Fillies ruled the opening session of the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale on Monday night at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion, with HIP 48 Kadena tying the record for a female yearling sold at public auction by going for $800,000, and then HIP 49 Treacheryinthedark breaking the mark for a female pacing yearling sold at public auction after fetching a winning bid of $700,000. Kadena, consigned by Hunterton Sales Agency as agent, is from the first crop of triple Breeders Crown winner Gimpanzee and is out of the great trotting mare Mission Brief [1:50 2/5, $1,599,587]. She was purchased by Marcus Melander for owners Jeff Snyder and S R F Stable. "I figured that the horse would bring this kind of money - between $700,000 and $800,000. Rather than go by myself, which I usually do, it's a safer bet to go partners," said Snyder, who hasn't owned a horse with Lennart Ågren's S R F Stable before, but both use Melander as a trainer. "You have a residual value, even if they don't make it, especially this one here. She's out of Mission Brief, and the second dam is also the dam of Tactical Landing. We hope she'll be excellent as a racehorse, but even at the end of the day, she'll be great as a broodmare. If you see her, she's like a magnificent specimen with great breeding. Since Gimpanzee stands in Kentucky, she's eligible for 50 percent more for the sire stakes. So, instead of a $400,000 final, she'll be eligible for $600,000 in the final. "She just looked like a powerhouse. There's nothing wrong with her. I just hope that she makes it to the races. We'll see what happens and hope for the best. There are not too many Standardbred horses that have gone for more, especially for fillies. I did buy the full sister to Manchego for $725,000 at Harrisburg a couple of years ago." Melander had a busy night overall, spending $2,010,000 for seven horses, and is very happy to be training some of Gimpanzee's offspring as he also conditioned him throughout his fantastic career. "You never know, there are a couple that we didn't get. It's not like I can pick and choose. I'm fortunate to have good owners that spend a lot of money on us. I'm very thankful for that," said Melander. "I really like this colt - HIP 107 (a Hanover-bred and consigned yearling named Charlie K Hanover that Courant Inc. purchased). I love Chapter Seven as a sire. We've been very lucky with them. Also, of course, getting Kadena there, the Gimpanzee out of Mission Brief. Gimpanzee was a horse that was close to the heart. He was just a fantastic racehorse and he always did his best. He never threw in a bad race in his career. It's fun to see them in the ring here. "I really like HIP 105 (a Gimpanzee colt named Blank) that we bought from Diamond Creek. He looks a lot like his dad, and I was really happy that we could get him. Gimpanzee was just such a cool horse. He won on every size track. I don't think you can find any people that can speak badly of him. Everyone liked him. It'll be very interesting to see how his offspring are." Trainer Andrew Harris was the night's top buyer, shelling out $3.2 million on nine horses for owner William Pollock. Topping their list was Treacheryinthedark, a daughter of Captaintreacherous consigned by Preferred Equine Marketing, Inc., as agent. Treacheryinthedark is a half-sister to 3-year-old Stay Hungry colt Seven Colors, who is also campaigned by Harris and Pollock (along with co-owner Bruce Areman), and won this year's Carl Milstein Memorial and Pennsylvania Sire Stakes Championship. "He understands that building a stable wasn't going to be a one year deal. It's going to take a couple years to build it up and stuff like that," Harris remarked about Pollock's commitment. "He's fully aware that at this level you're going to spend on some horses and some horses aren't going to work out and some are. To be a part of this, you've got to chase it, and he's willing to chase it. That's what he wants. He wants to be at the top of the game, so if you want to be at the top of the game, it costs money. "I had nine on my list. I told Bill, 'if we get like six or seven of the nine that'd be great,' and he said no, 'we go nine for nine.' I kind of figured early that we were going to come home with all nine. I was trying to talk him down on one - it was Seven Colors' sister and we're a little partial to that one obviously. That one I paid a lot more than I wanted to. There are a couple left that we like, but I don't have to have them. We'll see what it goes like, but I don't think it'll be anything like these prices." Harris and Pollock also teamed up on HIP 43 Readyforprimetime, a Bettor's Delight colt from the Hunterton consignment that brought a winning bid of $500,000. He is the second foal out of Prescient Beauty, making him a half-brother to Metro Pace champion Captain's Quarters. "I didn't want to leave here without him. I wanted him in the worst way. I thought he was the pacing colt of the sale. I thought he was the perfection of a Bettor's Delight colt," said Harris. "We tried to buy the brother. Everything about him - he had presence, you watch his video and I thought it was the best video in the whole sale. When I went and saw him I liked him better. Each day I went and saw him, I was like he's even better looking. Then I was scared that I wouldn't get him because I was like there'll be a little bidding war on this one, and pacing colts, you don't want to pay a crazy number on them. That one I thought was going to be the scariest one. I didn't think it'd be Seven Colors' sister, I thought it'd be him that would be the highest one we paid for." