Record Mixed Sale thrusts 2025 Black Book sessions to all-time numbers
A tremendous, record-breaking Mixed Sale grossed $38.5 million which pushed the total sale gross to the cusp of $75 million, by far the best total in the sale’s 87-year history.
by Ray Cotolo
A roaring 2025 Mixed Sale for the Standardbred Horse Sales Company rebounded a week of slight declines to record highs. The closing session on Friday (Nov. 7) in Harrisburg, PA wrapped a week of auction action that handily crushed the all-time record for gross at the sale.
The 2025 Mixed Sale grossed 21.9 per cent more year-over-year with $38,518,500 from 699 sold for an average of $55,184, which also sets a record with a 4.2 per cent increase over the previous best average of $52,945 from last year’s Mixed Sale. On the winds of these figures, the overall Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction grossed $74,574,000 from 1,563 sold for an average of $47,712, besting the previous record gross of $70,228,377 from the 2007 sale by 6.2 per cent.
“This Mixed Sale, it was unbelievable,” said Dale Welk, president and director of operations for the Standardbred Horse Sales Company. “I was in my office and I couldn’t believe the numbers I was seeing up on the board. Non-record 2-year-olds were selling tremendous… It was just absolutely incredible. You think, ‘This is wonderful and I’m going to bask in it,’ but then you start thinking that next year we probably won’t have — hopefully we don’t have — the dispersals and that kind of thing, so then we’ll be down a bit. Then, we’ll have to report that we’re down. It’s going to be hard to ever be close or beat this one again.”
Preferred Equine emerged on top of all consignors with $25,296,000 grossed from the Mixed Sale alone for a total of $31,130,000 over the week. It was an all-time SHSC consignor record, dwarfing the previous record of $20,507,000 Preferred set last year by 52 per cent.
Hanover Shoe Farms wrapped the week from mostly yearling offerings with $10,504,000 grossed and Alliance Bloodstock rang just behind with $10,125,000 grossed.
“Long week, for sure, with a big draft of horses,” said David Reid of Preferred Equine. “[But] it ended on a very solid note and capped a very successful week for Preferred Equine and our customers, for the most part. We’ll leave here with a bang today. As we discussed yesterday, the cream rises to the top. The racehorses themselves… the female portion of the sale continues to be strong. There’s been some shift in the movement of the male racehorses, but the energy around here today for that Fabulous Fillies section was very strong and I’m happy to be a part of it. It’s a great venue, for sure.”
Hip #1613 Kadena topped the Friday session, becoming another seven-figure horse to exit the sales ring. The Gimpanzee filly, out of world champion Mission Brief, brought $1.2 million in a contested auction that went to Armitage Farm – the fresh outfit stamped on top of Shadwell Farm in Midway, KY by Jim McLane and Rita Armitage. Of the four in total that they purchased in the closing session, Team Armitage also signed the ticket for the second-highest purchase of the day, $985,000, in Hip #1605 Date Night Hanover, a Chapter Seven half-sister to stakes winner Delayed Hanover who sold as the sales topper of the 2022 Harrisburg Yearling Sale for $600,000. Armitage consultant Doug Paul, of M&L of Delaware notoriety, confirmed that both mares will be retired to the breeding shed.
“Our whole approach was to try to buy quality mares, having a quality band, and breed in the upper echelon with not volume but more quality,” said Jim McLane, whose farm sold the second-session topper of the 2025 Lexington Selected Sale with $750,000 yearling Jimdougie Armitage, named for McLane and Doug Paul. It was the highest-priced trotting colt sold this year at the Lexington sale.
“Our philosophy was that if you pay what we pay for a mare, you’re going to have to have more people to take care of it and it’s going to cost you more overall to bring a yearling to the sale. So, we bought a decent farm with decent property. We hired a number of people and are trying to get a quality band together with enough people to take care of them, rather than to have volume that you turn out and you would worry about them getting hurt or something. We’re moving in that direction.”
Doug Paul said, “It’s always tough to get high-quality race mares, like ‘Date Night.’ Most of the people want to keep them and breed them themselves. To get almost a million-dollar winner is really tough to find at any sale, even if you want to pay for them. [And] Kadena is just… the Mission Brief family is probably the best family in the business and, no matter what, she’s selling high-priced foals year after year after year.”
Date Night Hanover and Kadena will join the ever-expanding broodmare band for Armitage Farm along with R Melina, R Dutchess and R Cee Cee, all of whom Doug Paul also confirmed will retire from racing.
“We’ve got a lot of high-quality young mares that are coming off the track,” Doug Paul said. “In two to three years, we should be really well positioned in the Lexington sale to do really well.”
Meanwhile, one of the top sellers from the Fabulous Fillies catalog will remain on the racetrack. Cindy Stewart of Hunterton Farm signed the ticket for $650,000 on Hip #1581 Rodeo Drive Deo, a filly whose bloodline goes back to a mare the Stewarts cultivated named Los Angeles – the granddam of Rodeo Drive Deo.
“People don’t realize that it’s your family,” Steve Stewart said. “It means a lot. That’s our family. You saw it yesterday with Marvin Katz. It’s what you grow up with – they come back home. We’ve never had anything in the family. Our plan is to race her next year. That’s why we spent that much money. She’s Kentucky eligible and in Kentucky you can race for gobs of money. There’s a lot of money to race for as 4-year-olds. There’s some fillies that can’t go race there for different reasons or whatever, so it’s an added bonus.”
Steve also said he hopped on board with buying her because of excitement from long-time clients Mike and Don Robinson from Ohio, who assessed the mare as a racing prospect and felt ripe for the plunge.
“They are horse degenerates just like us and they love the business so much,” Steve said with a laugh. He also confirmed Ron Burke will train Rodeo Drive Deo through the remainder of the season and the ownership will then make a plan for her 4-year-old campaign.
Another mare from the Mission Brief family brought $650,000 later in the session when Ola Yoder’s Kountry Lane Standardbreds acquired Hip #1630 What A Bid Hanover. The Muscle Hill filly is out of What A Knockout, whose granddam Spice On Ice foaled the dam of Mission Brief, Southwind Serena. Spice On Ice also foaled The Ice Queen, whose progeny include stakes winners The Ice Dutchess, Ice Attraction, and R Dutchess.
Hip #1702 Fallout also brought big bids as the sale neared its close. Last season’s Metro Pace champion fetched $500,000 from Burke Racing Stable LLC. The Captaintreacherous colt is a full-brother to millionaire Blue Diamond Eyes as well as stakes winner Captain Kirk.
“This Mixed Sale, it stayed strong from the first horse that went through yesterday until the end of today,” said Welk. “We were selling $90,000 horses at the end of the sale. It was great and I can’t thank the buyers, the sellers, and everyone enough.”
