Tuesday’s second session produced a record average of $97,678, which helped push the two-day average to an all-time best $129,625.

story by Dave Briggs, quotes by James Platz

• Editor’s note: Due to a production challenge, coverage of Tuesday’s Lexington sale will appear as an online story only, with no full issue pdf. Full issues will return for coverage of today’s third session of the Lexington sale.

• Production note: the sales stats are available at the end of the story. The link reads “View The Day 2 Sale Stats Here”.

The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale is cruising along nicely through two days. On Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 1) at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion, the sale set new records for average sale price both for the second session ($97,678) and through the first two days ($129,625). The second session average was up 0.4 per cent from the previous record of $97,247 set in 2023 and up 2.3 per cent from the previous record through two days of $126,289 also set in 2023.

Through two days, the sale has grossed $44,467,000 (down 2.2 per cent from the all-time record of $45,464,000 set in 2023). Though, this year 16 fewer yearlings have been sold through the first two days. The two-day median is $90,000, down from $100,000 last year. So far, 154 yearlings have sold for $100,000 or more, down from last year’s record of 197 after two sessions.

In terms of Day 2 stats only, the sale grossed $22,173,000 (down 4.6 per cent from the record of $23,242,000 set last year). Seventy-eight yearlings sold for $100,000 or more on Tuesday, down from 100 last year.

Watch Heather Vitale’s complete coverage of Day 2 here, and follow everything to do with the sale on HRU’s dedicated Lexington sale page.

“It is a really healthy marketplace overall,” said the sale’s co-manager David Reid. “There were some high-priced pacers in there today. Trotters remain strong. There was a great international crowd, I thought there were more Europeans here today. There were some Canadians here.

“We’re fortunate that we have a lot of trotters by Chapter Seven, Walner, Muscle Hill. They are the leaders of the pack, whereas with the pacers it’s just much more diversified. The bench can be 10-deep and I think that’s where you do see some opportunities or pockets.”

The team of trainer Andrew Harris and owner Bill Pollock — with advice from Casie Coleman on the pacers — kept up their torrid pace through Day 2, spending $1.44 million to buy five more yearlings. Through two days, the pair have spent $5,115,000 to acquire 15 yearlings.

On Day 2, Harris and Pollock bought the session-topper, Hip #267 Naughty Beauty, a Bettors Delight filly out of Beautyonthebeach for $550,000 from Hunterton. Harris and Pollock also bought the third-highest-priced yearling sold on Tuesday when they paid $400,000 for Hip #149 Che Bella, a Bar Hopping filly out of New Wave sold by Kentuckiana.

Naughty Beauty was bred by Jim Avritt, Sr., who said, “She’s a really nice filly. It’s one of those things where all of the pieces came into place at the right time. Her full sister, Blazing Belle, won last week at Mohawk, won a Gold in :49.2 and beat Its A Love Thing and Odds On Platinum — two of the best fillies in North America — and just blew by them in the stretch.

“Then the 2-year-old brother that Gregg [McNair] has, Crack Shot, won the Grassroots final in :52 and he’s really a Gold colt and he’s in the Gold this Thursday. So, everything just sort of aligned and I’m sure it had a great deal to do with it.

“Casie Coleman and Andrew Harris bought [Naughty Beauty]. They came down last week and looked at her and obviously liked her and, of course, Andrew bought the Ready For Prime Time colt last year for a half million dollars… out of Prescient Beauty, which is the same family.

“I only sold four this year and they were all fillies… I sold a Walner filly [Monday] night for $250,000 and a Chapter Seven filly for $140,000 and this filly goes for $550,000, so I’ve been real blessed.”

Trainer Nancy Takter is the sale’s second-leading buyer in terms of total expenditure ($2,314,000), but the top buyer in terms of quantity (17).

“I’ve been very happy with the individuals that we’ve bought and happy with the price points where we’ve gotten them,” Takter said. “We got a lot of trotting colts and pacing colts and trotting fillies. I’d like to add some pacing fillies to that, but we have a few more to bid on for that. Overall, pretty happy.

