by Dave Briggs

Last year, counting both the yearling and mixed sales, Preferred Equine sold exactly $20 million worth of horses at the Standardbred Horse Sales Company’s auction in Harrisburg, PA — $14,091,000 in the mixed sale and $5,909,000 in the yearling sale — to lead all consignors by a wide margin.

In the last 10 years, Preferred has sold over $121 million worth of horses in Harrisburg (counting both the yearling and mixed sales), and has been the leading consignor by gross nine times, including each of the last three years.

Preferred owner David Reid normally is reluctant to make predictions about this year’s auctions, but he said he is pleased about the horses he is selling on behalf of 45 different breeders.

“It just shows our diversification… representing a whole range of breeders, from larger to smaller and we have a lot to offer for everybody,” Reid said.

“I think Preferred has a very typical consignment for Harrisburg… I’m very pleased with the offering and we’ve got some good pedigree updates, in particular, we’re selling a sibling to the Breeders Crown elimination winner Captain Optimistic.

“I have all the jurisdictions, I have first crops with Perfect Stings, I have Bulldogs, I have Huntsvilles, I have Captaintreacherouses. So, from a pacing side, I’m happy with what we have to offer.

“We have an outstanding Chapter Seven colt. We have an outstanding Walner filly. We have an outstanding Captaintreacherous and an outstanding Bulldog Hanover.

“We have a good cross-section of trotters and pacers.”

Fresh off being the first consignor in the history of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale to gross more than $12 million ($12,588,000 to be exact), Preferred is selling 137 yearlings in Harrisburg this year — 52 trotters and 85 pacers.

In the mixed sale, Reid said Preferred has, “a strong group of Fabulous Fillies across the board, pacers and trotters. In the racehorse section, Amazing Catch [Hip #1595] is getting a lot of interest. That’s a nice 3-year-old trotter.

“On the broodmare side, we have a unique situation where we’re offering the dam of Jiggy Jog S, Hot Mess Hanover [Hip #1178]. She’s young, she’s good looking and she’s a producer. There’s not many times you can breed a young mare, who is already the dam of one of the greater race fillies of our time. She’s carrying a full sibling to Jiggy Jog, so we’re very excited about offering her, for sure.”

Reid also mentioned 4-year-old millionaire race mare Mambacita, Hip #1510, a Tactical Landing out of Bill’s Lady.