Second Standardbred Horse Sales Company session stabilizes off rollercoaster opener
by Ray Cotolo
Following an opening day that saw a 13 per cent drop in average year-over-year, the second session of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA, presented level offerings throughout the day on Tuesday (Nov. 4) to more stable year-over-year figures.
In 2024, the second session saw 379 yearlings sell for $14,973,000 gross for an average of $39,507 for a total across two sessions of $31,531,000 and an average of $59,604. The second session of the 2025 sale grossed shy of the 2024 number at $14,301,000 from 371 horses sold for an average of $38,547 – a decrease of 2.4 per cent. Across the two sessions in 2025, the Standardbred Horse Sales Company has grossed $30,594,000, a 2.97 per cent decrease year-over-year, with 541 yearlings sold for an average of $56,550, improving on the Monday decrease to just miss the previous year’s average by 5.1 per cent.
“I think it was a little more level than what it was [Monday, Nov. 3],” said Dale Welk, president/director of operations for the Standardbred Horse Sales Company. “I’m really happy for the buyers. I think the buyers, in some cases, got some really, really nice animals at a good price. Again, today, anybody could look at the sale sheets and see they went to a lot of good homes – real good homes. That’s helpful for the breeders.”
The second session saw the most offerings from pacing stallion Papi Rob Hanover and trotting stallion Captain Corey, the latter of which grossed the most for the session at $1.6 million from 30 yearlings after having 10 sell on opening day. Captain Corey, sired by the enigmatically fast Googoo Gaagaa, emerged as a hot-buzz stallion at this year’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale with the fourth-highest gross among stallions at $3.7 million, placing him behind perennial trotting leaders Walner, Chapter Seven, and Muscle Hill. Captain Corey led all stallions at the Tuesday session in Harrisburg with a gross of nearly $1.7 million, but averaged just $57,125 versus the $86,977 average he set at the Lexington Sale.
“I think some of the jury is still out a little bit on the Captain Coreys,” Welk said. “You can see the real good ones, that are bred really well, are selling. The other ones, they are a little bit hesitant on. I think his don’t have a whole lot to prove.”
Through the two sessions, Chapter Seven and Walner remain the leading stallions in gross and average. Captaintreacherous and Captain Corey sit fourth in gross, however pacing stallions Cattlewash and Downbytheseaside currently sit third and fourth in average. Hanover Shoe Farms leads all consigners in gross at $10 million with Preferred Equine at $4.7 million, Concord Stud Farm at $3.8 million, and Alliance Bloodstock at $2 million.
“I think, in the end, we’re going to be right there probably with what Lexington went through, about 3 to 5 per cent down,” Welk said. “I think we’re going to be pretty good tomorrow. I think we’ve got some really nice yearlings tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. Tomorrow is when some bargains get bought and some of the horses that come out of there are tremendous. I think it’ll stay pretty flat. Tomorrow you might even see more consistent pricing.”
TOP BUYS
Ake Svanstedt added to his yearling battalion on Tuesday with the session’s topper Hip #190, a Walner filly named Dance Of Victory purchased for $250,000 out of the Concord consignment. The filly, one of eight total Svanstedt has bought in Harrisburg, is the second foal from the Kadabra mare She Rocks Kemp, who is a half-sister to stakes winner Yannick G Kemp and stakes-placed Zephyr Kemp.
“I bought horses that were planned when I came here,” Svanstedt said. “We bought more horses in Lexington and we said we were going to buy eight or 10, maybe, in Harrisburg and we have eight now, so maybe it can be two more.”
On the session topper, Svanstedt said, “I liked the video and the conformation on the horse. The family is good. I like Walner fillies and the mother’s family was okay.”
Andrew Harris signed the ticket on one of three horses that sold for $200,000 on Tuesday. Harris won the auction on Hip #382, a Downbytheseaside colt named Wouldyoulikeamint. He is the second foal from stakes-winning mare Double A Mint, who herself is out of a dam who also produced the half-million-dollar earners Ok Commander and Ok Boromir as well as the mare Ok Heavenly, the dam of 2025 Max Hempt winner Dandy Ideal.
“He was a Downbytheseaside, so that’s what attracted me to him,” Harris said. “We had good luck with Gala and Brandon Blvd, so we were looking for a ‘Seaside’ and that was the only one that I found that I was able to get my hand up on.”
Writer’s note: Gala, a filly Harris and company purchased from Diamond Creek Racing coming into October, coincidentally won the $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes final at Cumberland Run just 20 minutes after speaking about this yearling.
“He’s a big, strong colt,” Harris said. “That’s what you like to see in the Downbytheseasides. Most of the good ones seem like they are big and strong. He was a big, strong colt and his video was very good and I just liked what I saw.”
Unlike Harris’ breakout 2-year-old Brandon Blvd, Wouldyoulikeamint is not Kentucky eligible, which Harris said was not a big concern.
“It all depends, we’ll have to see when we get there,” Harris said. “We have a stable in Kentucky now, so it’s not a big deal to go to Ohio.”
Brett Pelling purchased another of the $200,000 yearlings on the day in Hip #347, a Pebble Beach colt named August National. The colt is the sixth foal from the Western Terror mare Square Dancer, who is a half-sister to millionaire Allamerican Native and the stakes-winning mare Allamerican Nadia, who foaled near millionaire Apprentice Hanover.
Late in the Tuesday session, Brixton Medical AB bought the third of the three $200,000 yearlings in Hip #447, a Greenshoe colt named Detonate. The colt, out of the Windsong’s Legacy mare Ilia, is a half-brother to stakes-winners and budding Midwest stallions In Range and Long Tom.
Svanstedt returned at the tail of the session with the fifth-highest purchase of the day with Hip #552, a Captain Corey colt named Red Storm Hanover. Svanstedt famously campaigned Captain Corey to a million-dollar campaign climaxed by his 1:51 victory in the 2021 Hambletonian. He paid $190,000 for the colt.
The closing session of the 2025 Standardbred Horse Sales Company yearling auction begins at 10 a.m. (EST) today (Nov. 5). Hips number 561 through 903 will cycle the ring before the Mixed Sale gets underway on Thursday (Nov. 6).