“My dad helps me look at my horses and he’s probably the best in the world at picking out horses. People always want to talk about the expensive horses that he’s had that have done well, but he’s done absolutely amazing work with cheaper horses.

“Last year, we bought a horse like Champagne Problems for $35,000 and she’s made $350,000 this year, so I think you really have to not buy horses with your heart and buy them with your head. I think that’s the most important thing to do – set a price point where you think that horse fits and have some residual value and where you can get out of it. Obviously, there are going to be those few individuals where you’re going to pay more for, but those are the type of horses that, should they hit, are going to be home-run horses and be worth millions of dollars.”

Takter said her hope is to have a stable of about 40 horses.

“I like to give each horse the attention that they deserve,” she said. “This sale and the Harrisburg sale are the only sales that we buy horses at… Well, I got one horse in Ohio this year. We bought a Ready For Moni, because obviously I trained Ready For Moni, and he’s a brother to Uncle Peter, so hopefully he’s going to do some great stuff for us. But, beyond that, I really do like to stay around 40 horses, so we’re trying to really focus on the individuals and buying individuals that you think you can end up in black at the end of the year.”

HANOVER LEADING IN CONSIGNOR AVERAGE

Hanover Shoe Farms only brought a small consignment of 13 yearlings to Lexington, but, obviously, the sport’s all-time leading breeder chose wisely.

Through both days, Hanover is the leading consignor by average at $216,308. The farm averaged $400,000 on Night 1 and sold session-topper Rani Hanover for $925,000, the third-highest price ever fetched for a yearling in Lexington.

“It’s been a great sale for us and I’m overly pleased with how Rani Hanover sold, obviously, and everyone else, too,” said Hanover farm manager Patti Murphy. “I think we had a good group of yearlings and they showed it in the sale.”

Murphy said she was hoping Rani Hanover, the first foal out of 2020 Hambletonian winner Ramona Hill, might sell for $750,000.

“When she went over that it was icing on the cake, basically,” Murphy said. “Once she got that high, we were hoping for a million, but we were very happy with what she brought.

Murphy said she is pleased with the response to the first crop of Hanover’s Hambletonian-winning stallion Captain Corey.

“The Captain Corey filly that we just sold for $150,000 out of Andela [Hip 256, Arella Hanover], I’m really pleased with the amount of lookers she got,” Murphy said. “I think people are liking the Captain Coreys.

“The Papi [Rob Hanovers] are still in demand and we brought some quality trotters. We didn’t bring that many trotters, but they are quality ones and it showed. We’re really pleased with the owners and trainers that bought them and I think they’ll be very successful for them.

“It’s a very good start to our yearling season and hopefully things continue on at Harrisburg.”

Michelle Crawford is the co-owner of Ramona Hill, who produced Rani Hanover. Her Crawford Farms consignment has sold 26 yearlings through two days and grossed $3,385,000 for an average of $130,192.

“I think I’m really happy with how everything has sold,” Crawford said. “Our highs have been high and our lows have been a little low and disappointing, but it’s all based on the individual and the crowd and who’s awake and who’s sleeping.

“I love where [our yearlings] are going. Everyone has gone to a great owner. I think we’ve had great industry support and it just gets better.

“I think our sale [today, Oct. 3] is actually really strong, with some sleepers. We have a Captain Corey out of Stella Jane [Hip #438 Captain Charlie]. We have a really, really good consignment. I think the TDS [Tall Dark Stranger] numbers are hurting us a little bit. Obviously, we own a piece of him and they didn’t do as well as we hoped… but I think that’s something that’s going to evolve over time.”

BOB BRADY: “IT’S BEEN A HECK OF A SALE”

Bob Brady, co-owner of Kentuckiana Farms, said he was thrilled with the farm’s results, so far. Kentuckiana sold the second- and third-highest priced yearlings on Day 2 and is the third-leading consignor by gross with $6,206,000 in total sales from 50 yearlings, averaging $124,120.

