by Debbie Little

Carter Duer’s Peninsula Farm has a consignment offering 33 yearlings — 26 trotters and seven pacers — at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale with two that they own and 31 agent horses.

Duer said he thinks that his group have the looks that will bring you in and breeding and talent to back it up.

“As a group and as individuals and as athleticism goes, it’s a very good group,” Duer said. “Now I used to deal with hundreds and now I’m dealing with tens. But, when we film them, you alwayss have one or two that either don’t want to or can’t do anything. Of this group, all the trotters were very, very good, I thought, and did what they were supposed to do.

“I think there are some diamonds in the rough in this bunch and another thing they’re very correct in their confirmation. I just think it’s a group that not strictly on pedigrees but on athleticism and on confirmation, and just what they look like, there’ll be some very nice horses in there.

“I will think next year at this time if we have this conversation, there will be quite a few of this bunch, even though it’s a small bunch, that will have done enough that you recognize them.”

The farm’s name, Peninsula, pays homage to the Delmarva Peninsula where Duer was raised. And his favorite colt in the sale also pays homage to someone special to him.

Selling on Day 2, Hip #237 M J D is by Captain Corey out of the Credit Winner mare You Want Me. Duer named the big brown colt — who he thinks is the spitting image of his sire — after his grandfather, Maurice James Duer. In 1947, Maurice had Tyson Hanover in the Hambletonian won by Hoot Mon.

“[M J D] won’t be as special to anybody else as he was to me, but I waited a long time [to name one after my grandfather],” Carter said. “I was very close to my grandfather and he was in the horses all his life and it took me a while to find one that I thought that name might be good for, but that’s all personal. But I think he’s a very nice horse. I really do.”

Carter has four selling on Day 1, including Hip #67 Voltage Peaks, a Chapter Seven colt out of the Muscle Hill mare Autumn Deo.

“I think he’s very special,” Carter said. “I don’t look for a whole lot of money out of him, but for Chapter Seven, he’s very special. He could be any kind of horse.”

Also, on Day 1 is Hip #116 Midwind Lover Boy, a half-brother to Its a Love Thing, that Duer thinks would have brought a lot of money had it been a filly.

The fact that Hip #72 Bee Ready, a son of Ready For Moni out of the Balanced Image mare Beehive is on Day 1 surprised Carter a little bit, but the Ohio- and Kentucky-eligible colt is a half-brother to the great Bee A Magician.

“The sales company [put him on Day 1] and I would have been against it if it wasn’t the horse’s first crop, Carter said. “I knew that when people saw him in the catalog, everybody was going to look at him to see why he’s on the first day, but he’s kind of a special kind of colt, too.”

Carter said he has two by Creatine, Hip #845 Princess Karolyn and Hip #938 Bug On that he thinks should have been on Opening Day.

“The way they do it, the Ohio and Indiana, and all those horses like the Downbytheseasides, except for a very few exceptions, all go on [Day 5],” he said. “Bug On should have been on Opening Day and I don’t like opening day, but he’s a very, very nice horse and a full brother to one of the best colts that’s been in our business in the last five or six years. Jujubee was a very, very good horse and this colt is very, very special.”

Carter mentioned some very nice Gimpanzees he has, including Hip #77 Midwind Chimp, a half-brother to Bond selling on Day 1.

“I was a little worried about [Gimpanzee] a month ago but, you know, he’s done better, particularly his fillies,” Carter said. “We have five [yearlings by Gimpanzee] and they’re pretty darn nice horses. They really are.”

He also mentioned a standout on Day 2 through 5.

“I’ve got [Hip #261 Aperfect Tillie on Day 2] a sister to [Aperfect Annie] that won the 2-year-old filly stake down here [at The Red Mile] who is very, very nice,” Carter said. “She isn’t as fashionable as some of the others that I’m sure she’ll be better than, but that’s just the way it is.”

Aperfect Annie, who Duer sold as agent last year at Lexington, won the $400,000 Kentucky Championship Series on Sept. 15 and has so far banked $303,000 for the season.

“You know, she wasn’t supposed to be winning that, but she did and she earned it and she was very deserving,” he said. “But she wasn’t one of the ones that brought $700,000 or $800,000. I think she brought [$70,000] and I thought that was very high.

“I can’t see [Aperfect Tillie] bringing over $125,000, and she’s very, very nice, but, you know, you never know. She’s got that look to her. She’s a very, very correct and very good-looking filly.”

“One other thing I will tell you, I really like the way that the Perfect Stings look, I’ve only seen two because I’m selling two [Hips # 542 Swarm (Day 3) and #744 Bulldogs A Rockin (Day 4)]. But they are very nice horses too. And I understand that people like them quite a bit.”

Lastly, he mentioned Hip #813 Dr Dashti by Calgary Games out of Muscle Babe by Muscle Mass selling on Day 5.

“He’s just a grand looking horse,” Duer said. “He just looks like a good horse, but he is very athletic and he is very correct. When you look at him, you just say that he could be a good one and you don’t even have to know what his breeding was or anything. He is just looks like that kind of horse.

“This is a very nice group of horses and I’m very happy to represent them with their looks and what they show me and people that come out to see them. I’ve had a lot better ones on paper with a lot more expectations, but I don’t know that in all the years I’ve been doing it, I’ve had a group that as a whole, I’ve liked any more than these 33. They’re just nice horses. Like I say, it’s a little bit of everything in here.”