Muscling Vegas was the sale topper at the second Ontario Select Yearling Sale, which took place at Winbak Farm of Canada on Sunday, Sept. 26.
Muscling Vegas, Hip 15, was purchased for $75,000 from the Twinbrook Farms consignment by Christopher Storms of Picton, Ont. The Muscle Mass-Vegas Virgin filly is a full-sister to two-year-old filly Mischevious Rose, an Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots winner with a mark of 1:57.1 taken at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Selling as Hip 102, Extreme Force was another big ticket yearling from the Twinbrook consignment. The Bettors Delight-Mystic Dance colt was purchased for $72,000 by Sylvain Deschenesy.
Top Bunk, Hip 45, rounded out the top three highest priced yearlings of the sale as the Winbak Farm-bred pacing colt garnered a bid of $65,000. The Artspeak-Bunkhouse Babe colt was purchased by Steve Heimbecker of Waterloo, Ont.
"It was a great day," said Winbak's Pat Woods. "There were lots of people and they were looking at a lot of horses...not just a social event, but people were checking out horses. Bidding seemed really good, so we were extremely happy. The day we had was exceptional."
The conditions allowed for an outdoor event like the sale to be conducted with ample space in adherence with COVID restrictions and protocols.
"That was our goal all along. We figured when this time of year came around that things would be a little more open and better. We kept within the restrictions but it was nice — especially in an outdoor setting — that we could have an event like this."
Consignors that sold yearlings included Erinwood Equine, Joe Hudon, Preferred Equine, Princeton Farms, Tri Star Farms, Twinbrook Farms and Winbak Farm.
“We sold 119 yearlings for an average of close to $20,000 and 43 of those yearlings sold for $20,000 or more," said Woods. "We believe that having both virtual and in-person options for bidding allowed people to choose their personal best option."
From sires that sold five or more yearlings, the leading pacing stallion was Shadow Play with 10 sold at an average of $25,000 and the leading trotting stallion was My MVP with seven sold at an average of $24,500. This is the first crop of Ontario-sired yearlings from My MVP. Both stallions stand at Winbak Farm of Canada.
Woods will now focus on getting the Winbak consignments ready for the upcoming sales at Lexington and Harrisburg, and didn't rule out another edition of the Ontario Select Yearling Sale in 2022.
"We'll deal with that next year depending on how this COVID thing shakes out, but we'll be involved in another sale in Ontario that's for sure."
For complete sale results from the 2021 Ontario Select Yearling Sale, click the following link: 2021 Ontario Select Yearling Sale Results.
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