“I think it’s been a heck of a sale,” Brady said. “Obviously, the trotters are the most in-demand, in particular the fillies, but the pacers have held up well also.

“I think Day 2 is a more consistent sale than the first night. I think a lot of good horses are selling… I think it’s just a more predictable, level market [Tuesday]. That night there were a lot of swings and it’s exciting to see that, but I think it was a better market today, than the highs and lows of [Monday] night.

“I think if you bring a good horse here, with the right pedigree, you’re going to be well paid. The buyers recognize the opportunities throughout racing and they want to buy quality. There’s lots of competition for the quality horses and I think it will carry over into Day 3. There are a lot of horses coming up for [today’s] sale that are still good horses.”

Svanstedt Stables purchased the Kentuckiana-sold Jennifer Palema, a Bar Hopping filly out of Sobti Hanover for $425,000 on Tuesday.

“The first night everyone wants to buy and the prices are high,” said Sarah Svanstedt. “We like to be part of the good horses, too, but it comes to a point when you have to put it all together and get the money back somewhere, so that’s why we get those horses as well.

“You need new horses every year and we’re trying to stay between 30 and 40 babies every year, so with homebreds you’re calculating what number you need to buy to match what you’re looking for.

“There’s great, great pedigreed horses here – just topnotch when you go through. The prices, as you can see, are tremendous and the sport is going up… it’s a proud group of owners, trainers and breeders to be a part of this harness racing industry.”

TALKING SIRES

The Svanstedt Stable campaigned Captain Corey to his 2021 Hambletonian victory and Sarah said she likes what she sees of the stallion’s first crop.

“We bought a couple of Corey babies, which is very exciting from his first crew,” she said. “I can see from the outside, they give lots of reminders of him so it’s very exciting to have a couple of them in the barn. We love him and miss him, so let’s see if we can create a new one.”

Through two days, Walner, Chapter Seven, Muscle Hill and Gimpanzee, in that order, continue to lead all sires in gross sales. Captaintreacherous is the leading pacing stallion, followed by first-crop sire Perfect Sting.

Another first-crop sire, Bulldog Hanover, had a son named Dax Seelster sell for $350,000 on Tuesday to Brad Grant. Dax Seelster was bred by Seelster Farms and sold by Reid’s Preferred Equine, which leads all consignors in gross sales through two sessions with $8,030,000 for 61 sold. Hunterton is second with $7,105,000 for 44 sold.

“To see a ‘Bulldog’ sell for $350,000 — great connections got him, obviously, Brad Grant campaigned and was a co-owner of Bulldog — but to see the level of competition to acquire that colt… he had to work at it,” Reid said. “I think that was a good success story.

“We’ve been fortunate for a long, long time to represent so many quality breeders… Seelster Farms is a great example, Lindy Farms is a great example, Southwind Farm is a great example, Deo Volente, Fairwinds had a Chapter Seven colt that sold well here today. Then, you have your mom and pops, so we’re fortunate enough to have that and it’s a great marketing tool because they can come to one consignment and get a variety of horses, a variety of jurisdictions, a variety of sire power. As for our overall success, we’re just fortunate to be able to represent them in the right way.

“And just the continued support of the quality families. People have been investing a lot of money, all the consignors, like you see Steve Jones, for example, Cameo is having a heck of a sale. Hunterton is always solid. Crawford is here and you’ve got Spring Station up there on the hill. They’ve invested a lot of money over the last few years, so it bodes well.

“I’m positive about the sale, but I think for a buyer that does his homework there are still opportunities. I think the trainers that are here are working and I just think the next couple of days, you know, people watching from home if they have somebody looking at horses, there’s going to be some opportunities to buy. Even though the average is up a little bit over last year, there’s still some pockets.”

The third session of the sale begins today (Oct. 2) at 1 p.m.

The Day 2 sale stats are available below: