Preferred primed for another huge sale, particularly in the mixed section
by Dave Briggs
Combining the last five years of selling yearlings at the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg, PA, Preferred Equine has sold over $26.2 million worth of horses and ranked either as the second or third leading consignor by gross behind perennial leader Hanover Shoe Farms. Considering Preferred represents dozens of smaller breeders, that’s a remarkable record of achievement, and we’re not even talking, yet, about the success of Preferred’s mixed sales offerings.
Preferred owner David Reid said he’s proud of the diversity in this year’s yearling consignment.
“Diversity is definitely the key, as it always is with Preferred Equine representing so many different breeders,” Reid said. “We have a wider range of sires and I’m looking forward to another typical Harrisburg yearling sale, for sure.
“This year, we’re representing 43 breeders in our consignment at the Harrisburg yearling sale and we have all jurisdictions represented with 23 New York-eligible, almost 30 Jersey-eligible, 24 Ontario-eligible, over 50 Pennsylvania-eligibles. We have a lot of Ohio-eligibles and then, in addition to that, we have multiple that are dual-eligible, either to Kentucky or Virginia. We have a number of Virginia-breds and a number of Kentucky-breds. On top of that, we have triple-eligibles with the Massachusetts program and the Virginia program. We have 12 Massachusetts-eligibles as well.
“Beau Jangles came out of the Preferred Equine consignment [in 2024] and that’s a great example of one of the breeders we would represent, a farm like Tara Hills that offers quality yearlings every year.
“We root for all our sale graduates hard every year. We want to represent breeders that sell winners. It goes back to Cool Papa Bell, who was a small breeder who had one or two yearlings that year and [the horse] went on to win a Hambletonian. I say all the time that, at Preferred, we’re unique because we represent so many breeders. You can come shop at Preferred and get a horse that won the Hambletonian or you might get a horse that went 12-for-12 and is going to be a candidate for 2-year-old pacing colt of the year.”
Reid said the rise in popularity of dual- or triple-eligible horses – of which he is offering 28 of the former – just gives more options to buyers, it doesn’t necessarily mean those that are single-eligible will sell for less than would have in the years before multiple eligibility. It just means that yearlings eligible to multiple locations may just be worth a bit more than normal.
“If you have a New York-bred or you have a New Jersey-bred or you have a Pennsylvania-bred or an Ontario-bred and your operation has shifted to the Midwest, you’re probably going to lean more towards buying a horse that’s maybe dual-eligible versus single-eligible,” Reid said. “So, there’s a certain faction of the buyers out there, because geographically [buyers] have changed locations and/or changed states where they want to compete, where single-eligibility of any yearling, regardless of where it is, could be affected. More importantly… there is probably an added bonus to a horse that is dual-eligible.
“[Dual-eligibility has] been going on for a number of years now… Would a dual-eligible Bulldog Hanover sell for more than a single-eligible? You can’t point that out, but is it a benefit to having it eligible to two programs? Yes. Will it make a difference? It’s not going to be a negative difference.”
At some 150 yearlings, Reid said Preferred’s Harrisburg consignment is a little larger than last year.
“There’s a couple unique situations,” Reid said. “All of Fashion Farms’ yearlings are being offered in the yearling sale, so that’s a little twist for Preferred Equine this year… They are being offered this year as part of the Fashion Farms dispersal.”
SOLD $100 MILLION WORTH OF MIXED HORSES IN SEVEN YEARS
Preferred will also be selling Fashion Farms’ mixed sale offerings, as well as handling a dispersal from New Jersey’s Fair Winds Farm.
The leading mixed sale consignor for at least the last seven years, Preferred has sold just shy of $100 million worth of horses and stallion shares, combined, in that time, averaging over $12 million in sales per year.
This year is shaping up to be bigger than most.
“[Fair Winds is] selling their breeding stock, mares and shares,” Reid said. “Fashion Farms, Jules Siegel, he’s dispersing all of his breeding stock. Obviously, he’s been a great asset in the business for a long time. He’s selling his mares and shares.
“[Marvin] Katz and [Al] Libfeld are going through the final phase of their dispersal. They are offering mares, shares and nine impeccably-bred weanlings in the sale.
“And then Jules Siegel’s weanlings are also in the sale, so it’s mares, shares and weanlings, too.
“This year is going to be unique. Preferred Equine is going to have 29 weanlings to offer, of which 18 are part of the dispersal and another 11 or so are for other breeders.”
Reid said pinhooking – buying weanlings and turning around and selling them the following year as yearlings in the hopes of making a profit – is popular in the thoroughbred industry, but has not caught on in the harness racing game.
“There are going to be multiple opportunities for [pinhooking] to happen here,” Reid said. “We’re excited to represent those weanlings this year. It’ll be exciting for a lot of people, in my personal opinion.”
This year, there are more stallion shares available in the mixed sale than normal and Reid said he is selling 41 of them.
“[Stallion shares] kind of goes hand-in-hand with dispersals, so it’s going to be a very active week in Harrisburg,” he said.
As well, Reid touted a “tremendous group” of 32 Fabulous Fillies, including Hip #1605 Date Night Hanover and Hip #1613 Kadena.
He said this year’s mixed sale is a fantastic opportunity for breeders to upgrade their broodmare bands.
“Whenever there is a dispersal, it offers unique opportunities and people should jump at the opportunity,” Reid said. “Looking back at the dispersals we’ve done in the past, for people making acquisitions at these dispersals, it’s generally favorable down the road for the new owners.”
