The dam of Jiggy Jog S sold for $1 million out of the Preferred consignment. Meanwhile, All American’s dispersal netted nearly $6.2 million.

by Ray Cotolo

A second million-dollar horse hit the Standardbred Horse Sales Company auction in Harrisburg — this time for the opening session of the 2024 mixed sale on Thursday (Nov. 7). Hot Mess Hanover, listed as Hip #1178 and in foal to a full-sister to triple-millionaire Jiggy Jog S, became the most expensive in-foal standardbred broodmare ever sold at auction.

Bidding opened stoutly at $300,000 and in a blink reached half a million. She soon soared to $900,000, flirting with and eventually hitting the $1 million mark. After a bid for $1,025,000 backed out, the auction lasting barely two minutes stopped at the bang of a hammer and the ticket for $1,000,000 descended through the center lane of the sales arena to the team of Winning Key Farm – Patty Key, widow to prolific harness racing owner Bob Key, and farm manager Eric Crocker.

“That’s exactly where we thought she’d go,” Crocker said of the price; the mare sold in foal to Walner, who remains 2024’s most in-demand stallion. From the 2024 SHSC yearling sale, Walner offspring grossed over $4 million grossed from 16 sold — an average of $258,063 — and $8.9 million from 51 sold at this year’s Lexington Selected Sale, an average of $175,216.

“That was what sold us, carrying a full sibling to Jiggy Jog,” Crocker said. “If it’s a filly, we’ve got a broodmare, but whatever it is, it will sell. We can keep breeding her from there and get more. So, we’re excited. I wish we spent less, but it’s what it is.”

The lofty sum just adds to Patty Key’s ongoing pursuit to build a boutique operation with Winning Key Farms, all to honor the legacy of her late husband. She earned headlines — and applause around the sale arena — when topping the opening session of the 2022 mixed sale with a $750,000 winning bid on a stallion share for Walner as part of $1.6 million spent by Winning Key at that sale. In 2023, the operation spent nearly $800,000 building its broodmare band.

“It’s nerve-wracking to spend the money, but Patty is all-in so it’s fun,” Crocker said. “Totally different direction, but buying these maiden mares, it’s going to pay off. We know we’re producing better yearlings than we ever have, so we’re very excited for the future.”

Hot Mess Hanover, consigned by Preferred Equine, is the second most expensive horse sold at a mixed sale in standardbred history. The record was set 22 years ago when 2-year-old trotting filly Cameron Hall became the first harness horse to sell for seven figures. She sold for $1.1 million to Erkki Laakkonen, who previously owned her in partnership with Walnut Hall.

“If there’s one mare that’s going to have an opportunity to bring a million dollars, it would be her,” said David Reid, president of Preferred Equine. “She’s 10 years old, she’s a queen. Her three foals are all stakes performers, including Jiggy Jog, who has made $3 million, and she’s carrying a full sibling. I was happy to see it. It shows good confidence in the marketplace. She’s in foal to Walner, and I’m the syndicate manager for Walner. He’s just had a tremendous sale season between Lexington and here. He’s rolling and I’m just happy to see Mrs. Key get it. She’s a great asset to the breeding business and I’m happy to see her continue.”

PHASE ONE FOR ALL AMERICAN COMPLETE

Fred Hertrich III’s All American Harnessbreds began the two-year process to disperse its assets on Thursday. The consignor offered many in-foal broodmares from its band and stallion shares as well as the Hertrich-owned Buy A Round, who finished second to Warrawee Michelle in the 2024 Hambletonian Oaks. From 58 sales, the first phase of the All American dispersal grossed $6,198,000.

All American sold 19 of the 28 highest-priced horses on Thursday, including four of the top five.

“I think there’s going to be some great buys out of there for some people,” said Rob Tribbett, farm manager for All American Harnessbreds. “I think, like any sale, there’s some that were higher than expected and some that were lower. I think it showed the demand for some of the top trotting stallions – mares that were in foal to them.”

A pair from the All American dispersal drew a half-million dollars each. Cindy Stewart of Hunterton Farms struck first winning the auction on Hip #1056, a Cantab Hall mare named On Your Tab who comes from a family including stakes winners Smoke And Mirrors and In The Mean Time. She also is the dam of stakes winner Buy A Round, a daughter of Walner. She sold in foal to Walner.

