Harness: Concord Stud Farm tries its luck in Lexington for the 1st time

There really isn't anything revolutionary in Concord Stud Farm selling yearlings in Lexington, it's just that the nursery has a history of selling in Harrisburg annually. The history of 2020 in the United States will look a lot different to many but Concord Farms, like many others in the standardbred business, has adapted nicely to trying times and offers an impressive array of yearling talent with just 14 destined for the Lexington Selected auction on Monday, October 5.

"We've never sold in Kentucky, said David Meirs III, who owns the 249 acre farm in Cream Ridge, New Jersey. "There was so much uncertainty earlier this year that we had to make a decision."

In the breeding business you have to have a place to sell yearlings and about the time in 2020 that breeders were making final plans COVID-19 was ravaging the northeastern part of the country, upsetting the normal way of doing business.

Fortunately for Meirs and his Concord Stud Farm consignment, the quality he chose to send to Lexington landed him a dominant spot on the first night of the auction with nine of his 14 on the block that night and the remaining 5 offered on Tuesday, the second night of action.

A change in venue was only part of the process for Concord Stud Farm. More significantly for Meirs and company was to alter the process of preparing and showcasing a consignment that's heavily based on young well-bred trotters with exceptional looks to match. "We've definitely expanded our videos of all the yearlings," said Meirs. In addition to showing yearlings in motion in the field, the Concord Stud Farm videos also show closer details of the yearlings walking from different angles. Clearly the inspiration is to somehow incorporate what buyers would normally look for if they were physically present at the sale, into a short video.

Meirs noted that there has been traffic at the Cream Ridge facility. On the day of the interview, Linda Toscano showed up to take a closer look at the yearlings. For certain, trainers will be on-hand in Lexington to look at and bid on horses, but the likelihood that a large amount of regular bidders, especially those from Europe, will be in Lexington, has been minimalized.

"We need to be catering to owners 60 and above," said Meirs. "I doubt those people will be showing up at the sale. We've got to give them as much information as we can." The idea is that owners aware of the product can convey their interest to trainers on location. It's different for sure, but Meirs believes there could be a silver lining for some owners. "I think owners will be focused and paying attention to everything online," said Meirs. "If they see something going below expectations, they will contact their trainers."

As for Meirs' expectations, they are reasonably high considering the overall quality of the yearlings he's bringing to the Lexington Selected sale. There's a strong possibility buyers across the universe will be fixated on the screen when HIP number 62 walks in the ring at the Fasig Tipton Complex on Monday. Monkey Queen is the name of the Chapter Seven-sired filly who happens to be a full-sister to a pair of trotters that were major stakes winners on September 25 at Harrah's Hoosier Park. It's not as if Monkey Queen really needed any advertising help to be noticed at this auction, but the full-sister to both Gimpanzee and Iteration, who captured the Caesars Trotting Classic and Kentucky Standardbred Management, respectively, got the support anyway.

Monkey Queen is out of Steamy Windows, a daughter of Muscle Massive, and she is from the immediate maternal family of the great Muscle Hill, arguably the sport's leading trotting stallion. Though more than likely the winning bidder will hope for a Grand Circuit talent in Monkey Queen, she has dual eligibility in New York and New Jersey.

Gimpanzee, who was sold by Concord Stud Farms at the 2017 Harrisburg Sale for $170,000, was then known as Army Of Monkeys, a name to this day Meirs hasn't forgotten. "I keep having bad dreams with Army Of Monkeys," said Meirs. With 23 wins in 31 lifetime starts, Gimpanzee has more than made a name for himself. The 4-year-old looks for his third straight Breeders Crown later this month.

Just three numbers after Monkey Queen sells, Concord will send HIP 65 Ghetto For Life into the ring, and there's certainly plenty to like in this one's pedigree. "He's a very nice colt," said Meirs of the Muscle Hill out of Order By Wish. Ghetto For Life is a full-brother to a pair of major stakes performers in Beal Memorial champion Marseille and the 2020 Geers winner Rome Pays Off, second in last year's Breeders Crown juvenile colt and gelding trot.

HIP number 83 is another trotting filly likely to see bidding worldwide. Cash Machine Girl has a pedigree that has been great for her breeder and equally appealing to a host of buyers. She's by Muscle Hill from the multiple stakes-producing Conway Hall mare Brooklyn. With just four foals from the dam, Brooklyn has had three yearlings sell for $935,000 collectively, with the exported Brooklyn Hill, a 1:53 1/5 winner at 2, the most expensive of the group at $390,000.

"She's a very nice filly," said Meirs of Cash Machine Girl. "She's a taller individual than the other foals by her dam."

HIP number 38 may be a sleeper of sorts because he's a June 13 foal, but Meirs believes he already looks the part. "He's going to grow a lot but already looks the part," said Meirs of Slave Labour, a Muscle Hill-sired half-brother to this year's Hambletonian third-place finisher Back Of The Neck. The dam Big Barb has only two foals and this is her third, and first by the noted sire of champions.

Slave Labour has a powerful maternal line and is bred similarly to last year's standout 2-year-old Real Cool Sam.

The entire Concord Stud Farm Lexington Selected consignment will be in Barn 15 at the Fasig Tipton Pavilion for inspection up until the sale.