Kountry Lane’s consignment features first-day firepower

by James Platz

Kountry Lane Standardbreds made its Lexington debut last fall, offering a consignment of seven yearlings. This year, the Wakarusa, IN-based nursery returns to the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale armed with the experience of last season, offering a top-notch group of babies that will sell during the first two days.

“The group was hand-picked for this sale, with a bunch of first foals,” said farm manager Duane Miller. “It’s just a great group overall. We graded them pretty hard and tried to take the ones that we thought would stand out at this sale, so it is a pretty nice group.”

Last year, Kountry Lane topped all consignors in average with $155,286 per yearling sold. The first night offerings averaged $116,250, while the three sold on Day 2 brought $207,333 on average, making them the only consignor to average over $200,000 on the second day.

The Kountry Lane consignment once again numbers seven yearlings — four trotters and three pacers — with a quartet selling on the first day. The trio of pacers, all fillies, sell during Monday evening’s session.

“We have three pacing fillies that are just phenomenal,” Miller said. “You know normally we might lean more with our pacers for Harrisburg, but this group is so nice, we said why not.”

The first Kountry Lane yearling that will pass through the sale ring on Monday is Kountry Cassandra, Hip #24. She is a Sweet Lou first foal from Captaintreacherous mare Captain Cowgirl. The dam is a two-time PASS final winner with more than $600,000 on her card. Kountry Cassandra is eligible to both the Pennsylvania and Kentucky programs. While Captain Cowgirl may not have the name recognition of other mares in the consignment, her first foal leaves an impression. So much so that Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, who advises Kountry Lane, suggested selling at Lexington.

“I thought maybe she would just fit in better at Harrisburg, but Dr. J said, ‘Duane, I think you will be hard-pressed to find a nicer Sweet Lou filly than this,’” Miller said. “She said this is the type of filly people want to see when they look for Sweet Lous.”

Kountry Penelope, Hip #78, will be next on Night 1. The Captaintreacherous filly is the second foal from Breeders Crown champion Peaky Sneaky, a $700,000-plus winner with a mark of 1:48. Her first foal, Benny B Hill, is a six-time winner with a 1:49.2 mark, a 1:48.3 beaten time, and $89,300 on his card. The filly is also eligible to both Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

“She’s just a beautiful individual,” Miller said. “She warrants being there in my opinion.”

Rounding out the trio is Kountry Lynn, Hip #90, a Confederate first foal from Dan Patch and O’Brien Award winner Lyons Sentinel. The first offering from the double millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner is dual eligible to the Keystone and Bluegrass states.

“She is so classy,” Miller said. “You’ll see in the video. She does a lot of free-legged pacing in the field, and it’s just hard not to like her. She is very feminine looking. She’s got the finer bones and she looks like a filly, so I think she’s going to get a lot of attention.”

For as good as the fillies are, Kountry Lane’s first-session headliner is Kountry Prince, cataloged as Hip #79. The New Jersey and Kentucky eligible son of Walner is out of world champion Plunge Blue Chip. This is her first colt after a pair of Chapter Seven fillies that have each surpassed six figures in earnings. Sonmar Pond is a five-time winner, but the biggest update on the pedigree page is freshman Kountry Plunge. At the time of printing, the filly had $8,000 on her card. After winning the New York Sire Stakes final, Kountry Plunge has increased her seasonal earnings to $277,100.

“‘Plunge’ is a nice-sized mare, but these Chapter Sevens were a little small-ish,” Miller said. “Now we bring this Walner that’s got some size and he’s just a beautiful individual.”

The consignment finishes strong on Day 2 with a trifecta of trotters. The first to sell is Kountry Brody, Hip #178. The Walner colt is out of two-time Dan Patch Award winner Broadway Donna, and is a brother to winners Waldon Fashion and Dominant Fashion.

“We bought him out of the Fashion Farms dispersal,” Miller said. “We looked at him, and man we fell in love with this guy. We bought him for Lexington, and for this upcoming sale, and I wanted to bring a little more balance to our consignment.”

The headliner for the consignment’s second-day offering is Kountry Faith, Hip #230. The filly is by Gimpanzee and is the first foal from half-million-dollar earner Flawless Country. She was originally a first-day selection, but Miller felt she fit better in Tuesday’s session.

“Conformation-wise, she warrants Day 1,” he said. “She’s such a beautiful individual, so I think she’ll do really well.”

Rounding out the consignment is filly Kountry Winona at Hip #389. Eligible to Pennsylvania and Kentucky, she is by Captain Corey out of the Father Patrick mare Whispering Oaks, a $300,000 winner. The filly is a sister to two winners including Dexter Cup champion Hard Seven (3, 1:53.3, $233,896).

“This filly looks like a Captain Corey, she’s just a beautiful individual,” Miller said. “The mare has produced some nice racehorses already.”

Kountry Lane’s consignment is small by design, but big on pedigree and name recognition.