Harness: Lexington opening night consignors discuss their prospects

The first session of the 2026 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale will bring most of harness racing's leading consignors to the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion to offer their top-bred prospects to bid on.

One of the consignors that will feature prominently is Steve and Cindy Stewart's Hunterton Farm and their Hunterton Sales Agency. Hunterton was the top consignor in Lexington last year, but Steve Stewart takes a more pragmatic approach when it comes to defending that title.

"Basically if it happens, it happens," Stewart replied when asked about his philosophy on topping the rankings. "The way I look at it, if we are the leading consignor again great, if we're not, we put it on an individual basis. Instead of worrying about are we this, are we that, did the horses that we are selling sell good? And if they did, it doesn't matter whether we're the highest consignor."

Similarly, when it comes to the market going into the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, Stewart feels that being static isn't necessarily the worst option, as it gives both breeders and buyers incentive to come back to future sales.

"A lot of times we follow the Thoroughbreds, and I don't see us going up as high as they are going up every year, but, and quite frankly, I don't think it's necessary," he remarked. "I think that if we are pretty much where we were last year and the year before, I think that's just fine. There's plenty of money to make a profit and move on. Everybody wants 'it's up, it's up, it's up.' I don't look at it that way because I kind of feel like when the market continues to rise, two things happen that are not the best-case scenario. One is, it's great when you sell them, but it makes it harder for the buyers to make money, and we need the buyers to come back year after year. I look at the big picture, which is we need the buyers to make money, and the higher the prices go, the harder it is to make money. This is logical.

"The other dynamic that happens is if the market goes up, then the stud fees go up and the mares cost more money. All boats raise or whatever to make it hard for everybody. And so you're just tying up more money. I feel that there's enough money out there that if you've got a good horse there's money for it. If we left the sale and it was on par from last year, I think that's a positive."

As for some of Hunterton's offerings during the first session, HIP 15 Three Socks is a Sweet Lou colt out of Hall of Fame broodmare Precious Beauty. While Precious Beauty is now 25 years old, Stewart pointed out previous success stories of top horses that have come from mares well into their careers.

"Obviously, 'the mare is prolific' is an understatement, for him. The one comment I would make is that a lot of people will say 'oh, it's an older mare,' but I can show you horse after horse after horse that has done well [in that scenario]," he said. "When we sold Trixton as a yearling, as an example, he was the 12th foal of the mare Emilie Cas El and people said 'oh, it's a 12th foal,' and I said, 'are you saying you wouldn't have bought the 10th foal?' Her tenth foal won the Breeders Crown and the 12th foal won the Hambletonian. They said the same thing about Allegiant. Allegiant we sold, and she was the 12th foal of a 22-year-old mare. She just trotted the fastest mile in the history of trotting in Sweden this summer. So, I can show you lots of predictions or people feeling this and that or whatever that doesn't always hold water.

"Obviously older mares, there is an effect on the price, but that's a nice colt."

Next up is another pacer in HIP 47 Captain Boo, a Captaintreacherous colt who is the first foal out of 1:48 3/5 performer and $949,283 performer Hot Mess Express.

"He's very nice. He's a great big colt, but he covers the ground," Stewart said of Captain Boo. "You know, if someone's looking for a big Captain colt, he would fit the bill."

Switching to trotters, Hunterton has HIP 76 Indestructible among their horses. Indestructible is out of Jolene Jolene, making him a full brother to $1,187,339 earner Venerable, and Stewart is high on his chances to fetch a big price.

"I feel that he has a very good chance of topping the sale. If I had to pick one to say, ‘okay, which one do you think will sell for the most' I'm going with him because he's a great big colt," Stewart said. "The 3-year-old was not very big and brought $350,000, and some of my partners were disappointed, and I said ‘well he's just not a great big colt.' But this one's a great big colt, a handsome black colt. I'm not saying he's gonna top the sale because I don't know his competition when it comes to that, but I would think he has a heck of a shot because he's quite a colt."

Another fashionably-bred yearling Hunterton has is HIP 88 Top Gun. A Gimpanzee colt, he's out of Mission Brief, which makes him a half-brother to Hambletonian champion Apex.

