by Dave Briggs

One indication that Hunterton Farm is again loaded with quality yearlings is the fact 50 of the 97 the farm is selling at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale will go into the ring on either opening night (22 yearlings) or during the second session (28).

“In that past, that hasn’t been the case,” said Hunterton’s Steve Stewart. “It makes us feel good. We’ve always had it headed in the right direction and that continues.”

A year ago, Hunterton was the second leading consignor by gross ($7,863,000) behind only Preferred Equine ($8,128,000). Hunterton was seventh in consignor average with $81,062 for 97 sold.

This year should produce similar, if not better, numbers.

“We’re loaded, as they say. We’ve been blessed… we can kind of see it a year ahead of time. As an example, the Gimpanzees look unbelievable and they are babies, right? So, next year we’ll breed probably more mares than most people will to Gimpanzee because a lot of people want to see it in print and how much they sell for and what not, but we have the advantage of being on the farm to see them a year ahead of time. So, that bodes well for us because, back in the day, we saw how good the Somebeachsomewheres looked, as an example. We saw how good the Walners looked and that’s why we have so many to sell this year because we always believed in Walner.”

Stewart said highlights from his consignment include:

Hip 70 Vic Zelenskyy (c, Greenshoe—Mission Brief): “It’s the Greenshoe first colt out of Mission Brief, so I really don’t have to say, ‘Don’t miss this one,’ but I’m going to take the tack of saying to anyone that breeds horses ‘do yourself a favor and come look at a few of them’ because there’s a few in here that are just unbelievable looking and one of them is the Greenshoe out of Mission Brief.

Hip 109 Fala — “It’s a Tactical Landing—Swing It Cathy filly that will just knock your eye out. Like, oh my God, it looks like a thoroughbred. She’s so outstanding and she’s kind of my pick of all the horses.”

Hip 123 Vehement (c, Tactical Landing—Woodside Charm) “is really outstanding.”

Hip 84, Total Stranger (c, Bettors Delight—Precocious Beauty) — “We didn’t raised him, but it’s a Bettors Delight full brother to Tall Dark Stranger. If he’s not a clone, he’s very close…This colt, picture in your mind his brother.”

Hip 254 Ardor — “From Love Session. He is just a really nice colt from Walner. He’s not out of Mission Brief, but he’s the first foal out of a mare that has a good pedigree, but not a world champion mare.”

Hip 275 Regina Virtus — “It’s Mother Of Art’s second foal and this is a Stay Hungry filly.”

Hip 314 Mcstrut — “For our Canadian fans, he’s a McWicked that’s just outstanding. He’s dynamite.”

Hip 57 Epoch — “Jolene Jolene’s filly. God knows what she’s going to go for. This is a three-quarter sister to Venerable. So, she’ll go through the roof. She’ll probably be the highest-priced one, just because… and the reason why you see our fillies sell for so much is because some of our competition doesn’t sell their fillies.”