by James Platz

Ohio-based breeder Jonas Schlabach had a hunch his filly, Swinging Loyalty, would sell well Monday (Nov. 4) during the opening session of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg, PA. The Walner-sired yearling, however, far exceeded his expectations. Cataloged as Hip #53, part of the Concord Stud consignment, Swinging Loyalty was hammered down for $760,000, the top price for a filly and second most overall.

“Being the last one brought $390,000, I thought this was a nicer filly, more of a powerhouse,” Schlabach said. “She just caught your attention. I was hoping she would bring $500,000, but you never know. You go into these sales and you don’t have any guarantees.”

Indeed, there are no guarantees, but leading into Monday’s session, the breeder received some encouraging feedback that gave him reason to be optimistic.

“Richard Gutnick came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I love that filly and I hope I can reach her. You can know that if I don’t buy her, I’m back bidder,’” Schlabach said. “Then Dale Welk came along and told me, ‘You might have the top filly of the sale.’”

After spirited bidding Monday afternoon at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Complex, Gutnick emerged the winner, and Schlabach was left in amazement.

“I got my hopes up that she would bring nice money, but I never dreamed she would go to $760,000,” he said. “You don’t have these but once in a lifetime. It’s a dream for a small guy like me.”

The origins of Monday’s big score trace back four generations to Striking Sahbra mare Swing Anna Miss. On the track, the filly banked $133,729 over the course of 30 career starts. The trotter hit the board in 25 of those attempts, collecting 12 wins. Swing Anna Miss was a standout in the Buckeye State at 2, finishing first or second in each of her 13 starts, claiming nine wins and just over $100,000 in earnings. The campaign earned her 2-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year honors in Ohio in 2001.

Swing Anna Miss was entered at Harrisburg following her sophomore season, and Schlabach purchased the filly to add to his broodmare band.

“She was just from a very ordinary Ohio pedigree, nothing fancy,” he said. “But she was a very good filly by Striking Sahbra. She was the 2-year-old filly of the year. I bought her. I think I paid $19,000 for her. I had her for probably 12 foals or more. She paid her way.”

The story could have very well ended there if it weren’t for an incident with one of Swing Anna Miss’ foals, Swing Anna Cash. The Cash Hall filly, the fifth foal from the mare, was being prepared for the sales when fate intervened.

“She hurt herself when Spring Haven Farm was videoing her for the sale,” the breeder said. “She ran through a fence and hurt herself. I had to pull her out of the sale.”

Schlabach would lease the filly for two seasons. During that time, Swing Anna Cash won four times in 25 starts, accumulating earnings of $42,774. As a sophomore, the trotter took a mark of 1:56.3 at Scioto Downs.

“I just leased her out for two years but I wanted her back for a broodmare,” he said. “I liked the filly; she was a nice filly.”

As a broodmare, Swing Anna Cash showed she could produce just like her mother. Swing Anna Miss produced 10 winners from 11 starters, and 14 foals overall. Swing Anna Cash’s first foal was the RC Royalty filly Swinging Royalty. The filly sold for $40,000 at the 2013 Harrisburg sale before going on to earn $255,880 and take a 1:54.1 sophomore mark. Slabach reacquired the trotter at Harrisburg, paying $55,000 during a mixed session.

“Today, you try to buy a mare back like that, it’s like $300,000 or $400,000,” he said.

Bringing Swinging Royalty back to his Apple Creek, OH, farm, Schlabach bred the mare to Chapter Seven.

“I felt she was the caliber mare that could handle that and should be bred to something like Chapter Seven,” Schlabach said. “Right at the time, Ohio wasn’t that great. It did work out for her, which is why she is where she is right now.”

Every breeder’s dream is to have a top-producing mare with sought after babies, and Schlabach has that in Swinging Royalty. Her first foal, colt Ahundreddollarbill, sold in the first session of Harrisburg’s 2019 sale. Bringing $65,000 in that opening session, the trotter went on to win the Canadian Trotting Classic and is less than $30,000 from $1 million in earnings. Swinging Royalty’s second foal, Slay, another son from Chapter Seven, earned just shy of three-quarters of a million before being retired to stud duties in Ohio. He was also a first-day Harrisburg yearling, fetching $130,000.

Chapter Seven filly Royal Filly, Swinging Royalty’s third foal, was sold privately, and has gone on to score five wins and bank $246,209. Last fall, Jeff Snyder purchased Royal Mission in Harrisburg’s opening session, going to $390,000. The Chapter Seven freshman captured the New York Sires Stakes final and added nearly $300,000 on her card in 10 seasonal starts.

“They just kept clicking,” Schlabach said of the quartet of Chapter Seven foals. “I’ve got a nice weanling by her side by Chapter Seven and a baby in her belly by Chapter Seven. If this Walner pans out, I might breed her back to Walner in a couple years.”

On Monday, Swinging Loyalty sold for more than her four siblings had brought… combined. Swinging Royalty has produced foals grossing a few thousand dollars south of $1.5 million, a gaudy statistic for the dam.

“Being in this and trying for about 40 years, I realize you just get a mare like that once in a lifetime,” said the 70-year-old. “I’m trying to enjoy it while I can. I just feel lucky to have a mare like that.”