"He's a nice colt. The one thing that might slow some people down, I guess it didn't with (full brother) Command Center last year, is he's a June foal," Stewart said. "So, he's not a great big colt, but he's very handsome, and he'll sell accordingly."

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Another mainstay in Lexington is Crawford Farms, who was fourth in the consignor rankings last year. They have another diverse set of trotters and pacers in the sale this year, and farm manager Heather Reese-Marshall is excited to see how they sell.

"I would say overall we have a pretty strong group. We have everything from New York, New Jersey, Ontario, Ohio. We pretty much have everything covered," she said. "As a general consensus, I would say everybody has been pretty happy with how our horses have videoed. We've gotten a lot of feedback on that this year."

A standout from the group in terms of looks is the Chapter Seven-sired filly HIP 94 Freya Jules. She has the unique identifier of four white feet, and if she wasn't a trotting filly, you may think she was by Sweet Lou.

"We all had to do a double take, like, where did you come from?" said Michelle Panebianco about her coloring. "She's been a spitfire and looks like a speedball in her video. We all stood there and my mouth was on the ground."

Reese-Marshall added, "I've had all the fillies or all the foals out of that mare [Fade Into You] and this is by far my favorite. She's been probably the most universally turned-out filly by all the trainers and agents that have come to the farm. She does absolutely nothing but trot, just an absolutely beautiful filly."

Another one from Crawford Farms that is sure to catch plenty of attention is a Huntsville half-sister to Brandon Blvd in HIP 28 Devi.

"She's a nice filly. Not as big as Brandon, but definitely she's got a good attitude," Reese-Marshall stated. "She's right on the pace out in the paddock for turnout and everything."

Other trotters Crawford Farms have include HIP 6 Faena, a Tactical Landing filly who is the second foal out of Dan Patch Award recipient Anoka Hanover and HIP 86 Naria, a daughter of Captain Corey out of $556,691 earner Valentina Blu.

"That's a nice filly. She's got a great attitude, which you don't usually get out of the Donato Hanover mares," Reese-Marshall said about Faena. "She's very level-headed and trots nice - a big, strong filly."

As for Naria, Reese-Marshall remarked: "She is the absolute twin to her mother. She does nothing but trot and she's put together nicely. She's a medium-sized filly, but if anybody knows that family, they're all like that."

Last, but certainly not least to watch from Crawford Farms is HIP 111 Ubeautiful, a Captaintreacherous filly who is the third foal out of $1,849,063 earner and 1:48 3/5 performer Warrawee Ubeaut.

"She's beautiful. I mean, she looks like she's been ready to wear a harness for two months now," Reese-Marshall offered. "Big strong filly, great attitude. She's definitely the whole picture."

While Hunterton Farm and Crawford Farms are long-time Lexington Selected Yearling Sale participants, Eric Good's Spring Station Bloodstock is one of the newer "kids on the block," as they had their first consignment there in 2023. Spring Station steadily worked their way up the rankings to sixth last year, and Spring Station's Sasha Moczulski says the hope is the best is yet to come.

"Yes, that has been a goal for ourselves from the beginning," she said about Spring Station's ascent on the board. "Our best crop yet is going to sell next year. We'll have about 56 yearlings. And I think that's a consignment that you'll look forward to, as well as us. We're really proud of our consignment that we have this year. Improving over time, that was the goal. We started out with a lot of maiden mares, so our goal was always to kind of improve as we go."

Spring Station Bloodstock will sell six yearlings on opening night and is on balance with three pacers and three trotters.

"For our consignment, I'm very proud of the fact that I think we do have something for everyone. And I know that's been said before, but genuinely, I think if you look at all four days, we're pretty good across the board here," Moczulski offered. "We don't just focus on singularly trotters or just pacers. So, I think we've got a range of things. I think we have a very well-rounded consignment."

HIP 37 Gimmick Station is a Captaintreacherous filly and is the second foal out of a half-sister to a number of stakes winners, including Split The House and Shake That House.

"That one is a very nice filly. She's good-sized and has a good work ethic when she's on the wheel," Moczulski offered. "She's got her nose right on the gate. Naturally, being a Captaintreacherous, she's got size to her, but I like the leg that she has."

