Trainer Andrew Harris and owner William Pollock made headlines in Lexington this fall coming away from the annual sale with 10 yearlings of the highest caliber. The “new” buyers in the market raised plenty of eyebrows with their expensive taste in pedigree but accomplished what they had set out to do in advance of the auction. “I spent 20 days in Lexington going to all of the farms to look at the yearlings,” said Harris. “We were looking for 10 of the best bred we could find with the least number of flaws.” When this month’s Harrisburg auction was approaching the team had planned to purchase just five, but things changed. “I was set to buy five,” said Harris. “Then Bill called and said why don’t we search for 10.” Harris received the message and got down to work in a market that he understood would be competitive. “There wasn’t as a big a selection of the type of horses we were looking for at Harrisburg as there was in Lexington,” said Harris. The group got the 10 horses they wanted at Harrisburg and they didn’t come cheaply, but Harris looked at the outcome with a sense of understanding. “We paid what we had to pay to get these horses. Obviously, there were underbidders helping to push up the prices,” said Harris. “Those are the people we have to compete with on the racetrack.” The yearling purchases are a change in direction for Harris but one he eagerly looks forward to as he has broken all his babies at Gaitway Farms and moves forward in the next chapter. “They start at zero now,” said Harris. “They have to prove what they’re worth.” The auctions are complete and the purchase prices are on record but Harris and owner Pollock, along with partner Bruce Areman, now must focus on the next chapter, the one they hope puts them on a competitive playing field in the Grand Circuit in 2024 and beyond. “It’s a numbers game,” said Pollock of his decision to expand. “Last year we bought three yearlings and it didn’t pan out as well as we had hoped. I didn’t realize how much illness can change things.” [DRF HARNESS: Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter] At 71, Pollock believes he doesn’t have the time for long-term projects and wants to kick-start his goal of finding the best talent and winning the big races. Prior to the yearling sales, Pollock and Harris made headlines by purchasing a pair of quality 3-year-old pacers, with Seven Colors purchased privately and El Rey fetching a high price in an OnGait online auction. Seven Colors paid instant dividends for the team, capturing the Milstein at Northfield Park in record-setting fashion in his first start this August. Following a victory in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes championship, Seven Colors went into the first $1 million Little Brown Jug as one of the horses to beat and Pollock had high expectations. “I’ve been going to the races for a long time,” said Pollock. “I used to go to Freehold, Liberty Bell and Yonkers regularly and to me winning the Jug was a very big deal.” Pollock’s dream fell a bit short as Seven Colors was overtaken by It’s My Show in the Jug final. “That was probably the worst part of the year,” said Pollock. “Having the lead in the stretch and getting caught from behind was tough. It’s My Show is a great horse though.” Seven Colors suffered a setback following the Jug and is first coming back to form heading into two eliminations of the Progress Pace Thursday (November 16). “He qualified well the other day,” said Harris. “He should be ok for the eliminations, and I expect him to be even better for the final.” Seven Colors and the rest of the Progress Pace entrants get the benefit of not having to face Confederate for the next two weeks. As for El Rey, Harris caught plenty of attention when he ponied up $520K for the sophomore that had a strong run in the fall of 2022 capturing the Governor’s Cup for trainer Tony Alagna but had mixed results for most of his sophomore campaign. “I always liked that horse,” said Harris of El Rey. “He was entered in the mixed sale at Harrisburg last year and I was interested in buying him then, but he was taken out of the sale.” El Rey has finished fourth behind Confederate in his last two starts and his trainer is hoping for a different kind of trip this week. “I’d like to see him closer to the action,” said Harris. As for why the connections went so hard to secure El Rey for the stable, Harris said, “I just loved the fact that he was Kentucky eligible. There’s so much money to race for in Kentucky and he won’t have to face Confederate as a 4-year-old.” Back to the yearling purchases, Pollock explained how the process worked out this year. “My son [Billy Jr.] went through the pedigrees and gave Andrew a list,” said Pollock. “Then Andrew and Bruce look them over and decide if they like the way they look or don’t.” There were many on the list of pedigrees that didn’t make the cut but there were some that did and that’s not much of a surprise when you consider the bloodlines are a who’s who of the finest the sport has on both the pacing and trotting sides. From the 20 yearlings purchased there were 11 pacing colts and 4 fillies. Surprisingly it was the filly that brought the highest price when Treacheryinthedark was hammered down for $700,000 at the Lexington Selected sale. While the purchase price surprised some, it didn’t shock the man who signed the ticket on the Captaintreacherous-sired lass. “Seven Colors is the best horse I’ve ever trained,” said Harris. Treacheryinthedark is just the second foal from the dam and a half-sister to Seven Colors. The dam is also a full sister to the young stallion Bettor’s Wish, giving plenty of credence to Treacheryinthedark’s broodmare value once she’s finished racing. On the trotting side there are five, with four colts and one filly. The filly may prove something special as Voguish, a filly from the first crop of Gimpanzee, came to the Harris-Pollock team after a final bid of $535,000 on the first day at Harrisburg. Voguish is just the fifth foal from Jolene Jolene, the dam of Mohawk Million winner Venerable. As for the purchase price it was only the third-highest price of her five foals sold at auction. Asked about the pressure to handle the number of high-priced yearlings, Harris was matter of fact. “If it was training for someone that spent their last dollar, there would be pressure. That’s not the case here,” said Harris. Pollock is hoping to build his stable for his son to share. Thus far the experience has been a lot of fun for Pollock, who indicated that he loves the auction part of the business, perhaps a bit too much. He knows that he’s bidding against many of the sport’s leading owners that also wish to have next year’s potential champions. “I’ve gotten a lot of attention since the sales and I’m not really sure why that is,” said Pollock. “Horses sell for $6 million in the thoroughbred business all the time.” While that may be true, in the standardbred business the players generally know who they are bidding against and in 2023 they found a group with Pollock, Harris and Areman that were hungry for success and willing to pay for the cream of the crop. “I’m not sure what the underbidders are thinking,” said Pollock, referring to those he outbid for top prospects. If any turn into champions next year the underbidders won’t be happy, but if they don’t, they may wish to thank Pollock for helping them avoid the mishap. Such is the nature of the yearling sales experience.