by Debbie Little 

Though Vieux Carre Farms’ consignment at Harrisburg from this year may be a little smaller than usual, from a quality standpoint it will still be mighty. 

“We’ve scaled back a little bit, had some clients that wanted to train a few more and send some to Lexington, so, we have 21 this year, which is the smallest number we’ve had in quite a while,” said Vieux Carre Farms’ general manager Mark Egloff. “But, you know, we always like to bring some nice horses to Harrisburg. 

“And you know, it’s a family tradition for us. I’ve been going to the Harrisburg sale since I was in high school, so I haven’t missed too many, even when I was in college or working in Florida, I would still make it up for the sale. It’s a real tradition for us. It’s a real family affair. We’ve got a nice crop of horses, and I think we’ll be all right. I don’t have any sale toppers or anything, but, you know, we’ve got a nice bunch.” 

The yearlings that Egloff wanted to highlight are all selling, by design, on Day 3. 

“I think probably as far as individuals, my favorites would be maybe that Captain Corey filly, [Hip #622 Sirene Song] out of a Muscle Hill mare [Sabrina Deo],” Egloff said. “That’s a very, very nice filly. She’s been well received and got a lot of hits on her videos. She kind of goes like her old man, so we’ll see how that works out. He had a very unique way of going, but it was very fast, so hopefully it translates, you know. So, she’s nice. 

“We’re kind of playing a hand we played before. We kept some Sweet Lou colts till the end of the sale that I think are nice, and people will be running out of options and I think we might do pretty well with them. [Hip #650 Hickock] that’s a Sweet Lou colt that’s out of the Silky family, which is always well received. So, I think he’ll get a lot of looks. And then I’ve got two more, [Hip #677 Sweet Pete Pv and Hip #820 Easy Breeze] out of nice families, so yeah, we hope to sell those for good money on the third day.” 

Although Vieux Carre Farms group for the Standardbred Horse Sale in Harrisburg, PA, does have quite a few Pennsylvania eligibles, that’s not all they have to offer. 

“Mostly Pennsylvania, but we’ve got a Perfect Sting filly and Six Pack colt from Jersey, and then we’ve got a couple of Huntsvilles for New York,” Egloff said. “So, yeah, we’re good.” 

The Perfect Sting daughter, Hip #652 Perfect Dawn, is out of the Somebeachsomewhere mare Somebeachsomedawn, while the son of Six Pack, Hip #867 Streaking Six, is out of the Yankee Glide mare Highland Glider. The two daughters of Huntsville are Hip #683 Ravishing out of the Rock N Roll Heaven mare One For The World and Hip #742 Bandera Babe out of the Always B Miki mare Always A Buzz. 

“I thought the Perfect Stings sold well in Lexington,” Egloff said. “He’s going to have a pretty open runway there in New Jersey as pacing sires go, so I think there’s a lot of reasons for people to want to own one. There’s good money in Jersey now, so I think he’ll be very competitive there. 

“Same with Captain Corey in Pennsylvania, regarding the trotters. You know, there’s definitely a place for another good trotter here in Pennsylvania, so he’ll have a shot there to get his first crop out there and win some money in Pennsylvania. So, yeah, we’ll see how it shakes out. 

“New York’s made some great improvements to their program, which always helps, and then Huntsville is having his best year ever, so we’re happy to have a couple of those fillies to sell.” 

In all, Vieux Carre Farms has yearlings eligible to New Jersey, New York, Ontario, and Pennsylvania, made up of both male and female pacers and trotters representing 11 different stallions. 

“When you have a variety, then you get a lot of different buyers stopping by for different things,” Egloff said. “And then you get more chances to tout the other ones in your consignment, because you’ve got a good cross section of people. So, hopefully it works. Hopefully the sale will be strong, like Lexington and we’ll make enough to do it again next year.” 

According to Egloff, when it comes to talking up your consignment, there has to be a balance between promoting and preserving your credibility. 

“You don’t want to be shooting your mouth off when you don’t really have the goods,” he said. “So, with experience, you kind of learn, to temper your salesmanship a little bit if you don’t have the cards to play. But anyway, we’ve got some cards to play, and I think we’ll be fine.” 

Egloff said Vieux Carre Farms had a good sale in Lexington and is hoping for the same in Harrisburg. 

“If you’re not an optimist in this business, you probably wouldn’t last very long,” Egloff said with a laugh. “It wouldn’t be much fun.”