Average just shy of $200,000 sets Lexington Sale record

On opening night of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at Fasig-Tipton, the gross of $22.187 million was second best in history.

story by Dave Briggs
quotes by James Platz, Dave Briggs, and Debbie Little

A new record average of $199,883 was the top line number from a terrific opening session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale held on Monday night (Oct. 5) at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion.

The session grossed $22,187,000, which was the second best all-time and only down 2.2 per cent from the record of $22,294,000 set in 2023 when six more yearlings were sold. The 111 yearlings sold on Monday produced a median of $150,000, which was on par with the last two years and second only to the record median of $170,000 in 2023.

“It was a very energetic night,” said the sale’s co-manager David Reid. “I thought the crowd was fantastic inside, outside, in the back rooms. It’s a credit to the consignors, like we always say. Trotters were extremely strong. Pacers held up great. It’s a record average and we’re up 10 per cent over last year and 5 per cent over the year before.

“It was also the second-best gross and we only sold 111 horses tonight. We had a few ‘outs.’ Overall, it was a very good session and hats off to everybody. We always give credit to the breeders for reinvesting. Sire power carried through and the first-crops sold well, so you’ve got to be happy.”

Last year’s opening session saw 120 yearlings gross $21,801,000 total, averaging $181,675, and posting a median of $150,000. Eighty-two yearlings sold for $100,000 or more.

Eighty yearlings sold for $100,000 or more on Monday, down from 82 last year, but up from 76 in 2024. The most yearlings selling for $100,000 or more in the opening session was 97 in 2023.

“Our consignors offered a great set of horses and the results reflect that,” said co-manager Bruce Brinkerhoff. “Our team spends a great deal of time in selecting the horses for the sale and working with our consignors and then also in placement in the sessions… what sessions horses go in. We put a tremendous amount of effort into both of those things and it was reflected tonight that it has been a success and we’re very happy with the results this evening.”

Topping the session was Hip #79 Kountry Prince, a Walner colt out of Plunge Blue Chip, sold for $825,000 out of the Kountry Lane Standardbred consignment to trainer Ake Svanstedt on behalf of a group of people.

“I never thought, at this point, we’d have the sale topper or close to it,” said Kountry Lane’s farm manager Duane Miller. “The last few days, the people that looked at him were high-end people and a lot of them had him vetted out. That told me… I didn’t dare get too excited, and I didn’t tell [farm owner] Ola [Yoder] because I didn’t want him getting fired up about it, but I had a good feeling about [Kountry Prince]. Obviously, not this much. I was thinking it’d be great if he’d bring $500,000 or $600,000, but that’s a stretch for us.

“It gives me a little bit of confidence that we can sell with these farms and we can do a good job. We’ve taken a lot of knocks along the way. It was a big learning curve.”

Svanstedt was the top buyer on Monday, spending $2.14 million, total, to purchase seven horses.

“The big one [Hip #79], obviously, I would say the mother [Plunge Blue Chip] pays the price, probably,” said Sarah Svanstedt. “He looked tremendous and the sister [Kountry Plunge] has started tremendous, six-for-six. Plunge was a huge help for us to move here [from Sweden]. She wasn’t very expensive, but she had nice conformation and pedigree and she turned out to be super. So, it’s feelings, too, and that may be part of the reason why you don’t say no. I think feelings also pay – I shouldn’t say 50 per cent, but at least 30 per cent of the price.

“We didn’t talk about a limit. We had five people behind us and everyone was into it. We never really set a number. It’s wrong to say they are wealthy people, because I don’t want to put that out there, but they love the game and they love the horses and you need those ones to perform with the high number of horses coming into the ring.”

Marcus Melander was second in the buyers’ standings with $1.71 million spent to purchase six horses. Next came Andrew Harris, agent for Punisher Elven Stable, with $1.485 million spent to take home five yearlings.

Hip #71 Maestro Volo, a Chapter Seven colt out of Mommamia Volo bred and consigned by Kentuckiana Farms, sold for $800,000 to Peter Cimino, agent, from Ambler, PA on behalf of a Norwegian owner. The colt’s second dam is Margarita Momma, a winner of more than $600,000 and the dam of Amigo Volo, a winner of almost $2.7 million.

Kentuckiana Farms’ part-owner Bob Brady said he was “ecstatic” with Maestro Volo’s $800,000 sale price.

“It is a very nice colt that checked all the boxes,” Brady said. “Excellent conformation. Athletic-type colt and we’re very happy with that price. Who wouldn’t be?

