It was a record-setting opening night of the 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale on Monday at Fasig-Tipton as 117 horses sold for an average of $190,547, which eclipsed the previous best of $189,074 for 122 offerings in 2022. While 2022 held on to the record gross of $23,067,000, 2024's first session checked in at $22,294,000 to beat out last year's $22,222,000 (122 horses sold) to take over second-place all-time. "You've got to be thrilled. The make up is a little bit different with the trotters and pacers this year from a sire point of view. Last year, you had Papi Rob Hanover, Tall Dark Stranger and Gimpanzee come into the marketplace. This year you've got Perfect Sting coming in there, and you've got maybe less of a new influx of horses, especially from a numbers point of view," remarked sale co-manager David Reid. "Trotters I think are out-pacing the pacers pretty good. The trotter market seems very strong. Walner, Chapter Seven, just seems like they're very strong and rightfully so. Overall you have to be thrilled the results overall tonight. "I think it's important to recognize the breeders, and the investment they've made in bringing the right product. The sales company can't thank the consignors enough. From co-manager Bruce (Brinkerhoff) and myself's point of view, they're cooperative, they work hard. It takes a lot of process from the spring until now, but the breeders are doing a great job. We have the best breeders in the business and it shows. It's no coincidence in my personal opinion." HIP 15 Rani Hanover set a high-water mark of her own by becoming the highest-priced Standardbred yearling filly to sell at public auction after going for $925,000. Rani Hanover, a Hanover Shoe Farms and Crawford Farms Racing product, is by Walner and is the first foal out of 2020 Hambletonian champion Ramona Hill. Ken Jacobs was the buyer and Tony Alagna, who trained Ramona Hill, will get to train her daughter as well. "I knew I wasn't going to steal her. I thought I could get her for about $650,000. I knew a lot of people were going after her, I did, and I knew I was taking her home," offered Jacobs. "Frank Antonacci and Brittany (Farms), they partnered to buy 50 percent of Walner from me, so this is my giving back to them because they still own their piece. I know she's going to be the topper in the sale, so this is my way of giving back. I love the filly, don't get me wrong. I know when I sell her (as a broodmare), I'll get at least half-a-million back." Michelle Crawford of Crawford Farms got to enjoy Ramona Hill's exploits on the track and now has the added bonus of seeing her succeed as a broodmare. "I was really hoping for $1 million," Crawford said with a laugh. "Ramona Hill, c'mon, she won the Hambletonian and she did what she did. Then to get to breed her, that's what it's all about, right? You're in the breeding business, you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor with high-priced yearlings. When she hit $400,000, I was like 'I'm happy with that.' Then it kind of stalled, and when they kept going and going and going, I was like 'holy mackerel.' I don't think anyone ever really thinks 'that's a lot of money.' Think about that - she's got to not only go out and try to race and then broodmare value, what's the value? I think that Ken is going to be really happy and I'm quite happy that Ken is the one who got her." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Crawford also explained that lessons learned from the farm's past selling in New York contributed greatly to the position in the sport that they have now. "I told Heather (farm manager Heather Marshall), last year we sold My BFF Annee for $440,000 and we were high-fiving each other. You work so hard and achieve these goals and then you go out and you see them excel - $400,000, you're just like 'wow.' I couldn't be more proud of Heather and her team. We have just worked so hard in so many areas to bring this type of value to market. "Linda Toscano walked by me the other day and she's like, 'hey do you remember when you were losing your mind because you put on this huge party and spread at Morrisville and you weren't just weren't getting paid for your yearlings?' It's like 'thanks Linda.' A long way (from there), but with that comes knowledge. Knowledge is power and power sells good horses." Another consignor that enjoyed a banner night was Steve Jones and his family's Cameo Hills Farm. Their HIP 83 Going Viral, a Chapter Seven full sister to $547K+ earner Instagram Model, checked in second on the board at $650,000 and was taken by Andrew Harris as agent for owner William Pollock. "It's a tremendous night. I thought we would do very well coming down here. We've brought six horses in the ring, they've all sold, and we've got one to go, and I think she'll sell well also," Steve Jones stated. "The total exceeds my expectations. Any time you sell half-a-dozen horses, there's usually one or two a little more than you think and one or two a little bit less. We sold a couple tonight that I thought might bring a little bit more, but the ones that were