The recently concluded Harrisburg Standardbred auction proved wildly successful. In the yearling market there were plenty of fireworks, and that was followed up by the mixed sale, where breeding stock reached epic proportions. Caught in the listing of successful bidders was a name not seen in recent years, but one that could be quite prominent in the future. Jean-Pierre Barjon, the President of LeTROT (France's version of the USTA), was a major player during the Thursday and Friday (Nov. 11/12) sessions, spending over $1.3 million U.S. dollars to buy stallion shares and trotting mares. At $410,000, Empressive Hill, the $250,000 Kentucky Championship Series champion at The Red Mile this year, was Barjon's most expensive acquisition. On the stallion side, two shares of Muscle Hill were acquired and one of young stallion Greenshoe. On the current broodmare list was champion Maven, in foal to Tactical Landing, and she brought $285,000. Graceful Lady, a half-sister to Hambletonian Oaks champion Lifetime Pursuit that solid as a yearling in 2018 for $300,000, was purchased by Barjon for $360,000 with the hope that the lofty price tag will include a nice-looking first foal by the dominant sire Muscle Hill. There had been some speculation in online sites that Barjon was somehow betraying his homeland by buying such a large concentration of North American trotting blood at one sale, but he most assuredly was thinking bigger picture when he bought six horses at the mixed sale, along with a $70,000 yearling purchased on opening day at Harrisburg. "The yearling Sweet Tactics was purchased in addition to the two broodmares for a breeding prospect after racing," said Barjon. "I really liked her video." Sweet Tactics is a filly by first-year sire Tactical Landing out of the $2.3 million winner Buck I St Pat, a mare that has yet to throw a champion but produced a nice 2-year-old by Muscle Hill this year named Mrs Taylor. For Barjon, the presence of anything with Muscle Hill in the bloodlines is an inspiration towards bettering the breed, and he is committed to a strategy of breeding the finest bloodlines from both continents. "Breeding in the United States is also strategic for me," Barjon said, "I have contributed to the export of several French trotting mares by Ready Cash. The performance of Ready Cash's products or those resulting from these products [Cuatro De Julio] encourage us to believe in this strategy." What Barjon has seen over the last few years on North American soil is somewhat of an explosion of speed, with the aforementioned Ready Cash infusing both the sire and dam's side when matched with North American stallions. Cuatro De Julio, a runner-up in multiple stakes this year, is by Muscle Hill's Hambletonian-winning son Trixton and out of a Ready Cash-sired broodmare. Ready Cash is known worldwide as a sire of champions, with arguably his best, Bold Eagle, a transcontinental champion. Ready Cash is also the sire of Readly Express, who this year produced a sub-1:50 performer in the extremely fast, if temperamental, Dancinginthedark M. It was Cuatro De Julio who finished a nose back of Dancinginthedark M in the 1:49 3/5 timed final of the Kentucky Championship Series this fall at The Red Mile. Additional proof isn't necessary to suggest that this is just the beginning for a future where more horses with pedigrees crossing this way routinely break the 1:50 barrier. For Barjon, he has been this route before. "In 2011 I acquired an exceptional broodmare Graceful Touch with who I started breeding in the USA before selling her back," said Barjon. "I am still in love with this mare. I bought her last yearling by Tactical Landing at the Lexington sale." Graceful Touch, before this acquisition, had a string of major successes both on and off the racetrack, with the brothers Muscle Massive and Muscle Mass both graduating to impressive stallion careers. The filly Thatsnotmyname, by Windsong's Legacy, captured the Merrie Annabelle in 2010 and has gone on to a broodmare career that has seen her sell her last four yearlings for nearly $2 million combined. Did Mr. Barjon purchase everything he was looking for? "Alas, no. My favorite was the daughter of Thatsnotmyname by Muscle Hill, granddaughter of Graceful Touch." Defacement sold as HIP 2 and was hammered down at $500,000, exceeding Barjon's budget. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Barjon's strategy may not open the future offspring directly to many races in France, where pedigrees must be entirely French, but there were changes in some rules that allowed French Trotters, as they are called, to be bred outside the country. "It is now also possible to breed French Trotter horses in the United States thanks to the agreements signed in 2014. These products will have the possibility to run both in the United States and also in Europe and in France," said Barjon. Essentially, horses like Cuatro De Julio fit that type of profile, and Barjon, with just his most recent acquisitions, appears well on his way towards producing stakes horses with worldwide reach. Barjon has dipped his toes in these waters before with some major successes. "I had bought from Jean-Pierre Dubois several Franco-American broodmares. One of them made me particularly happy. Baghdad Dream, by Taurus Dream, produced Mister JP, the best 2-year-old in Sweden and now a stallion. Mister JP is notably the sire of the Italian Derby winner Bleff Dipa in 2020. Baghdad Dream also produced Mister Hercules [Trixton], who won the Breeders Crown in Sweden as a 3-year-old," said Barjon, who has been breeding horses since 2006. "I have bred four Group 1 winners. As an owner I have won 17 Group 1 races, including the Grand Prix d'Amerique, twice the Cornulier, and the Italian Derby. "I still miss the Elitloppet and the Hambletonian," lamented Barjon. With last week's purchases, Barjon's non-French broodmare band has grown to 15, to go along with the 25 French Trotter mares he owns. He hopes that his additional stallion holdings will give him the blend he is looking for to produce champions. "I bought these three stallion shares to complete with the ones I already own and with a double objective: to cross with the best of both my French and US broodmares," Barjon said. The non-stallion purchases from Harrisburg were sent to Steve Stewart's Hunterton Farm in Kentucky. "We have been working since 2011 with Steve Stewart," said Barjon. "He is extremely professional and provides a real platform for Europe. "In the US I've also sent Golden Girl, a daughter of Private Love [Ready Cash]. She is in foal to Muscle Hill. As a breeder I want to be at the crossroads of the two sire leaders, Muscle Hill and Ready Cash," said Barjon in conclusion. Barjon utilized the internet to make his purchases from afar. Clearly, the world is now more accessible for all, and perhaps Barjon will help to bring together the bloodlines from multiple continents to bring the breed to new heights.