I'm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania now waiting for the first horse to be hammered down.
Sunday was Show Day, the calm before the storm when the atmosphere is relaxed and you have a chance to chat with consignors and buyers. For some consignors, the atmosphere was a little too relaxed and the crowd too sparse. Several of them noted that the crowd was lighter than usual and hoped that didn't bode poorly for the sale.
I was so lost in various conversations that I wasn't aware of the time passing.I kept thinking, "The crowd is going to start building soon...."
Then I realized it was 4 p.m. and the crowd was actually beginning to thin a bit.
The horde of European buyers has not arrived in mass yet. Or at least let's say that I didn't see many Europeans poking and prodding yearlings. They're often more interested in the mixed sale with its line-up of broodmares and racing stock. That section of the sale is still several days away.
Lots of talk about stallions and stud fees. Conway Hall dropped from $15,000 to $10,000 and breeders naturally thought that was a smart move by Walnut Hall in this tight market. After siring two Breeders Crown winners at Woodbine, Broadway Hall's fee is $12,000, raising him above his sire's own fee.
SJ's Caviar is off to Sweden as he never really proved to be a reliable commercial sire for Hanover and you can look for Explosive Matter to enter the stud in Pennsylvania after his return from the Orsi Mangelli in Italy.
Jean Brown, the charming lady from Blue Chip, told me that the farm's consignment actually had a lot of tire kickers on Sunday and she seemed very upbeat about the sale prospects.
I spoke with several people who were interested in the tour to Paris and the Prix d'Amerique that I'm organizing in January and I think we'll have a few prominent guests among the Americans (and Canadians) in Paris.
Harrisburg is harness racing's greatest shopping mall. If you can't find what you want at Harrisburg, you might as well quit looking. Yearlings, racehorses, broodmares, and even some stallions----they've got it all at the Harrisburg Mall.