on the high side were significantly higher than we might have thought. That's the highest-priced horse we've ever sold, and she was also a lovely filly and a full sister to a very good filly in Instagram Model. The difference between $400,000 and $650,000 is just two guys that are determined to get the horse and one of them eventually surrenders. It doesn't necessarily make that horse better than one that's sold for less, but that's just the nature of the sale game. "I knew she'd sell great, but once they get past $300,000 or $400,000, you can't really expect anything. The prices and the night we had, I thought for a long time we were going to have a big night tonight, and I think I said that in one of the publications the other day. A lot of things happen and they're not always good, so we're very excited." For the second straight year, Harris led the top buyers' rankings for Pollock, as they purchased 10 horses for a total of $3,675,000, up a bit from 2023's nine yearlings for $3,200,000. Another one of their acquisitions was HIP 106 Ice Fall, a Walner colt out of world champion Ice Attraction who was the top seller all-time for Jeff and Paula Gural's Allerage Farms and third on Monday night overall at $625,000. "It's everything we're looking for - Chapter Seven filly, good family, good sister. There wasn't much I had to knock on her. I got outbid on a couple before, and I was bidding on another one just before that one. I let that one go through. I said 'well, the next one I'm bringing home,' and that just happened to be her," Harris offered about Going Viral. "I loved her. I thought she was really nice. Hopefully it works out. It's a lot of money, but at the same time she's got a lot of broodmare value. That family is gorgeous, so she'll be alright just that way. "We're going more filly strong (this year) because I think that there's a little bit of reciprocal value there. With these colts, if the colts don't work out and they're not studs, then you're up against it. It's hard to get out on them; where the fillies, they've got future broodmare value, so it's a little bit of a safer buy." Harris and Pollock, along with partner Bruce Areman, are taking their future plans day-by-day and Harris noted that they may hang on to some of the fillies with major pedigree power that they've been purchasing with an eye towards breeding their own horses. "Bill and Bruce are new to the game, so it's not that they're not breeders, they're new to the game and they're figuring out as they go and what they want to do and how they want to do it," Harris said. "Right now we're buying some horses that we may end up keeping and breeding." Despite the slight uptick in numbers, Harris did note that he was more selective this year than in 2023 and talked Pollock off some that he was interested in. "This year I did different. I had a list of horses and I had some that I said 'okay, if they go in this price range we'll take them.' Some of them went in that price range and some of them different," Harris remarked. "It wasn't really a grocery list of which ones we were just taking home, it was which ones I felt comfortable paying more for. There were a couple of colts I backed out on because the price just went too high. "I usually tell (Pollock) I think this is too high and he tells me to keep bidding. There were a few where I had to really tell him 'I think that's too much for this one.' Hopefully I'm not wrong next year, but we'll find out. He pushes me on the ones he really wants." First-crop sire Perfect Sting had a big night on the pacing side, as his seven offerings brought an average of $220,714, led by HIP 36 Baalbek at $460,000. Consigned by Kentuckiana Farms as agent, Baalbek is a half-brother to multiple New Jersey stakes winner Odds On Steno. Baalbek was purchased by Perfect Sting's trainer Joe Holloway for an ownership group to be announced. "It was just a little bit higher (than I wanted). He has a great pedigree, and he was a great-looking animal," said Holloway, who noted he'd gone to see the horse many times over the past several months. With opening night now in the books, the sale shifts to afternoon sessions at 1 p.m. (EDT) Tuesday through Thursday and the final offerings on Friday night at 7 p.m. (EDT). Reid is extremely optimistic about what's to come. "I think the sale is very strong. I think it's very deep. I've been saying that all along. I think the catalog, sire power wise, I think it's our strongest catalog ever," Reid remarked. "Whether that translates into, as far as gross down the road, I'm very confident that the people looking on the grounds are going to find outstanding horses the rest of the week. We only sold 117 horses tonight and there are 900 in the catalog. I think it's going to be a good week." Tuesday's session starts with eight breedings to Muscle Hill, Sweet Lou, Tactical Landing, Walner, Chapter Seven, Confederate, Downtheseaside and Karl to benefit the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge. HIPs 131-364 will then go through the ring to comprise the remainder of the afternoon. --quotes by Derick Giwner--