Harness: Hey Bulldog heads Tuesday's Lexington Selected Yearling Sale session

--quotes by Derick Giwner--

The second session of the 2026 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale took place on Tuesday at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion. While the average was down just a bit year-over-year, from $86,333 to $84,258, the gross climbed from $19,166,000 for 222 horses to $21,570,000 for 256 yearlings.

"I'm extremely thrilled. We sold 32 more head this year than last year, and the session went really smooth," said co-sales manager David Reid. "The median stayed absolutely the same (year-over-year), $70,000 median, which is great, adding 32 horses. The average is just down just a little bit (year-over-year).

"We started earlier today with the (Breeders Crown) charity challenge, and that went well, then we rolled right into the yearlings. It was really kind of a seamless day and well-attended. We're always happy to have that, but we had a lot more internet bidding today, which is good. We see some people come into town; they leave town and we've got new people coming back in. So, it's a great, great blend."

The top seller on the day was HIP 198 Hey Bulldog, an Ontario and Kentucky eligible Bulldog Hanover-Coronet colt consigned by Hunterton Sales Agency. Andrew Harris, acting as agent for Punisher 11 Stable, purchased Hey Bulldog for $500,000. That price also made Hey Bulldog the highest-priced pacer in the sale.

"The 2-year-old filly this year, Dame Frances, was the one that won in 1:50 in July at Oak Grove. She set the track record there, so there's big speed there," noted Harris. "She's a Pebble Beach and the other two were Tall Dark Strangers. I bought Brandon Blvd with the same thing; the one before him was a Tall Dark Stranger. I was very, very happy to get that one, especially with the sister being Dame Frances, who I think is a very fast filly. The family was great, but if you looked at him individually, he was impeccable.

"I think $500,000 was our last bid for sure because it's a pacer, but at the same time, he was a heart on my list. Yesterday when I made up my list, I had him, 113 and 65 at the top and was like 'we have to bring home,' and we did. I was thrilled with that."

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Harris and owners William Pollock and Bruce Areman struck out on the trotting side of the ledger, which left Harris looking forward to next month's Standardbred Horse Sale.

"I've gotten shut out on all my trotters. The market was so strong on the trotters and the Europeans were here in full force, so I was forced to stop," Harris explained. "We got six pacers and no trotters, so we'll have to go to Harrisburg and try again."

Checking in behind Hey Bulldog at $450,000 was HIP 228 Trotabilitarmitage, a Chapter Seven-White Cheetah colt consigned by breeder Armitage Farm. The full brother to former New York Sire Stakes champion Variegated was purchased by Ken Jacobs, and he was delighted after a miscommunication saw him miss out on sale-topper Kountry Prince on Monday.

"I bid $810,000, and it went to $825,000. Linda (Toscano) was bidding for me, and I said 'go,' and she thought I said 'no.' I was going to go to a million," Jacobs remarked. "Maybe it's for the best. If I'm supposed to have the horse, I get it; if I'm not, I'm not. I don't worry about it.

"I liked everything about this horse - the page, the family. I do a lot of research and I know the horse is clean. I don't have to do anything on it. There are a lot of horses that aren't. You're excited about every horse you get. I didn't want to pay $450,000, but what are you going to do? That's part of the game."

When all was said and done on Tuesday, Marcus Melander was the top buyer for the first two sessions, paying $2,630,000 for 12 yearlings. While the prices may have been steep, he was still excited about what he's going home with.

"It's been a great sale for the breeders. It shows that the business is strong," Melander said. "We got a lot of nice horses yesterday, and we got a lot of nice horses today. I'm happy with what we got. There's always one or two you won't get, but with what we got, I'm very happy.

"It was very high (prices) yesterday, but there were a lot of nice horses obviously that were well-bred with good conformation. It was expensive, but we ended up with 13 horses the first day and 12 today, so it's been great for us."

Two more sessions remain at the 2026 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, with Wednesday's action getting underway at 11 A.M. (EDT) before the event concludes on Thursday at 7 P.M. Reid remains upbeat about the horses that are still to come given how well things have gone thus far.

"The breeders just keep presenting great products," Reid said. "We always say that the catalog is very deep, and if you go out there and you work the ground, you're going to find some spots, and I think there were definitely some spots today. There's no doubt about that. I think we're right on target to have a good day tomorrow and a good lead-in right to Thursday night."

HIPs 397-659 will be available for purchase on Wednesday, followed by HIPS 663-792 on Thursday night.