The opening session of the Harrisburg Yearling Sale is officially in the books, and it was a day of strong numbers thanks in part to a $390,000 sale topper named Brooklyn Hill.
Sold as Hip 139, the son of Muscle Hill went to Jonas Czernyson of Allentown, New Jersey. Brooklyn Hill is the first foal of the Bluegrass Stakes-winning mare, Brooklyn (1:57.2 - $185,522).
"Now I just have to make sure he can perform," said Czernyson who signed the ticket on the youngster. "Now I’ve got my hands full. We’ve just got to hope for the best now. But he’s a very nice looking colt. I think we should be OK.
"I guess somebody wanted him as much as we wanted him," Czernyson added. "You always like to buy what you want, if you have the opportunity to do that. That's nice. I really like the horse, and (the owner) really liked him. That's why we went for him, and we got him. To us, he had everything we wanted."
Hip 135 Stepenwolf Hanover was acquired for $300,000 by Myron Bell of North Bergen, New Jersey. The Somebeachsomewhere colt is the first foal of the Grand Circuit-wining mare, So Perfect (1:51.3 - $$272,516).
"You've got to show people you mean business," said Myron Bell who was the successful bidder on the colt. "I was there to buy the horse, not be an underbidder. He was one of the best looking horses in the sale. Great pedigree, great maternal family."
Hip 51 Twice On The Pipes sold for $240,000. Jeffrey Snyder of New York signed the sales slip on the Somebeachsomewhere-Knock Three Times colt. He’s a full-brother to Maxi Bon (1:49.4 - $104,912).
"He's a perfect, great-looking colt," said Jeffrey Snyder about his acquisition. "I saw him turned out in the field, and he was great there, a great-moving colt. There was nothing not to like about him. He had a brother (Maxi Bon) that had some speed, won in (1):49 and a piece, and he's out of a champion mare.
"Look, its a crapshoot," Snyder added. "We thought he was the best 'Somebeach' in the sale. The mare is 2-for-2; she's a young mare. He's a beautiful colt. I expected him to go for more than $240,000; I thought he'd go for ($300,000) something."
Hip 89 Mr Montgomery was snared for $200,000 by Determination of Montreal, Quebec. The Donato Hanover colt is the second foal out of the multi-talented, NYSS-winning mare, Munis Blue Chip (1:56.1 - $471,127). She’s the half-sister to Hot Shot Blue Chip (1:51.2 - $1,202,702).
Hip 109 D Man Hanover was purchased by Celebrity Farms of New York for $200,000. The Andover Hall-D Train colt is the full brother to Hambletonian winner, Donato Hanover (1:50.1 - $2,998,777).
"A couple years ago I said I guarantee Maserati to win the Hambletonian, now we have to work on the next one," said Celebrity Farms’ Sam Stathis, referring to Celebrity Maserati, who finished sixth in his Hambletonian elimination in 2013 and failed to advance to the final. "If lightning doesn't strike, we want to go all the way. That's why we spend that kind of money. We've got big dreams. I figured if we're going to take a chance, let's go all the way."
The 221 horses in Monday’s opening session had gross sales of $13,471,000 and an average sale price of $60,955. Last year’s opening day session saw 218 go through the ring for gross sales totalling $14,197,000 for an average of $65,124.
"We were down a little bit over last year," Standardbred Horse Sales Company President Pete Spears said. "Unlike Lexington, we don't necessarily stack our Monday as heavily. Whether this represents a real shortfall, or whether this means people are going to pay more (Tuesday), I can't really tell. We do have consignors who would rather sell on Tuesday, or even on Wednesday and Thursday, and we usually go along with their wishes. Overall, I think the figures look a little light, but I think we’ll have a better idea where we are later in the week.
"When I talked to the consignors they said the traffic at their farms was as heavy as it's been in many years," Spears said. "Traffic at the sale has been huge. Yesterday morning at 8 a.m. people were inspecting horses. They were here at 6 o'clock last night and even later inspecting horses. This morning I was here at 8 a.m. and the place had more people inspecting horses than I've seen in years at that time. I think people looked, they just didn't necessarily spend. We'll see whether they have money in their pockets tomorrow."
(With quotes from Harness Racing Communications)
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