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter While the commitment made tonight in dollars and cents was substantial, Harris was philosophical about what lies ahead, and that purchasing the horses he did is a necessity to the goals that Pollock has. "There is no pressure because you've got to have these horses to have them, so now we've got them, now we'll start working on them and stuff like that. Buying them, that's on Bill's part to have pressure. Now I'll train them and get them going. Pressure is when you don't have horses, when you don't have the right horses. That's pressure, trying to be in those races with no horses. Now we have horses that will belong in those type races. That takes a lot of the pressure off," Harris stated. "We bought the right type of horses. I don't have to work over the secondary list. I literally got to come here with my favorite list and go home with them. I got the ones I wanted. I was pretty on point with the prices, I think. Other than Seven Colors' sister I was all in range of what I thought they'd go for. "Getting that first one out was good. We bought HIP 16 (a Captaintreacherous filly named Lily White Hanover) first, and she was $350,000. She was a little touch lower that I thought she'd go for. Then after that one I loosened up. I knew starting around HIP 40 the sale would really start beefing up." Areman was also looking forward to the future, saying, "I'm having a blast and I'm glad I can share the experience with my friend Bill." The session produced the second-highest gross ($22,222,000) and average ($183,653) in the history of the event, trailing only last year's edition that came in at $23,067,000 for the total and $189,074 for the average. "Like typical, the opening session got off a little slow but then it gained some momentum, and I think through the night it was very, very strong," said David Reid, co-sales manager. "It looks like it's comparable to last year's session. I think we're going to be a little shy on gross, but I think overall it was very, very healthy and very exciting actually. The pacing filly that set a record tonight, she was a special. We were lucky enough to consign her, but she was special right from the time we saw her in the springtime, and I'm sure the breeder was very eager to sell her. The trotters sold great, and I think Gimpanzee had a good night." One difference in the sale this year compared to last year is that there was more balance between trotters and pacers. "Coming into the sale we were quoted as saying that we're a little more divided. Not that the pacers bring the average down, but it's just a little more even-weighted for sure," Reid noted. "I think the sales grounds leading up to it were very strong. We had a lot of energy in the building tonight. I thought the crowd was great. We had an international crowd. "From a sales company point of view, we've got to thank the breeders and consignors and the people that came here tonight. Obviously Mr. Pollock stepped up big-time, but I think it was very healthy and I'm happy to see it for all the breeders." Reid is also looking forward to the second and third sessions coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon as there are still many, many attractive prospects on offer. "I think the depth of the catalog is great, and just listening to the feedback from the lookers, they just said there's a lot of nice horses on the grounds. I think that's just going to bode well for the week," Reid said. "It's going to be what it's going to be. From a sales company management point of view, we're really happy with the product that's being offered and the great diversity. That being said, the market is going to take care of itself, but we're very pleased to be able to present the yearlings that we're presenting." The sale resumes on Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m. with HIPs 137-377 going through the ring. Prior to that, there will be the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge auction, with stallion shares of Bettor's Delight, Bulldog Hanover, Captain Crunch, Sweet Lou, Tall Dark Stranger, Trixton and Walner available. --quotes by Derick Giwner--