Fox Den Farm brings ‘PA’ power to Harrisburg

by Debbie Little

Fox Den Farm rolls into the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg with 21 yearlings, all as agent.

The Frederick County, MD farm has yearlings across all three days, with six on Day 1, three on Day 2, and 12 on Day 3.

Elmer Smucker’s Mahantongo Farms bred and raised yearlings make up almost half of Fox Den’s consignment including five on Day 1.

All of the Mahantongo horses are literally PA-breds.

“So, we wanted to do a little bit of branding from our farm,” Smucker said of the PA that leads the names of all of his yearlings. “We raise everything here in PA, but probably one of the biggest parts is it’s so much easier to choose names when you have something individual in the name like that. Therefore, we went with PA, and we also do so with my other businesses. We do some roofing, and that’s PA Roofers. And we put gutters on for people, and that’s PA Gutters. So, we just stuck with that line.”

The first yearling in the ring at Pennsylvania State Farm Show Complex from the Fox Den consignment is Hip #6 PA Caitlyn, a Confederate filly out of Sweet Lou mare Alexa’s Fantasy.

“So that’s probably one of the best horses in our consignment,” Smucker said. “Obviously, when we see where they’re starting, you know, you think through those challenges of going early and so forth. They do allow you to swap horses around, but we said, ‘You know what? That’s just the way things fell. We’re going to keep that horse in there.’ She’s got a really athletic video.

“The part that we’re probably most excited about with her would be obviously her pedigree, but her size. She’s going to be a big horse and coming from Confederate, where he was on the smaller side, but really quick, we’re excited to combine those two.”

All told, Mahantongo has 10 horses in the sale, including six Confederates, five fillies and one colt.

“I don’t mind fillies,” Smucker said. “Every one of our Confederates physically is really pretty. I think that the fillies have some residual value for broodmares, and here on the farm, honestly, fillies are a lot easier than stud colts to manage. So, we don’t mind fillies at all.”

Smucker touched briefly on the rest of his Confederates:

• Hip #24 PA Chrystal is a filly out of Captain’s Muse.

“So, she’s a little bit more of a medium-sized filly, but still has got some stretch to her,” Smucker said. “The first two foals from this mare were a Perfect Sting and a Sweet Lou. The Perfect Sting was a good filly at 2. The Sweet Lou, he did win the Standardbred Stake there in Ohio, so they were pretty excited about him, but they did shut him down for the year now, and are excited to see what he does next year. So, we’re excited for this one. We think that the Captaintreacherous broodmare meets with the Sweet Lou line, so that’s why we’re excited to breed her to Confederate, and hopefully you can get some of that Captaintreacherous strength with the quickness of a Confederate.”

• Hip #165 PA Callie Dawn is a filly out of Tall Glass Hanover.

“So, she was one that, from the day she was born, we were super excited with her build,” Smucker said. “Just the package physically for what we’re looking for from a breeder standpoint, stature-wise. Like the rest of the Confederates, she’s just so smooth. That’s probably the biggest thing that jumped out to me about our Confederates is just how smooth they are in the paddock… The first foal had a beaten time of [1]:49 and a piece, so we’re excited to see what this one will do. Her mom is from a filly family, so obviously for the first filly and first crop of Confederate, we’re super excited about her as well.”

• Hip #420 PA Candy is a filly out of Mimado.

“Mimado was a fast Lazarus mare… this one could be a little bit of a sleeper,” Smucker said. “They put her in Day 2 because Dale was a little bit worried last spring that she’d be a little bit on the small side. She’s a little bit of a smaller horse, but I think she’ll still be large enough and physically, probably as correct conformationally and as sleek of a horse that we have, but a little bit smaller. So, we’re excited to see if this one can perform in that range as well while being a slightly smaller horse.”

• Hip #536 PA Clara is a filly out of Southwind Guiness.

“Also, a little more of a refined filly out of a Captaintreacherous mare,” Smucker said. “So again, you have that Captaintreacherous cross with the Sweet Lou line. A little bit more of a refined filly, but also look at her video. I think she’s still growing. I think she’ll definitely be large enough, but will be more on the refined side as well.”

• Hip #918 PA Copper is colt out of Harpswell.

“So, get your Kentucky eligible Confederate third to last horse in the sale,” Smucker said. “He’s going to be a big stretchy horse. He’s maybe not as refined as some of our other Confederates are, but you put him out in the paddock and he does travel really well. So, we were super excited about that. He’s on Day 3 because the mare is from a very good pedigree but hasn’t produced quite as much up to this point. Obviously, we’re excited to try the latest, fastest young sire on a mare like that; we’re hoping to also catch some magic there.”

Also selling on Day 1 are Hip #49 PA Cruiser a Sweet Lou colt out of Betting Line mare Extrilla Hanover and Hip #130 PA Cactus a Captaintreacherous colt out of Sportswriter mare Quebec Blue Chip.

“[PA Cruiser] is a big, strong colt that can still move well,” Smucker said. “We are always excited when we see a Sweet Lou that has the strength to go with it as well. So hopefully he’ll go on to do good things.

“Quebec Blue Chip was a really good 2-year-old… We think that this is a [great sire choice] for this mare.”

In addition to his own horses, Smucker mentioned Hip #83 Hill Hayley also part of Fox Den’s consignment on Day 1.

“I will say this, I do know that they have a Day 1 Muscle Hill out of Kenziesky Hanover,” Smucker said of Hill Hayley. “Kenziesky Hanover was a war horse of a racehorse, really, really tough horse. She’s a Cantab Hall, obviously breeding to Muscle Hill has worked historically really, really well, so they’re super excited to see what that one does.”

On Day 3 is Hip #714 PA Cabby a Stay Hungry filly out of Captain Crunch mare The Ideal Crunch.

“Physically, also probably one of the best in our consignment,” Smucker said. “Really, really nice for a Stay Hungry. Obviously, the Big McDeal family we’re excited about that. The biggest thing that I would say on this one is she is one of the nicest fillies in our barn, just really easy to work with, and wants to please you. Physically, she looks the part, but she also has the mental attitude that everybody wants.”

Mahantongo’s lone trotter in the sale is Hip #902 PA Charlotte a Volume Eight filly out of Donato Hanover mare Upscale.

“Obviously Volume Eight, was a super quick horse, and really good 2-year-old, which always bodes well for a sire,” Smucker said. “The biggest thing with her is how sizable she is. Volume Eight was really small. This is not a small filly at all. And interestingly, Volume Eight’s caretaker [Sonja Booth] was out to look at her, and she said, ‘Well, she looks just like Volume Eight, she’s just a lot bigger.’

Smucker, who first sent yearlings to Harrisburg — a total of three — in 2021, is happy with how his consignment has grown since then.

“One thing I will say, we’ve never before had a year that we were so happy with all the horses, and what they look like physically,” Smucker said.