A Look Back at the Harrisburg Sale - Pacing Stallions

Frequent VFTRG contributor and resident breeding expert Joe F. takes a look at how the Pacing sires did at this year's Harrisburg Sale.  His next installment regarding trotting sires will be forthcoming.


SBSW’s average was up 37% from last year. 57 of his yearlings sold for an average of $84,000.

63% of them sold for $50,000 or more. Last year it was 50%.

This year 80% of the 50K plus yearlings sold were colts. Last year 61% were colts.

Of the 57 sold, only 5 (9%)—all fillies—sold for $15,000 or less. Last year it was 20%.

30% sold for more than $100,000.

SBSW’s stud fee was dropped from 20K to 15 last year. It was just restored to 20 for the upcoming season.

Well Said buyers also favored the colts. The 53 yearlings sold averaged almost $56,000.

The 29 colts averaged 75K, while the 24 fillies averaged 32K.

23 yearlings (43%) sold for 50K or more, with a pair of them bringing more than 300K each.

While only 9% of Beach’s Harness Breeders offering sold for 15K or less, 28% of the Well Said’s fell into that category.

Well Said stands in Pa for 15K.

Bettors Delight was relocated to Ontario last year, the yearlings sold at Harrisburg this year are eligible to the NYSS.

BD’s average is up 18% from last year, when many were scratching their heads over the discounted prices his offspring brought.

63 brought an average of more than 30K this year.

25% of them sold for 50K and up, while 21% brought 15K or less.

Bettors Delight was standing for 12K a couple of years ago. That was upped to 14 while he was still at Blue Chip and has stayed at that level in Ontario. BD held his own this year. Cheddar, Bettor’s Edge, Bettor Sweet, Shebestingin, Bettor B Lucky and Thirty Two Red were some of his more accomplished performers. Those making recommendations about the revamped ONSS program want to keep the SS funding at its current level, but who knows whether or not that will happen. If it doesn’t, 14K is a high number. BD’s brother RWJ slid into his spot at Blue Chip, as a younger, cheaper alternative.

Rocknroll moved 62 yearlings at Harrisburg. His average was down 25%; the 62 brought an average of $27,000. While last year 32% of the Rocknrolls brought 50K or more, this year that figure was cut in half to 16%.

Last year 20% sold for 15K or less, while in 2012 that figure jumped to 37%--14 fillies and 9 colts.

The NJSS final now carries a purse of 150K. Rocknroll is the only pacing stallion of any repute left in the state.

Actually, he had a great year. He tops the all age earnings chart for pacers at more than $16 million. ARNRD, POAS, Rocklamation, Pet Rock, Foreclosure, Special T Rocks, Rockin Amadeus…..

Rocknroll’s stud fee was dropped from 25K to 15 last year.

Mister Big, who stands in Ontario for $7,500, had his first shot at the Harness Breeders Sale this year. His 14 yearlings averaged a modest $9,100. More than 85% of them sold for 15K or less.

The Western Hanover stallion, If I Can Dream, fared better with his small initial offering: 8 sold for an average of 25K. 37% went for 15K or less. IICD is a NY stallion, while Mister Big stands in Ontario. There was a lot of speculation about the favorable transition report calming the waters half-way through the sale but it’s obvious from the numbers that Ontario stallions paid a price for their location.

If I Can Dream, a full brother to Western Terror, had his fee dropped from ten to six last year.

Shadow Play, a first crop stallion from Ontario, had 37 sell for an average of 21K.

49% of the Shadow Play’s sold for 15K or less—11 fillies and 7 colts.

Three sold for 50K or more—8%.

Shadow Play stands for 5K.

 

The Art Official’s didn’t exactly light up the room. 21 sold for an average of $13,500. 62% went for 15K or less.

Twelve Artiscape’s sold for an average of 25K—up 36% from 2011. 33% went for 15K or less and one brought 50K or more. His nine colts averaged more than 28K while his 3 fillies averaged 14K. Last year 65% sold for 15K or less.

