Part Two Of A Look Back At The Pacing Stallions At Harrisburg

I covered most of the other major pacing stallions in part one…..Art Official started his stallion career at Walnridge Farm in Pennsylvania at a 7K fee. His first crop raced in the PASS this past year. He is now standing in that repository of stallions that have failed in Pennsylvania and New York—Ohio, for 5K. Let’s Drink On It and Sister Stroll are a couple of his better ones, but he’ll be much more at home in the rejuvenated Ohio SS. Last year 21 Art Officials sold for a 13.5K average at Harrisburg, with 62% going for less than 15K. The buyers didn’t see anything from his first crop that changed their minds. Fourteen of them averaged 14K this year with 71% selling at 15K or less. Jimmy Takter was the only one to cross the 50K threshold—barely. He bought a colt out of Knock Three Times for 52K. Art Official wasn’t even given a chance to flop in Pennsylvania; They shipped him out and dropped his fee before his offspring hit the track.

Camluck had an outlier, a half sister to Dynamic Youth, purchased by Chris Ryder for 140K. She was the only one of the 16 to top 50K. His fillies averaged more than 30K while the colts came in at 19K. 44% of the offering from the twenty-five-year-old Cam Fella stallion came in at under 15K. Synergie Montreal also boosted the filly stats with the purchase of a sister to Allamerican Native for 40K. Six Camluck colts and two fillies sold at the Canadian Yearling Sale for an average of 16K. Only one sold at Lexington while 20 will be available at Forest City.

Eighteen-year-old Western ideal did a lifetime worth of work when he produced Rocknroll Hanover. American Ideal and Always A Virgin are cherries on the sundae. In recent years Big Jim, Krispy Apple, Jerseylicious and Word Power have been a few of his better young horses. He was standing for 15K in New Jersey in 2010. That was dropped to 10K in 2012 and 7,500 in 2013. It seems like ages since he was relocated to Pennsylvania, but he still wears the Scarlet Letters—NJ—on his paperwork at the sales. 55% of this year’s offering came in at 15K or less. There was one 50 plus colt, who served as an average boosting outlier, since there weren’t that many sold. Still, he averaged 27K, a marked improvement over last year when 27 averaged a measly 11K and three-quarters of them brought 15K or less. It’s surprising that they haven’t punched his ticket to Ohio. Maybe they did.

Western Ideal’s ill fated son, Rocknroll Hanover, took it on the chin last year for his place of residence; his overall average was down 25% and only half as many topped 50K as in 2011. He ranks second on the all-age money list, so it’s not like he’s been a slacker. With Perretti winding down their operation of late the offering was relatively small, and on top of that several did not sell for one reason or another. Last year 62 were for sale; this year it was 38. His overall average was in the 31K range. Only two topped 100K: Daniel Snyder bought a colt out of Worldly Beauty for 125K and a filly out of a daughter of Kikikaie sold for 100K. 21% sold for 50K plus and almost 40% brought 15K or less. Not a great send-off. The foals sold in utero at the mixed sale are Pennsylvania eligible. One filly sold for a thousand dollars. Ten of them sold for under 10K. Nitelife, another in a long line of great Rocknroll fillies, didn’t convince them to spend.

Last year Mister Big had 14 sell at Harrisburg for a 9,100 average. More than 85% of them fell in the 15K or less column. This year only one sold. And there was one at Lexington. Six of them averaged 7,500 at the Canadian Yearling Sale and three will be offered at Forest City….Why do they bring yearlings by Jeremes Jet to Harrisburg? 12 of the 13 that sold brought 15K or less, and the other one only brought 16K. He was standing for 6K in Ontario in 2010 and is now down to 3,500. Tara Hills buries shoppers in OSS stats: he ranks number five on the OSS leader board, just above that other giant, Santana Blue Chip—great. Seventeen by Jeremes Jet will sell at Forest City over the weekend……Shark Gesture is another stallion who needs to find another line of work. 18 of the 19 sold brought 15K or less. His stud fee dropped from 6K to 4 last year in Pennsylvania and now he has been relocated to Ohio for the 2014 season at a fee of 3K, which still amounts to unarmed robbery. Shit runs downhill and that’s what is happening in the breeding business: all the detritus from Pennsylvania and New York is pawned off on Ohio, and whatever they don’t want winds up in Indiana……Yankee Cruiser is another winner. Only one of 13 brought more than 25K. And this is a Hanover stallion, mind you. Or, he was a Hanover stallion. A familiar theme: on his way to Ohio. Is it the horsemen who benefit most from the new slots program in Ohio? No, it’s Hanover Shoe Farm, because they now have an outlet for their Edsels.

[ trotters coming soon]

JF