Katz thrice broaches seven figures in Harrisburg dispersal buybacks
by Ray Cotolo
The dispersal from the longstanding partnership between Marvin Katz and Al Libfeld — one of several taking place during the opening session of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company Mixed Sale in Harrisburg, PA on Thursday (Nov. 6) — erupted in applause on several occasions after Katz electrified the arena with three different bidding wars that ended in seven-figure territory.
Katz, a long-time industry player who has recently transitioned into a lead role at one of harness racing’s most storied farms with the establishment of Clear Creek at Brittany Farms alongside George Segal, wanted to preserve a meaningful bloodline from his partnership’s dispersal, so he sat towards the rear of the sales arena raising his finger — even as the numbers crawled chunk by chunk towards a million — and won auction on all three offerings: Hip #1198 French Cafe for $1 million, Hip #1199 French Champagne for $1.15 million, and Hip #1209 Parisian Charm for $1 million, which is the most ever spent at auction for a standardbred weanling.
“It’s really part of my whole history in this industry,” Katz said in explaining the significance of his purchases. “The family started with Bart Glass, who found the grandmother Creamy Mimi about 20 years ago. We raced her and she won the Hambletonian Oaks [in 2008] and she was the first really great mare that we had.”
French Cafe, sired by Father Patrick, is the seventh foal from Creamy Mimi. She entered the Katz-Libfeld broodmare band after earning close to a quarter-million in her racing career and foaled French Champagne, a half-million-dollar earner by Muscle Hill, as well as the million-dollar Muscle Hill weanling Parisian Charm. Earlier this year, French Cafe also sent shockwaves through the Lexington Selected Sale when her Walner yearling Dejeuner sold for $1 million to Noel Daley. French Cafe’s half-brother French Wine also won the CAD$822,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot in October at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Both mares sold in foal to Walner.
“So, 20 to 25 years later, it became very difficult for me to part with that great a family,” Katz said. “It’s one of the great families in all of harness racing and to have created it together with Al [Libfeld], it was something that I was proud of and I’m sure he was proud of it. It would have been very hard to part with all of that.”
Katz added with a laugh, “That was expensive, but I had thought about this for a long time, as I’m sure Al had as well. There was emotion involved and, yeah, I was quite happy with the acquisitions we made.”
Aside from the over $3 million spent securing his stock, Katz left the complex with two others from his dispersal. He paid $500,000 for Hip #1190 Slip Sliding Away, a Father Patrick mare out of the stakes-winning mare Ice Attraction that sold in foal to Chapter Seven. He later paid $125,000 for Hip #1212 With Somebody, a Muscle Hill weanling whose maternal granddam Cantab It All foaled Hambletonian Oaks winners Ariana G and All The Time, to add to his investment in building Clear Creek at Brittany Farms.
“It’s a commitment to this industry,” Katz said. “Obviously, I made a statement that I’m not leaving this business any time soon. I’ve been very fortunate to have some great, great horses and we’ve developed a great broodmare band. I have my own broodmare band that’s been built now, but I have a great team of people… like I do in my private business, you surround yourself with good people and often they’ll direct you in the right direction. I have to say thank you to Perry Soderberg and Jimmy Glass, Bobby Brady and our whole team… and the support of my wife, Lynn, who has been very supportive of my endeavors. I deeply love her and I deeply appreciate it.”
Al Libfeld, sitting as an observer, said he’ll miss many of the horses from the dispersal, though he remained active elsewhere and spent the Thursday session reloading his roster as a prominent buyer in the Fashion Farms dispersal. Libfeld spent $510,000 on Hip #1164, the Donato Hanover mare Fashion Annie, and bought her dam right after with Hip #1165, the Broadway Hall mare Fashion Athena – both of which sold in foal to Walner. Fashion Annie is a half-sister to half-million-dollar earner Millies Possession, who stayed undefeated from eight starts before finishing runner-up as the even-money favorite in the $500,000 Hambletonian Oaks to When Dovescry.
“The conformation, the success, the pedigrees weren’t really available a lot of the places because Mr. Siegel kept them to himself for decades, effectively,” Libfeld said. “So, I’m happy to get them and hopefully I’ll have as much success as he had with them. If the individuals perform and the offspring perform, it’ll be brilliant. If they don’t perform, it’ll be not-so-brilliant but we’re happy with it.”
Libfeld also added Hip #1183 Fashion Daniela, a Muscle Hill weanling and the first foal from 2022 Hambletonian Oaks winner Fashion Schooner, to his roster for $450,000 with his 30-year training partner John Bax signing as agent. He also bought one out of the Fairwinds Farm dispersal in Hip #1141 Open Access, a Credit Winner mare who is a full sister to millionaire Dejarmbro, for $240,000, as well as a Walner stallion share earlier in the day for $200,000.
“[My broodmare band’s] in good shape,” Libfeld said. “I’m missing some really good pieces, but I’m pretty happy with the band and the quality of the band. I’d match it up against any in North America, for sure.”
The Fashion Farms dispersal generated other large figures in the opening Mixed Sale session. Armitage Farm signed the ticket on Hip #1175 Fashion Schooner, in foal to Tactical Landing, for $700,000 as well as the ticket on Hip #1173 Misswalner Fashion, a near half-million-dollar earner in foal to Sig Sauer, for $400,000.
RECORD OPENING MIXED SESSION
With thanks to the dispersals of All American Harnessbreds, Fashion Farms, Katz-Libfeld, Fairwinds Farms, and Sergent Stables, the opening session of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company’s Mixed Sale grossed $22,238,000 from 470 sales, a record for the opening session of the mixed sale. Of that, Preferred Equine accounted for $14,759,000, or two-thirds of the entire day’s gross.
The massive day pushed the overall Black Book Sale gross to $58,267,000, up nearly 10 per cent year-over-year, from 1,334 for an average of $43,678.
“I was pretty pumped about today,” said Dale Welk, president/director of operations for the Standardbred Horse Sales Company, “but not trying to put myself over the top because I didn’t want to be super disappointed if it didn’t quite go how I thought. There were a couple I thought were a little weak, but all in all… from beginning to end, most all of them sold for what they were worth or more and that’s great.
“It was absolutely incredible to have two mares, back-to-back, sell for a million. Of course, it was the same situation, but, in my mind, they were worth it. It’s all in the same family, too. They are all closely related. I think it was just meant to be, but there were others that sold well. We sold another weanling for $450,000 earlier. There were a couple of other mares for $800,000 and $900,000, so it was a stellar day. People were here to spend money and buy horses.”
The Black Book Sale will try to carry the momentum into today’s (Nov. 7) closing session for the whole sale, when the racehorses go through the ring headlined by the “Fabulous Fillies” section, featuring top-class fillies or mares in training as well as breeding prospects.
“The Fabulous Fillies are always good and I expect them to be good tomorrow,” said David Reid of Preferred Equine. “Here again, because they’ve earned it — proven pedigree, proven individuals, proven performers — people pay for that.”
Welk said today’s session currently has minimal outs.
“Most of the horses are here, especially the real superstars,” he said. “They are here. In my eyes, they are all superstars. As long as they get good homes and they make the people that buy them happy, they are stars.”
Today’s final sales session begins at 11 a.m. (EST). Hips number 1473 through 1734 will sell.
