a horse was a National Winner, or even a top 10, do you ask how many were in the class? Or is that unimportant?
I wouldn't ask, as I would probably have researched that on my own first. I don't want a surprise as a NC in costume - great that someone did that but that doesn't make it a great horse! As for the number in the class - there are so many ways to look at that. As Lyn pointed our with the AMHR National classes being well over 25+ a Top Ten is usually hard earned, but say there were only 5 and think of your top five favorite stallions - what if you placed last to them? Or think of the twenty worst stallions you've seen, would it be important that you beat them? Or if the horse won loads as a weanling and fell apart over the years.
I show an under 28" stallion that I'm lucky if there are three horses in a class - so does that make him not worthy? He's one that will probably never get his HOF, as it would take years because of the lack of competition at any given show. He's fortunately proving himself breeding which is the bottomline anyway for me!