by James Platz

All American Harnessbreds’ Rob Tribbett has kept a torrid pace of late. Serving as the point man for the Seaford, DE breeder, he has divided time between selling standardbreds and thoroughbreds this fall. With the auction season winding down, he said he is looking forward to the Standardbred Horse Sale which begins Monday (Nov. 6) at the Pennsylvanian Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA. Tribbett considers Harrisburg All American’s home sale, and the farm has enjoyed success there in recent years.

“I’m excited,” Tribbett said. “It’s a crazy four or five days, but this is our opportunity to present our product to the market. We’re proud of what we have. We’ve sold some really good horses there in the last few years, like Captain Albano and Test Of Faith. It’s our home sale, and it’s something we look forward to every year.”

All American brings to Harrisburg a 29-yearling consignment that is evenly balanced between pacers (16) and trotters (13). At Lexington, the breeder featured a powerful nine-horse group that led all consignors with a $142,444 average. Tribbett hopes to keep the momentum going in the Keystone State.

“We’ve got a really good, diverse group,” he said of the Harrisburg roster. “We’ve got a lot of coverage with New York breds, Pennsylvania breds, Ontario breds and some dual eligibles as well. I’m pretty happy with the group, there’s a lot for everybody.”

On the pacing side he highlighted two individuals, Hip #101 Act Classy and Hip #400 Exceptionalism. Both are fillies, and both offer solid pedigrees. Selling on Monday, Act Classy is the third foal from Roll With Joe mare Act Like A Diva, and second sired by Captaintreacherous.

“It’s a special horse for us for a lot of reasons, one of which is it’s a fourth-generation pedigree where [third dam] Armbro Nashville was kind of our foundation mare, dam of Allamerican Native and Allamerican Nadia,” Tribbett said. “It’s just the third foal from that mare and the first time there has been a filly from that family. The horse’s three-quarter brother, Act Fast, is a really nice Downbytheseaside. She is a very nice filly that has a great video.”

Hip #400 Exceptionalism, selling on Tuesday, is a Tall Dark Stranger filly that is eligible to Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland. Her dam, American Truth, is a full-sister to the dam of Captain Albano, but you won’t find the Breeders Crown final runner-up on the pedigree page, indicating a significant update.

“It’s the first foal that we have raised and the mare’s fourth foal,” Tribbett said. “This is from a sister to the dam of Captain Planet, a brother to Captain Albano, a horse that we sold last year. Unfortunately, he got beat in the Breeders Crown, but he was one of the best 2-year-olds of the year.”

From the group of trotters slated for Harrisburg, Tribbett highlighted a Muscle Hill colt, Hip #59 High Dose, selling on the first day.

“It’s a good, deep group with some nice trotting fillies,” he said. “We have a nice Muscle Hill colt that sells on Day 1. He is bred the same as Marion Marauder, and is out of a half-sister to Marion Marauder. He’s a pretty nice horse, too.”

A yearling you won’t find in the first three days, but is an individual worth a look, is Hip #887 Bomb Proof. The Chapter Seven colt was cataloged in the Lexington Selected Sale, but was withdrawn due to sickness. He now sells Thursday as part of the mixed sale at Harrisburg.

“He’s a Chapter Seven colt that was in Day 2 at Lexington,” Tribbett said. “It’s really a unique opportunity to buy a Lexington Day 2 horse on Thursday at Harrisburg. He’s out of a mare named D’Bomb and Blue Porche is in that family. The mare made $100,000. He’s a full-brother and second foal from the mare. The first foal is a pretty good sires stakes performer in New York. He’s different than what you would normally find in that yearling section of the catalog.”

One of the challenges for buyers at Harrisburg and sales like it is the process of sorting through hundreds of pedigrees and finding the right horses. Often, yearlings can be overlooked, creating opportunities for buyers searching for value.

“There are a lot of horses in the sale and a short amount of time to see them,” Tribbett said. “That forces buyers to make decisions sometimes based on sire or the pedigree. Especially if a mare has had a couple foals that were good horses but not top-level performers. It’s a pretty small sample game we’re playing if a mare only has two or three foals, we’re still judging a mare off of not a lot of information.”

He said it’s important to look for things like when a mare has a first colt, or is bred to a different sire line. He pointed out two from the All American consignment that may fly under the radar. Hip #452 Original Music is a colt from a 100-per cent producer that has eight winners. But he is sired by Captain Crunch, whose first crop had limited success this season before Gem Quality scored a Crown final upset. The second is Hip #642 Book Ban, an Always B Miki colt out of a sister to Well Said.

“He’s a Well Said pedigree,” Tribbett said. “He’s a big, strong colt. It’s the first time that mare has been bred to Miki or that sire line and I think it’s the best foal the mare has had so far. It’s a pretty nice colt, it’s also the first time she has had a colt. It’s a nice colt pedigree.”