A committee of breeders, under the auspices of the PEI Harness Racing Industry Association, will conduct a Calcutta auction of broodmares

in late January. The event, initiated by Norman Hall, Manager of the PEI Colt Stakes, will feature a group of quality mares, part of a farm dispersal in New York, that will be offered to Island breeders for purchase.

Interested breeders and horse owners in general will be invited to be part of the Calcutta auction, the first event of its kind in Canada, which, if successful, may become an annual event designed to improve the bloodlines on the Island. Hall, who will act as the pedigree consultant for the group, is excited about the pedigrees of the mares.

“These mares are all young mares, in foal and stud fee paid to top North American sires such as Western Terror, stud fee $20,000 in 2011, and sire of Up The Credit, winner of the $1,000,000 North America Cup in Toronto this year. With this event alone we can increase significantly the number of mares on PEI that are bred well enough to produce top performers for the Maritimes or for selling or racing in major markets.

"This is a great opportunity too for non-breeder buyers interested in the foals of these mares as potential race horses and having an established breeder raise the foal and ultimately buy the mare.”

The Calcutta auction format will see registered bidders gather for a dinner followed by several rounds of sealed ballot bids on the mares. The top bidders in each round will select their mares from the list and the rest will be subject to successive bidding rounds until all the mares are sold.

The number of bidders is limited to the number of mares available plus five. The maximum number of mares available is 30 so the maximum number of bidders is 35. Registration deadline is January 1 and registration forms will be available the evening of Wednesday, December 28 at a breeders meeting to be held at the Farm Centre in Charlottetown, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The registration fee will be $1,000 and will be applied to the cost of successful bids. Each bidder will also get four tickets to the dinner where a special guest speaker, to be announced, will entertain and also act as Calcutta auctioneer.

The general public will also be able to attend the event with the ticket price of $100 including a draw for the grand prize of Broodmare For An Evening. At the end of the Calcutta auction one ticket will be drawn for and that person will then draw a broodmare’s name and receive as a prize the value of that broodmare based on the auction results. The winner does not get the mare but could end up several thousand dollars richer. There will be other draws during the evening for sponsored prizes from firms associated with the horse breeding industry.

The PEI Harness Racing Industry Association is pleased to support this unique event and invites the interest of all Island Standardbred breeders, as well as businesses involved in the industry, as sponsors and participants.

For further information please contact Norman Hall, Chairperson, Island Breeders Calcutta. 902-368-2340.