"It was pretty amazing. It was about a 45 per cent increase from what we did last year, and it just gives me great pleasure for the breeders. I know how hard they work behind the scenes. It's a labour of love for them. It takes a number of years before they get a horse to the sale."

Earlier this month, the Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale smashed records with its total gross sales topping $1.7 million.

Julie Jamieson, executive director of the P.E.I. Harness Racing Industry Association, which administers the sale, commented on the successful 2021 yearling auction in a CBC News article.

Jamieson attributed the record prices the sale yielded to supply and demand from a current horse shortage in North America as well as an increase in new and returning owners.

"We're seeing a lot of fractional groups that have been formed, and that's a number of people that come in on a horse together," Jamieson told CBC News. "They form a group, it increases their buying power, more so than they would if they tried to buy on their own."

To read the article in its entirety, which includes comments from buyers and sale topper Woodmere Xspeedia's breeder Bruce Wood, click here.

(With files from CBC News)