The brother to Maryland was purchased by trainer Andrew Harris from the Hanover Shoe Farms consignment. The first-day gross of $16,558,000 was up 8.8 per cent and the average of $110,387 was up 11 per cent over 2023.

by Ray Cotolo

The Standardbred Horse Sales Company sold the first seven-figure yearling in its 86-year history on Monday (Nov. 4), during the opening session at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.

Bidding soared on Hip #104, a Walner colt named Cambridge Hanover who is out of the stakes-winning mare Crucial, making him a three-quarter brother to $1.1-million earner and Breeders Crown champion Maryland. He circled the ring as the auctioneer scatted swiftly into six-figure territory, reached in part by Andrew Harris as he stood nestled along the wall of the sales arena wing, his iPad held over his face, upping the ante. Harris continued nodding even as Cambridge Hanover eked over an $825,000 bid, which was the all-time sales record when John Cancelliere bought Donato Hanover’s full brother Detour Hanover in 2011.

When the price reached $900,000, Harris kept up his end of the bidding war until the hammer dropped at $1 million. Harris, acting as agent for Bill Pollack and Bruce Areman, then signed what is tied for the second-most expensive yearling sold at auction in standardbred history. At the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale in 2019, Maverick sold for $1.1 million, followed by Damien at $1 million.

“My knees were shaking,” Harris said with a laugh after the purchase. “You don’t get used to those prices, but, at the same time, you watch the video and then you went to the sale to see him. I went to Hanover and watched him in the field and I’ve never seen a horse move like that. I predicted that this would be the highest-selling one. I told my guys that this could be a seven-figure horse. I was hoping $800,000, but I said it was possible it could be a seven-figure horse.”

Harris also trains the half sister to Cambridge Hanover’s dam Crucial, a now 2-year-old trotting filly named Voguish who has over $150,000 earned.

“This was one I had to have,” Harris said. “I love this horse. I loved him when I saw him out in the field. I loved everything about him. When a horse can move like that, it’s hard to find those types… and especially with the family. I wanted that one.”

Increased opportunities for young trotting colts with races like the Mohawk Million also encouraged Harris to stay engaged as the bidding treaded into uncharted territory. Four of the five richest trotting 2-year-olds have produced million-dollar campaigns just in the last three years. Aside from Venerable, who earned over $1 million in her freshman season in 2021, Mohawk Million victors T C I and Maryland had seven-figure seasons as did eventual Hambletonian winner Karl.

“There’s so many more purses for these trotting colts,” Harris said. “You have more chances to get out on them. You’ve still got to get there and you’ve got to prove it, but if there was one that I wanted to spend more than what I’m comfortable spending on, it would be this one.”

The million-dollar purchase came within an hour of Harris paying $400,000 for Hip #81, a Captaintreacherous filly named Aabriella Hanover, also sold by Hanover. The filly is a full-sister to millionaire Blue Diamond Eyes as well as stakes-winner Captain Kirk and this year’s Metro Pace champ Fallout. She was Harris’ only other purchase from the opening session and adds to the 15 he took from the Lexington sale in Bill Pollock and Bruce Areman’s continued investment and commitment to finding a champion racehorse.

“I learned so much last year and these horses taught me a lot,” Harris said. “So, this year it’ll just be a continuous process of going forward and getting better at it. You continuously learn. You never stop learning. If you stop, you should stop the game. Obviously, these guys are supporting me with amazing horses, so we’ll hit on one of these guys.”

Earlier in the session, Richard Gutnick popped eyes from the back row of the sales arena. He scored the winning bid on Hip #53, a Walner filly named Swinging Loyalty consigned by Concord Stud. Out of the RC Royalty mare Swinging Royalty, she is a three-quarter sister to two Canadian Trotting Classic winners in Ahundreddollarbill (winner in 2021) and Slay (winner in 2022) as well as Royal Mission and Royal Filly, who both have earned a quarter-million dollars. Gutnick, seated through the bidding alongside ownership partner Brad Grant, the filly’s trainer Linda Toscano and Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, signed the ticket for $760,000.

“This time, we wanted to get our top choice,” Gutnick said. “[We] didn’t think we were going to get it and I’m insane. I expected it to go $650,000 to $700,000. I was prepared for that. I wasn’t really prepared to go as high, and Linda kept saying, ‘It’s hard to get your money back, when you go for one this high,’ but I didn’t listen this time. I have some partners that say, ‘If you’re in, we’re in’ so that makes life a lot easier for me.

“Dr. J loved her also. And Linda loved her,” Gutnick said. “When we saw her at Concord Stud, we loved a couple of them. I got [Hip] #3 and this was my top choice all the way along. I tried to save bullets for it and now I’ve got to rob the piggy bank.”

Toscano, wandering off while Gutnick waited and then signed the ticket, returned to the group and said jokingly, “I ran away. I don’t know how to train a horse that expensive!”

STAYING WITH FAMILY

Jeff Snyder registered the third-largest purchase of the afternoon with Hip #82, a Walner colt out of world champion Mission Brief named Apex, sold by Hunterton Farm. Snyder, sitting next to trainer Marcus Melander when the hammer fell, also owns the colt’s half-sister Kadena, whom Melander purchased as agent for $800,000 at the 2023 Lexington Sale. Melander also trained Apex’s full sister Jaya Bae, who raced for Anders Strom’s Courant Inc.

“This one was more racey looking and also more [money] than Jaya Bae,” Snyder said. “We went over her, x-rayed her and she checked all the boxes. The whole family is wonderful. I thought he’d go for more, actually. The fillies seem to be bringing much more money than the colts, but we’re happy.”