Next up from their group is HIP 41 Happynlove Station, a Chapter Seven colt who is the first foal out of 1:51 3/5 performer and $402,253 earner Heart On Fire.

"He's one that we're all really excited about. He's got great size for being a Chapter Seven, a nice attitude, and he's very well put together," Moczulski said. "He's a funny guy. He's got personality, and he does like to play, but he is one that we are genuinely excited about."

A second daughter of Captaintreacherous that will go through the ring for Spring Station is HIP 70 Molly Station, the first foal out of Mollop Hanover. Mollop Hanover won in 1:50 during her racing career and is a sister to a number of successful horses, including Mirage Hanover and Mad Max Hanover.

"Eric owned Mollop Hanover while she was racing as well, so that's one again we're super excited about," Moczulski said. "She is lovely. She just has a nice personality to work with, and I can't say anything bad about her."

Spring Station also has a Walner filly in HIP 72 Whimsy Station, the first foal out of stakes winner Wind Chime.

"She's nice as well. She has a good head on her. I think she has a racy head," Moczulski stated. "She's well put together, too, a good size.

"What I like most about her, I would say, is her brain. The more we show her, the more we work with her, she's one that just catches on and understands what you're asking. Even just from bringing her out for clients that are inspecting the yearlings, standing her, she just has really figured it out. I like her brain a lot in that when you teach her something, you can see the wheels working. Like you can see her catching on and figuring it out. I think she has a quiet disposition, but she's very nice."

To wrap up this preview, here are eight others to watch during the first session from a variety of consignors and sires.

First-crop sire Tactical Approach, the 2023 Hambletonian champion, has two yearlings on night one, one of which is HIP 19 Earth Shaking, a colt offered by Cameo Hills Farm. Earth Shaking is the first foal out of $308,161 earner and multiple stakes-winner Blonde Bombshell, and going back in the pedigree under the fourth dam you find the great Muscle Hill.

Walner has his usual eye-catching group on Monday, some of which we've already mentioned, but another one available is HIP 39 Melino Armitage. Consigned by Armitage Farm, Melino Armitage is the first colt out of Goodtogo Hanover, making him a half-brother to $1,193,874 earner R Melina.

As agent, Blue Chip Farms, LLC. will sell the likes of HIP 52 Evocative, a daughter of Chapter Seven. Evocative is the second foal out of stakes winner Jezzys Legacy, and the second dam is $834,240 earner Jezzy.

Winbak Farm brings HIP 56 Uptown Angel to Lexington. Uptown Angel is a Captaintreacherous filly who is the first foal out of La Minita Hanover, a half-sister to the likes of Odds On Equuleus. Odds On Equuleus has been in the news several times this year as the sire of North America Cup champion Odds On Mr Mamba.

Also by Captaintreacherous is HIP 78 Kountry Penelope. From the consignment of Kountry Lane Standardbreds, Kountry Penelope is the second foal out of Peaky Sneaky, who took a mark of 1:48 and banked $772,518 during her racing career.

"If you've ever seen what Twin B Joe Fresh looks like, kind of like a boy with a wide front-end, that's the way this one is built - stout, long and wide," said Kountry Lane's farm manager Duane Miller. "She just goes out there and she can get it. She's correct, strong and muscular."

Switching over to colts by Captaintreacherous, Kentuckiana Farms has HIP 89 Strategic Play. Strategic Play is a full brother to Treacherous Reign, who had a mark of 1:48 3/5 and earned $879,393 during her career. Treacherous Reign is also the dam of this year's top 3-year-old pacing filly Miss Jum Jabber.

HIP 91 Poise is a Tactical Landing that will be sold by agent Preferred Equine Marketing, Inc. Poise is out of $248,218 earner Seventimesalady, and the last time she was bred to Tactical Landing she produced 2024 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Trot champion Lady Landia.

Last, but certainly not least, is a Sweet Lou colt in HIP 113 Odds On Warrior, consigned by agent Concord Stud Farm. Odds On Warrior is the second foal and first colt out of Odds On Whitney, a $196,809 earner who is a full sister to Papi Rob Hanover.

The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale will begin at 7 p.m. (EDT) on Monday, followed by 11 a.m. sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday before it concludes at 7 p.m. on Thursday.