Female trotter Atlanta made harness racing history in 2018 by becoming one of the few fillies to win the prestigious Hambletonian, and she's made history once again off the racetrack by becoming the highest-priced Standardbred sold at auction in North America.
The four-year-old daughter of Chapter Seven - Hemi Blue Chip was being sold to dissolve a partnership dispute between her previous connections. Those owners included trainer Rick Zeron, Crawford Farms, Holland Racing Stable, Howard Taylor and Brad Grant.
Selling online through OnGait, Atlanta's auction closed on Friday (February 15) with the final price posted as $1.55 million, and selling to Michelle Crawford of Crawford Farms. That sale price makes her the highest priced Standardbred sold in North America, topping the $1.1 million price tag fetched by trotting filly Cameron Hall in 2001.
Brad Grant told Trot Insider after the auction had concluded that Crawford was representing the previous owners with the exception of Zeron, so the owners of Atlanta will be Crawford Farms, Brad Grant, Howard Taylor and Holland Racing Stable.
"We're happy, she's a great mare," said Grant. "There was a lot of serious interest in her, which shows that people believe she's a great mare. We'll move forward, and I want to wish Rick the best on his future endeavours, and hope things work out."
Grant noted that a decision on who would train Atlanta for 2019 has yet to be confirmed by the group.
How could this horse make
How could this horse make Standardbred history when the original owners got it back? The sole purpose of this auction was to find the market value of Atlanta, because Zeron wanted 2 hundred K, on a 5% share.
The owners bought back their
The owners bought back their horse, how could it be the highest-priced Standardbred sold in
North America, was this auction just to pay off Mr.Zeron?