Vieux Carre Farms is looking to pick up the pace in Lexington
by Debbie Little
What Vieux Carre Farms lacks in quantity they certainly make up for in quality as they bring a small but well-bred group to Kentucky.
The Gettysburg, PA-based outfit heads into the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale with a total of nine, including one as agent, with seven pacers and two trotters.
“We’re generally stronger in the pacing department, and that holds true this year too,” general manager Mark Egloff said. “I’m bringing three really nice, Sweet Lou colts to the sale. Probably the best bred one is named Quantico, Hip #216. He’s a flashy colt, beautiful. That mare [Bolt Of Thunder] was a great buy for us. She has very good ones, and they’ve sold very well.
“He’s a full brother to Sweet Amira, who we raised and sold, and that mare was really better than her earnings show. She’s had some bad luck, but she showed world class sort of speed. We were the underbidders on her when she sold after her racing career… So, I’m really high on her brother, and I think he’ll sell well.
“The other two [Hip #364 Legal Eagle and Hip #387 Sweet Mate] are very nice colts, kind of in the medium size range, which people seem to think the medium sized ones is the way to go. I mean, Confederate was a medium sized horse, I think, you know, Louprint’s a medium sized horse.
“They’ve got some page, nice pedigrees back in there. The mares are young, haven’t had too many; this is the first Sweet Lou for both of them, so I think they’ll be moving up the ranks.”
As interest in Sweet Lou continues to soar, his offspring are a welcomed addition to any consignment.
“They pretty much always have been,” Egloff said. “He’s bailed us out many years, but it just keeps getting stronger. I mean, he was so dominant in Delaware [Ohio] the other day. And they’re just great horses to sell as yearlings because they’re good looking, and then they race even better. So, what more can you say?”
In addition to their Sweet Lou colt trio, Vieux Carre also has fillies by Bulldog Hanover and Captaintreacherous, as well as two Tall Dark Stranger colts, which are spread across Days 2, 3, and 4.
Hip #215 Treacherous Bet out of the Bettors Delight mare Bet On Sunday will not be the typical Captaintreacherous offered.
“She’s a nice filly,” Egloff said. “Really well made, clean, good confirmation, really muscular filly. We’re kind of bringing back the blood of the sire’s dam. It’s kind of the old thoroughbred Tesio concept. So, she’s out of a Bettors Delight mare, but she’s from the Worldly Beauty, Captaintreacherous family. So, we’re kind of bringing back that blood on the bottom side. I don’t really think you can have too much of that. I think the more of that kind of blood, the better.”
Hip #651 Bulldog Tough is a brown Bulldog Hanover filly out of the Somebeachsomewhere daughter Ava Hanover, while Hip #744 Black Eagle and Hip #798 Rodeo Stranger are colts by Tall Dark Stranger.
“I think [Bulldog Hanover] had a small crop while he was racing, people don’t pay too much attention to that,” Egloff said. “This is his first full crop being bred to top mares, so I think people will be looking for nice individuals there. And, yeah, that’s a nice, big filly. The mare’s got some pedigree, and this is probably the biggest, nicest one she’s had, so, hopefully, we’ll do okay there.
“We’ve got two Tall Dark Strangers. One’s a colt [Black Eagle] out of a granddaughter of Rainbow Blue, who we used to own at one time, and she was good to us, and she was good to everybody that ever owned her. So anyway, we bought this granddaughter of hers, and he’s a well-made colt; we’ll see how he does.
“The other one [Rodeo Stranger], for our client as agent, is out of a sister to Huntsville, so he’s got some page and he is definitely the better-looking yearling that she’s had… This is a nice, strong colt.”
Egloff likes both of Vieux Carre’s trotters: Hip #401 Happy Dreams an Ecurie D DK filly and Hip #769 Pat Pending a colt by International Moni.
“Like I said, we’re generally a little stronger in the pacing division, although this year, I’m actually maybe as excited about #401, as any of them,” Egloff said. “She is a champion mare, Credit Winner mare, that we bought out of Katz and Libfeld’s dispersal. And, you know, she hasn’t really had her good one yet, but I really like what they did, breeding her to Ecurie D, an outcross, something different. And you know that horse is a first crop sire, he’s got all the credentials. I mean, he was undefeated in Europe, came over here, and set a world record, and won back-to-back Breeders Crowns. So, I think people will be looking for those. And she just turned out beautiful. She’s a beautiful filly, and she’s probably gotten the most attention online, on the videos of any of our horses so far. People are clicking on there and seem to like what they see.
“You can see how many times they’ve been viewed, so that gives you a little indication of interest. And, even if it’s the same person, the fact that they looked at it again, that’s a good sign. So, they liked something they saw.
Egloff said he’s not concerned about selling something from a first-time sire like Ecurie D DK.
“If it’s a horse with that kind of credentials, you usually get a little premium for the first crop,” Egloff said. “You know, people are always wanting something new and trying to build a better mousetrap, so they’ll take a shot on a horse that’s got his kind of credentials. And the other thing nice about her, he stands in New Jersey, but she’s also Kentucky eligible, which, I think, is going to help her. So, yeah, I think she’ll be out of the stall a lot, and I think they’ll still like what they see.”
In regards to International Moni colt he said, “I like him a lot. He’s a big, strong, colt and International Moni’s been a good sire… that chestnut filly that’s out there this year [Elista Hanover] she’s phenomenal.”
Since Egloff is selling an Ontario-bred, HRU asked him whether he thought tariffs and current politics between the U.S. and Canada might limit the number of Canadians at the sale.
“You’re kind of getting out of my pay grade here,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer all that, but, you know, last year we had the threat of those tariffs, and it didn’t seem to affect the breeding side of it, I don’t think, that much.
“Talking about macroeconomics, what I do know is that I was just talking to Bill Hess who does some work for us, and is a veterinarian in Pennsylvania down here that does a lot of work on the thoroughbred side too. And the Saratoga and Keeneland yearling sales for the thoroughbreds were lights out. I mean, more money than ever, in all departments. So, their sales were phenomenal, and I think that’s only good for us. It can’t be bad. How much it plays into it, I don’t know. We have a little bit different market, but there’s no shortage of money out there, you know, buying horses as assets, and that sort of thing. So, I was glad to hear that.”