Melander purchased a pair of the afternoon’s toppers as agent. Late in the session, he struck the $525,000 winning bid on Hip #133, a Gimpanzee filly named Art Of The State, in a million-dollar spending spree over 10 minutes. The filly, a half-sister to Melander’s millionaire Periculum, consigned by Concord Stud, sold between a pair of $300,000-plus acquisitions for Melander in Hip #130, a Greenshoe filly and the second foal from triple millionaire Hannelore Hanover named Heiress Hanover, and Hip #134, a Greenshoe filly named Hot Shot Hanover who is a three-quarter sister to 2023 Hambletonian Oaks winner Heaven Hanover.

And well before Marcus Melander thrice scribed his John Hancock, he secured Hip #79 for $375,000. The filly, named Myths And Legends, is a full-sister to Gimpanzee, the double-millionaire who thrusted Melander into the Grand Circuit limelight in 2018. He bought as agent for SRF Stables, who also co-owned Gimpanzee. Myths And Legends was sold by Concord.

When asked if the filly’s family left him any doubt on whether he’d take her home, Melander said, “You never know. These prices for these trotting fillies, it’s crazy. You never know what they are going to go for, but I think… $375,000 is a lot of money, but she has a lot of value. She was born a little late, so she’s a little small, but she’ll catch up. She still has a lot of value as a broodmare in the end.”

Trainer Nancy Takter also purchased a pair with familiar bloodlines. She first acquired Hip #28, a Walner half-sister to Team Takter’s world champion and triple millionaire Manchego, named Sorcery Hanover for $460,000. Takter also trains the filly’s three-quarter sister Pink Chou Chou, who has banked nearly $200,000 through her 2-year-old season.

“[She has a] solid family, producing family, and she’s worth every penny of what we just paid for her – as far as a broodmare in the future, so we’re really happy with her,” Takter said. “I actually think I paid less than I expected, so I was way underbudget, so I’m pretty happy with that and happy with my bidding.”

Takter later bought Hip #58, a Walner colt named The Old Man, for $450,000 from Peninsula Farm. A half brother to stakes winner R Dutchess, The Old Man is out of Team Takter graduate The Ice Dutchess, who earned over three-quarters of a million dollars and is a full sister to Ake Svanstedt’s world champion trotting mare Ice Attraction.

“I’ve never trained one of The Ice Dutchess’ babies, but I trained her and she was a beautiful filly,” Takter said. “This is a really nice colt. I actually saw him in Lexington, before the Lexington sale, so I knew he was here and kind of had my eye on him since then. He’s grown nicely from when I saw him earlier in Lexington, so I was really happy with how he looked here at this sale and was able to put a group together to get him.”

Pebble Beach’s three-quarter brother also attracted a large sum when David McDuffee struck the winning bid from the complex’s West Hall. McDuffee acquired Hip #26, a Captaintreacherous ridgling named Sea Bistro Hanover, for $410,000.

“Pebble Beach… was a little smaller than this one, so I kind of like the fact that this one is a little bigger and stronger looking,” McDuffee said. “You’ve got to pay for good horses. We thought he’d go right around $400,000, so I guess we had him pegged and someone else must have thought so, too.”

McDuffee said the ridgling will go into training with Brett Pelling.

OPENING SESSION WRAP

“It’s been a stellar day, just amazing,” said Dale Welk, president and director of operations for the Standardbred Horse Sales Company. “I can’t thank the buyers enough. I know for a fact that Hanover’s up 40 per cent over the first day last year. They’ve had a tremendous day. I didn’t get to look [yet] at a lot of the others, but all the consignors that have been in have been very happy.”

On the million-dollar yearling, Welk said, “I jokingly told [Hanover owner] Russell [Williams], ‘I’m retiring.’ That was a goal and something I wanted to do – to sell a million-dollar horse here and it was… I’ll be very honest, I got emotional. I’m still a little choked up about it when I talk about it. It’s a great feeling, especially with all the other ones we sold. We sold another one for $760,000. There were a lot of horses over $400,000 and that’s pretty amazing.”

Figures from Monday’s session increased year over year. The 2024 opening session grossed $16,558,000 from 150 horses sold for an average of $110,387 – an 8.8 per cent increase from 2023’s opening-session gross of $15,223,000 and an 11 per cent increase from the average of $99,497. Monday’s figures came 16 per cent shy of the record gross of $19,716,000 set in 2022 and 15 per cent away from the record average of $130,368 set in 2021.

“I’m just happy for all the consignors,” Welk said. “After a year like last year, it makes you feel really good. Like I said in one interview, I take all of that stuff personally, even if there’s nothing I can do about it. I take it personally and I’ll take a pat on the back after a day like today.”

The sale’s second session today (Nov. 5) will sell nearly 500 yearlings in a selection Welk is excited to present.

“I really think [the market] may be a little stronger than I was thinking,” Welk said. “I was optimistic, but cautiously optimistic, as I’ve said a couple of times. We always have a little bit of trouble in a presidential election year, but there’s a lot of money here. A lot of the right people and a lot of great people and they are supporting everything. Like, one guy told me, ‘if I’m going to lose all my money, I’m going to have fun doing it!’

“[I] really feel good about [Tuesday]. I think our middle market is going to be just fine. It kind of fell off in Lexington a little bit, but that’s expected with the number of great horses they had. I think our middle is going to be strong. We’ve got real good yearlings to sell and almost every consignor has something real good to sell tomorrow. I probably could’ve put 50 or 60 more today, but you want to get out of here at a decent time. Tomorrow is going to be a little longer. It’ll be a damn-near 10-hour sale tomorrow.”

Today’s session begins at 10 a.m. (ET).