Climb The Pole, selling as Hip #1060, also left the ring for $500,000. The Kadabra mare, selling in foal to Chapter Seven, was one of several purchases made by Armitage Farm, a group who made a splash in the 2023 Mixed Sale when they made nearly $2 million in purchases. Led by Jim McLane and his wife Rita Armitage, and managed by longtime thoroughbred manager Dale Holly, they aimed to construct a high-class broodmare band with their acquisition of a farm in Kentucky previously owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Shadwell Stud.

“I think we’re surpassing expectations,” Dale Holly said. “We had zero horses at this time last year because we had just bought the farm Sept. 1^st. Today, we’ve got just under 80 horses. So, we’re really moving along very quickly. I love the mares that we have bought. We got lucky last year in the dispersal that there were quite a few quality individuals. This year, we’ve also found some very good mares to add to our program.”

Armitage scored the winning bid on two other mares in the All American dispersal. They bought Hip #1067 Dramatra, a Trixton filly who is a half-sister to 2013 Hambletonian winner Royalty For Life, for $200,000. She sold in foal to Walner. Armitage also placed the $350,000 winning bid for Hip #1055 Buy A Round, and Holly confirmed the filly will retire from racing and head straight into the farm’s broodmare band.

“We look forward to breeding her and selling foals out of her for years to come,” Holly said. “She’s a fantastic race mare, beautiful individual. We were looking to get her and we’re very excited about the prospects.”

As Armitage continues its expansion and prepares to send its first yearlings to auction in 2025, All American Harnessbreds will ready the remainder of its yearlings and broodmares for sale next year before closing the operation 40 years after it started.

“I’m sure when we get done, especially after next year, it’ll be a little bit bittersweet,” Tribbett said. “We are still going to be around and we’re still selling yearlings next year and be following the horses that we bred, so bittersweet is probably a good way to put it.”

MIXED SALE, GREAT NUMBERS

“I was pumped up about the mixed sale from the beginning,” said Dale Welk, president and director of operations for the Standardbred Horse Sales Company. “Maybe I thought I was over-pumped, but I couldn’t have expected it to go any better than it did today. Even the feel of the crowd was different, everybody was excited. It was an exciting day and I think tomorrow is going to be exciting, too.”

Day 1 of the 2024 SHSC mixed sale, with 42 fewer sales this year over last, grossed $15,976,000 – a 6 per cent increase. The opening session, as it did in 2023, propelled the cumulative gross through four days closer to 2022’s gangbuster numbers. From four days, the 2024 Black Book Sale has grossed $53,067,000 from 1,210 sales, a just 2.6 per cent difference from the 2022 gross through four days of $54,510,000 from 1,177 sales.

“You couldn’t wipe it off now,” Welk said of his smile, having sold two million-dollar horses in one sale – a feat only achieved by the 2019 Lexington Selected Sale with two seven-figure yearlings selling. “But I still feel for yesterday. I spent most of the night last night thinking about the yearling sale, you know, what do we do to fix it. As we all say, let’s talk between all of us. If I could fix it, I’d be a genius and I wouldn’t be here. We’ve got some things to finish up, but we’ll get it together, though.”

Today’s (Nov. 8) session, the final day of the 2024 sale, features purely racehorses along with the “Fabulous Fillies” section, which showcases racehorses that are broodmare prospects. It also will see 2024 Canadian Trotting Classic winner and Hambletonian third-place finisher Amazing Catch go through the ring.

“It’s a little reduced from years past, but it very high-quality individuals that are going to bring you solid prices,” David Reid said. “There’s a lot to offer for everybody – trotters and pacers. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I think Amazing Catch is really going to be an interesting story, because he was one of the better 3-year-olds this year. He’s a son of Walner. He’s still a [stallion]. The trotting ranks next year, you know, you’ve had a lot of horses retire – Jiggy Jog being one of them. Sig Sauer, Karl, It’s Academic is going to Canada. So next year is going to be a shifting of the guard and who’s going to be that top performer? I think he’s probably one of the more interesting racehorse prospects that we’ve offered in a long time. I’m really looking forward to selling him tomorrow. He’s a grand horse and we look forward to representing him tomorrow.”

Today’s session begins at 10 a.m. (E.T).