Vieux Carre Farms looks to keep up the pace in Harrisburg
by Debbie Little
Vieux Carre Farms may enter this year’s Standardbred Horse Sales Company’s (SHSC) yearling auction in Harrisburg, PA with a smaller consignment than usual, but they still offer the same quality product the veteran farm is known for.
The 18-horse offering from the Gettysburg, PA farm is pacer forward with 11 colts (including five as agent) and three fillies (including one as agent). They also have four trotters, with three colts as agent and a filly of their own.
Mark Egloff, the general manager of his family’s farm, pointed out a couple of his favorites that will sell each day at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Complex.
“The first day, we are selling Hip #67 [El Tio Sam] the last offspring by the great Hall of Fame mare Benear,” Egloff said. “He’s a full brother to this top 2-year-old filly that’s in [the Breeders Crown] final, I’m A Lou Lou. So, he’s a long legged, racy looking colt. So, I expect him to get a lot of attention.
“That mare, she’s just an amazing mare, but this is the last one. And first day, he’s our top dog there.
Vieux Carre has a total of five selling on Day 1.
“I’ve got a couple of Huntsville colts that are nice,” he said. “And, you know, we’ll get some traffic from those.”
The Huntsville son Hip #55 Beeville is the second foal and first colt of the Always B Miki mare Always A Buzz. Hip #69 Amarillo is also a Huntsville colt out of Better Than Silk a daughter of Bettors Delight out of Silky.
Vieux Carre’s last foal selling on Day 1 is Hip #107 Easygoing a “nice-looking” colt out of the great race mare Economy Terror and her first by Bulldog Hanover.
“My favorite one in our consignment on the second day is an International Moni filly out of a Walner mare,” Egloff said. “And she’s Hip #465, her name’s National Treasure. And International Moni, he’s had a nice year, and he’s got one of the top trotting mares in the world out there with Elista [Hanover]. It’s some Walner blood and that’s kind of new for us. And so, I think she’ll sell fine. She’s very nice, correct and nice sized filly. I like her a lot. She’s my favorite that day.”
Egloff also has a pacing filly that he likes on Day 2.
“I’ve got a really nice Perfect Sting filly [Hip #229 Perfect Body] out of the Silky family… she’s a very nice filly out of a great family.”
On Day 3, Egloff said he’ll sell probably his favorite colt in the consignment this year, and all year.
“It’s actually owned by my partner, Max Hempt, and he’s Hip #841 [Keystone Augusta], he’s the last Captain Corey in the sale,” Egloff said. “And he is a super nice colt.
“I just love this colt. He’s got great presence and personality, and like I said, it’s the last Captain Corey, and they want them, so they’ll be out of options if they haven’t filled their order by then. I think he’ll sell well.”
When asked if he felt there was an advantage to his Captain Corey colt being placed late, Egloff said, “It’s all a crapshoot. I mean, you can try to figure it out, but in the end, it’s tough. I do think if you’ve got a really nice horse that maybe doesn’t have a first day pedigree, and he’s a really nice horse, I think you’re better off later in the sale. And with that kind I think they sell better later. And I think that’s what will happen with this colt, they’ll like him when they see him.”
Also on Day 3, Vieux Carre has Hip #659 Party Up a Lather Up filly out of the well-bred Artsplace daughter Artchitecture.
“This is her last one as well,” Egloff said. “She’s been a great mare for us. We bought her a long time ago out of the Peretti dispersal, and she’s been a moneymaker for us.
“She’s not real big, but that family’s kind of that way; she’s a nice filly.”
Egloff also spoke with HRU about how Vieux Carre did in Lexington and his hope for Harrisburg.
“We didn’t have any real headliners this year going down there but I thought we got a fair price for our top stuff,” he said. “I mean, there was a little tail off that one day, like you said, that disappointed a few people, but in the end, I was satisfied that we got fair prices for our horses. So, we were fine.
“I think there’s a little different crowd in Pennsylvania. You’ve got the Pennsylvania trainers there and a few more of them, and, you know, hopefully they’ll help us with some of the middle of the road horses; we’ve got a lot of Pennsylvania-breds to sell and they’re nice horses.”
