The opening session of the 2022 Harrisburg Yearling Sale kicked off Monday evening in Pennsylvania, and it was the Chapter Seven-Dont Wait Up filly Date Night Hanover who topped the proceedings with a price tag of $600,000.

Selling as Hip 38, Date Night Hanover was purchased by Jeffrey Snyder of New York.  Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. consigned the full-sister to Delayed Hanover (1:51.1 - $483,428).

“She was my wife’s favourite horse in the sale, and we looked at a number of them,” Snyder told the USTA. “She’s a Chapter Seven, who had a great year this year, and we just thought she was the best horse in the sale. It’s as simple as that. The family is wonderful, there are a lot of recognizable names.

“She was a little more than we expected her to go for, but not too much more. She was well touted. Many people said she was the best filly in the sale, for sure. She checked all the boxes. We’re excited.”

Hip 60 Tandem Hanover  was purchased for $510,000 from the Hanover Shoe Farms Inc. consignment by Andrew Harris of East Windsor, N.J.  The daughter of Walner-Think Twice is the full-sister to Temporal Hanover (1:52.2 - $991,847).

“The page is awesome, the filly was amazing, the video was awesome; I just felt more confident with buying a filly like this with her pedigree,” Harris said. “She’s a big, racy filly with a great head. She’s gorgeous. She looks like she floats right along. There wasn’t much to knock. We took a shot, and let’s hope it works out.

“She is going to have residual value as a broodmare, so if I’m going to fire on one, I felt confident doing it with one of these fillies.”

Hip 109 Greenspring was the first of two $500,000 purchases by Serge Godin’s Determination of Montreal, Que.. The Greenshoe-Ilia filly, who was consigned by Concord Stud Farm, is a half-sister to In Range (1:51.4 - $824,878), Tight Lines (1:51.2 - $625,074) and Long Tom (1:52.1 - $425,610).

“I liked her [pedigree] page, and she is a beautiful filly,” said Determination trainer Luc Blais. “There is a lot to like about her.”

The other $500,000 purchase by Determination was Hip 119 Pennteller Hanover from the Hanover Shoe Farm Inc.’s consignment.  The Chapter Seven-Possess The Magic colt is a half-brother to Master Of Law (1:52 - $548,061).

“He is a very nice-looking horse, and I like that he is a Chapter Seven,” said Blais. “He is from a good family too.”

Hip 134 Linnea G was a $475,000 purchase by Julie Miller of Millstone Township, N.J.  Consigned by Concord Stud Farm, the Tactical Landing-Solveig filly is a half-sister to Shake It Cerry (1:51.2 - $2,863,184), Uncle Lasse (1:51.4 - $971,071) and Dontyouforgetit (1:52.1 - $598,049).

Hip 142 Paparazzi Rat was taken by Jim Glass of Stanford, Ky. for $400,000 from the Concord Stud Farm consignment.  The Chapter Seven filly is the first foal out of Strong Is Sexy, who is a half-sister to the Breeders Crown-winning Martiniontherocks (1:55.3 - $503,320).

Hip 101 Monticello was a $335,000 purchase for owner Brad Grant of Milton, Ont. The Chapter Seven-Hemi Blue Chip lass, who was consigned by Concord Stud Farm, is the full-sister to the soon-to-be-retired Atlanta (1:49 - $3,794,171).

In total, 165 yearlings went through the ring on opening night for a record-setting total of $19,716,000.  The average price over the course of the evening was $119,491. Eighty-seven pacers were sold on Monday evening, but it was trotting fillies that set off fireworks.  Thirty-six went through the ring, with the average price checking in at $171,861. 

The first session average was down from last year’s session-record $130,368, but still good for the second-best figure ever.

“We’re up 11.2 per cent in gross over last year,” said Dale Welk, the Standardbred Horse Sales Company president and director of operations. “We’re down about eight per cent in average due to selling 29 more yearlings than we did last year.

“I was a little nervous at first because [the sale] kind of started off slow, which surprised me; there were some yearlings bought there that I think guys are going to be really happy with. But once it got going, the big horses sold real big. I was very happy with the outcome.

“And we’ve got probably 70 to 80 horses tomorrow that could have been sold today, so hopefully we’re going to have another great session.”

IMPORTANT LINKS

• Sale Roster
• Sale Catalogues (PDF)
• Outs List
• Online Bidding (via i-bidder)
• Live Video Stream (also available below)
• Sale Results

(with files from USTA)