by Debbie Little

Diamond Creek Farm has had a banner year on the track in 2023 and they’re looking to see that success carry over to Harrisburg at the Standardbred Horse Sales Company’s yearlings auction and mixed sale.

According to Shaun Laungani, Diamond Creek’s vice-president and director of bloodstock services, Diamond Creek is not selling any homebred yearlings at Harrisburg, only agent horses for their clients and they get an early start on Monday (Nov. 6), the first day of the sale, with Hip #2 My Sweet Lily.

“She is ‘dead sexy,’ which is exactly what I said about Geocentric last year in HRU,” Laungani said. “This filly gives you the same feeling about her athletic potential. She is a Sweet Lou filly out of [Mimi’s Lily] a sister to Papi Rob Hanover, so, extremely relevant with Papi Rob’s first crop and she’s just a lovely Sweet Lou filly at the very beginning of the sale and I think she’ll be on, or she needs to be on, all buyers of pacing fillies’ list.”

Although many sellers see being one of the first offered in the sale as a disadvantage, Laungani has high hopes for My Sweet Lily.

“Typically, any auction needs a little time to warm up and any time you’re kind of in those first 20 hips, you’re always nervous that you’re not going to get what the horse is worth or would if they were later,” he said. “But this year at Harrisburg could be different because this filly is #2 and then there’s another few that I saw at Hanover [Shoe Farms] — which I’ll let them talk about themselves — but that are in those single digits that are potentially expensive horses. So, this year might get going pretty well starting here with Hip #2.

“I told the breeders of this filly, they’ll find her. You don’t have to worry about it. You can always count on the trainers and owners to find the good ones.”

At the 2022 Standardbred Horse Sale, Diamond Creek sold Geocentric for Anthony Peretti Bloodstock.

“And here we come back this year with Hip #35 [Geos Lil Miki],” Laungani said. “It’s her half-sister by Always B Miki and we would expect her to be very popular. Geocentric is the likely 2-year-old filly of the year. This is a nice, well put together Always B Miki filly. She certainly has ability as an athlete, free legged paces already, but also tremendous residual broodmare value.”

Laungani pointed out that they’re selling three really nice offspring of Papi Rob Hanover including Hip #114 Papis Pistol.

“I actually spotted this colt in the field as a foal for Anthony Peretti Bloodstock and really liked him then and have continued to like him as we’ve looked at him as he’s grown up and he’s a Papi Rob Hanover, so, first crop stallion colt who is the first foal for his dam [Bang Bang] and it is the family of Kikikatie.”

According to Laungani, their consignment offers residual value for breeders, including Hip #126 Caviart Delight out of the much sought after Darlin’s Delight family.

“This is an Always B Miki filly and she would rarely be available to the public,” Laungani said. “This is a Caviart Farms homebred and Caviart Farms is starting to sell a portion of their yearlings and this is one of the very best pedigree ones that they’re offering this year. And these horses are cool because they’re tri-eligible. They’re Pennsylvania, Kentucky and then also Virginia Breeders Fund eligible, which is quite lucrative from what I understand.”

Diamond Creek is selling between 70 and 80 in the mixed sale including mares in foal to Sweet Lou, Father Patrick, Gimpanzee, Chapter Seven, Captain Corey, Bulldog Hanover, Muscle Hill, Tactical Landing, among others.

They are selling nine mares in foal to Gimpanzee who has the highest average yearling prices for the year and the foals will be Kentucky eligible and Kentucky stallion bonus eligible which is a 50 per cent purse bonus on Kentucky Sires Stakes races at Red Mile.

Laungani started his mixed sale highlights with some standout trotters including Hip #1059 Exile.

“She’s a Walner filly in foal to Muscle Hill and her claim to fame is she was an $800,000 yearling, which ties the highest price ever for a trotting filly as a yearling from a couple years ago,” Laungani said.

He also talked about Hip #1066 Mermeith S, out of Naga Morich S the dam of Green Manalishi, in foal to Gimpanzee, as well as Hip #1317 Dubai, a Father Patrick filly out of Katniss from the family of Armbro Déjà vu and Dejarmbro.

“[Dubai’s] a 2-year-old filly that just got her first win the other day and is really good gaited, never makes a break, and is going to be a good race filly next year and then there’s a bunch of residual value,” Laungani said. “We would normally race this filly next year and breed her, but we’re kind of changing what we do and we’re going to race less trotters. We’re just not quite as good at it as some other people and we’re way more competitive with the pacers. So, we’ll continue to breed trotters and we’ll maybe keep a filly here and there and race, but our trotting race stable is going to shrink while the pacing side grows.

Laungani said he needed to share the inside track on Hip #1502 Challenger, a 3-year-old trotting colt that was knocking on the door of the stakes and Grand Circuit stakes this season.

“This is a horse that might need Lasix added,” he said. “He hasn’t had Lasix added yet as a potential for the next buyer and he can always still be gelded; he’s still a colt… He’s about as good looking of a trotting colt as you’ll ever find. We kept him as a homebred for those reasons, but like I said, we’re just downsizing the trotting stable.

“Someone will probably buy Challenger and do quite well, you know, better than we were able to do. We’re just not quite as good as some of the top trotting racing stables at the management at this point. In the future, maybe we will be up to their level.”

Talking about saving the best for last, two of the trotters that Laungani highlighted should be familiar names to the crowd at Harrisburg. Hip #1606 Heaven Hanover and Hip #1607 Secret Volo. Both fillies are supplements and will be at the end of the day on Friday (Nov. 10).

“I’m sure it’s pretty rare that a [Hambletonian] Oaks winner would be available at the sale in the year they won the Oaks,” Laungani said of Heaven Hanover. “Normally she’d be in the fabulous filly’s section, but she’s in the supplement with her stablemate.

“[Secret Volo is a] Walner filly with plenty of family. She’s a hard-trying filly and still has Kentucky eligibility if somebody wants to race her and if they want to breed her, she’s done enough already. She won the New York New York Mile… legs of New Jersey Sire Stakes and a [Hambletonian] Oaks elim.”

On the pacing end, Laungani had four on his list, three fillies and a colt. He started with Hip #1315 Sula Hanover.

“This is a Downbytheseaside sister to Sylvia Hanover,” he said. “It’d be rare that one like this is available. She trained down like a top horse but didn’t reach her potential, but she’s still got good racing prospect according to Ron Burke for next year. And then obviously plenty of pedigree after that.”

Laungani continued with two more fillies Hip #1382 Mcseaside from the great pacing family of Boston Red Rocks, with tons of depth that even has Hellabalou on the page and Hip #1384 Strong Poison, a talented daughter of Always B Miki.

“[Mcseaside’s] got a great resume, fast mark, and plenty of stakes wins,” Laungani said. “This would be a huge add for any pacing breeder.

“[Strong Poinson] will be one of the nicer looking and put together broodmare prospects available without question. I think she maybe has more of a likelihood to race as a 4- or 5-year-old than say Mcseaside because she has Kentucky and the 4-year-old program down there.”

Last, but certainly not least, was Hip #1501 Combustion, a 3-year-old son of Captaintreacherous.

“The only reason to sell is it’s a partnership and that partnership is dissolving,” Laungani said. “The horse didn’t follow up his 2-year-old year with the same type of year, but he got sick, especially in Canada, and it took a long time to return to form, but he’s been on his game here the last several starts and he’ll make a really good long-term aged pacer for somebody because he’s got the intelligence and he takes care of himself.

“He’s got a pedigree that could be on a future stallion even; he’s not gelded. So, a lot of options and he’s got Kentucky, you know, and he’ll have the Graduate. So, I would expect him to bring a nice price.”