“I thought he’d be our highest-priced colt, for sure. When they get in that range, you just never know, for sure, how much other people are going to like him, but we knew he was being very well-received.

“It’s a phenomenal maternal family. Chapter Seven – he’s a rock star, he’s a tremendous stallion… and out of that mare that won half-a-million dollars or more. First foal. He’s very correct and the family is just so strong. The second dam has been giant.”

Cimino also spent $650,000 to purchase Hip #96 Special Account, a Walner colt out of Special Hill from Kentuckiana’s consignment. The colt was bred and raised at Clear Creek at Brittany Farms.

Hip #4 Lake Placid, a Chapter Seven colt out of Mission Brief daughter Adirondack, got the fireworks launching early in the session with a winning bid of $700,000 from Jeffrey Snyder and S R F Stable, two of the owners of this year’s Hambleton winner, Apex, who is out of Mission Brief. Lake Placid was bred by Diamond Creek Farm and consigned by Hunterton Farm. The colt is the second of three foals out of Adirondack, the first foal out of Mission Brief.

“We picked number four because he’s by Chapter Seven and the mare is the same family as Apex out of a daughter of Mission Brief,” Snyder said. “We zeroed in on him. We checked him out carefully. We x-rayed him and everything else. Our trainer, Marcus Melander, said ‘He’s great.’ He checked all of the boxes, except for the price… Actually, thought it might go for a little more. We thought it might go for $800,000.”

Hunterton’s Steve Stewart said Lake Placid is “about as hot as you’re going to get with family, and that has a lot to do with it. He’s a very outstanding looking colt. He was probably a little more developed, in my opinion, than most Chapter Sevens.”

Snyder and S R F also spent $600,000 to purchase Hip #76 Indestructible, A Walner colt out of Jolene Jolene. The colt, a full brother to Mohawk Million winner Venerable, was bred and sold by Hunterton.

“We were very happy with Jolene,” Stewart said. “We were expecting more, but when you sell one for $600,000, you can’t cry.”

Hip #68 Targeter a Tactical Landing filly out of Sarcy bred and sold by Hunterton Farm sold for $575,000 to Al Libfeld.

Hip #31 Boy Toy, a Walner colt out of Delilah Hanover named after Hall of Fame owner David McDuffee and bred and sold by Cameo Hills Farm, fetched a bid of $500,000. The buyer was McDuffee himself.

Hip #101 Smart Beauty, a Walner filly out of Swanky Hanover, sold for $500,000 to Wiesman Farms out of the Hunterton consignment.

“We sold one for $700,000, one for $600,000, one for $575,000, another one for $500,000,” Stewart said. “We’ve had a great night.”

Hunterton was the session’s leading consignor with total sales of $4,974,000 for 23 yearlings. Kentuckiana was second with a gross of $3,915,000 for 16 yearlings. Concord Stud was third with sales of $2,609,000 for 13 yearlings.

By average, Kountry Lane led with a $322,500 for four sold, followed by Blue Chip Farms ($306,667), and Kentuckiana ($244,688).

Leading sires were:

• Walner — $7,127,000 for 30

• Chapter Seven — $5,397,000 for 17

• Confederate — $2,230,000 for 16

• Tactical Landing — $2,125,000 for 11

Kentuckiana’s Brady said, “The atmosphere [on opening night was] great. People came here to buy a horse. Anything that was good and correct sold for a lot of money.

“We’re appreciative of the hard work of all the consignors and the breeders to bring this group of horses in here and, of course, we’re very appreciative of the buyers for giving us their support and having the confidence in us.”

Sarah Svanstedt added, “I think it’s a very good book this year. Obviously, they have cut down on some horses, to make it even a little bit more special. I think they showed that tonight with the numbers. The business is looking to show off here. It’s a bit different from Lexington to Harrisburg. I mean, Harrisburg sells a lot of nice horses, too, but here is where the great customers are and the best horses.”

Today’s (Oct. 6) session begins at 11 a.m. and is proceeded by the Breeders Crown Charity Auction brunch at 10 a.m. and the charity breeding auction.

As for the sale itself, Brinkerhoff said he expects the strong opening night numbers, “to carry throughout the sale. We do think we have a tremendous amount of quality all the way through to the end, through to the last session. [On Tuesday], we’ll be selling approximately 35-40 more horses than we did last year on the second day so if we can keep pace with those numbers and offering more horses – or exceed them – we’ll be very happy and we think we might be able to do that. Realistically, with offering more horses, it’s a little bit of an unknown factor, so it remains to be seen [Tuesday] exactly what will happen, but we’re very confident that the momentum will carry forward and we’ll see another great session.”