Artiscape stands for 5K in NY.

Dragon Again was down 32% from last year’s average at Harrisburg.

Of the 31 sold, only one brought 50K or more. And 29% sold for 15K or less.

31 sold for an average of 21K.

Last year 49 Dragon Again’s sold at Harrisburg for an average of 31K.

Nine of them—18%--sold for 50K or more.

Dragon stands for $6,000 in Pennsylvania.

 

Twenty-seven Western Ideals sold for a shade over $11,000 each. Seventy-four percent brought 15K or less. Only two of the 27 sold for 50K or more. These results were down 63% from last year.

Last year there were 7 colts and one filly that brought 50K or more. And 34% brought 15K or less.

Western Ideal was standing for 25K in 2007, when, after having three crops race he was already the proud papa of Rocknroll and American Ideal, among others. He now stands for 10K in Pennsylvania. These are tough numbers.

Western Ideal is also the sire of Big Jim, Always A Virgin and Cabrini Hanover.

His son American Ideal fared a little better at the sale. 29 sold for an average of 25K. Six yearlings—three and three—sold for 50K or more—20%. Still, more than 41% brought 15K or less.

Last year 37 sold for an average of 22K. Five went for 50K or more, and a disappointing 54% sold for 15K or less.

 

American Ideal’s fee was given a modest boost from 6K to $7,500 this past year, on the heels of the success of HBC and American Jewel. He is also the sire of Romantic Moment. When they’re good, they’re very good………..

Only eight Western Terror’s sold, but his average was down 67%. One sold for 50K or more and half went for 15K or less. Last year he had two 100K colts sell and only 25% went for 15K or less.

Western Terror’s stud fee was reduced from 15K to 10 last year.

He is the sire of Drop The Ball, Economy Terror and Western Silk.

Mach Three, another Canadian stallion, sold eleven for a 30K average. That’s down 52% from last year. Two sold for 50K or more and 3 fillies and a colt—36%--went for 15K or less.

There’s quite a gap between fillies and colts here. Overall eleven were sold for an average of 30K: the six colts averaged 44K while the five fillies averaged $12,500. This is similar to what happened with his son, SBSW, for whom 80% of the above 50K yearlings were colts.

Mach Three stands in Ontario for $7,500.

Do you see a trend here? Mister Big: 85% sold for $15,000 or less. Shadow Play: half sold at that level. Mach Three down 52% from 2011. This plays out through a number of other Canadian stallions. In some cases it may have more to do with the individual than the province. Regardless, there is a lot of red ink squirting from the pen.

Badlands Hanover, who stood for 5K in 2009 when he was moved to Ontario, and now gets 6K, was praised to the heavens earlier in the season when Love Canal and Tarpon Hanover were turning heads, but the HB buyers weren’t impressed. Twenty sold for 19K, down 45% from 2011. Only one colt brought 50K plus and 55% of those sold brought 15K or less.

Last year 21 yearlings averaged 35K and only 28% of those came in below 15K.

 

Art Major had 44 sell for a 34K average. The 21 colts only averaged a few thousand more than the fillies. Five colts and five fillies (23%) sold for 50K or more, and one filly cracked 100K. 25% brought in less than 15K. Last year 48 Art Major’s sold for an average of 38K, with a quarter selling for more than 50K and only 16% selling below 15K. Consistent, consistent, consistent.

The sire of Doctor Butch, Fool me Once, Hail The Taxi, Hypnotic, Major Look, Odds On Equuleus, Santana Blue Chip and Whiskey Pete stands in NY for 15K.

 

Sweet Lou obviously isn’t carrying his sire, Yankee Cruiser, up the charts. The Hanover stallion’s average was down by more than half this year, as 19 sold for an average of 15K. More than 73% went for 15K or less. There were no high-priced colts or fillies. His seven fillies averaged 11K.

You can twist the aggregate numbers and percentages this way and that, but for too many breeders the results of this sale add up to a kick in the gut.