Harness: Pollock brought buying power to Lexington Selected Sale again in 2024

After finishing second in the rankings for top buyer at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale a year ago, owner Bill Pollock is set to end up at the top of the board in this year's edition with one session to go.

Pollock, via agent and trainer Andrew Harris, shelled out $3,550,000 for ten yearlings at Lexington in 2023, and in 2024, he's gone even higher, as he has purchased 15 horses for a sum of $5,155,000. Pollock and Harris had a sharp focus on fillies this year, which caused Pollock to miss out on at least one colt he wanted, but nonetheless, he was pleased with what they've come away with from the event.

"I didn't send [Andrew Harris] to the sale thinking that. That's what I had in my head," said Pollock on whether he was expecting to spend $5 million on yearlings. "We targeted how many horses we wanted and he pared his list down with prices, and he's always hoping and dreaming it is more conservative than it will be. Then he has to hold me back a little bit. This year he stuck to his process and didn't take a horse if it went further than he wanted to go, at least with colts. We didn't do that with fillies. It was tough for me because the first horse we bid on we didn't take because he didn't like the price. It was Seven Colors and Treacheryinthedark’s relative. How can someone else have that horse? We have those horses.

"I had a target of how much I wanted to spend and how many horses, and [Andrew] did it," said Pollock, who listed HIP 106 Ice Fall as his favorite purchase as well as HIP 149 Che Bella, who his son really likes. "I liken this to buying an expensive car. You usually don't get your money back for the car, but I'd at least like to get back for the vet bills, boarding, training and those expenses."

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

With a group of fillies both acquired at the sale and currently racing that would be the envy of most breeding farms, Pollock did offer that his group, which also includes co-owner Bruce Areman, may be exploring that side of the business in the future.

"We are trying to plan for the future with breeding, so I'm a little excited about that," said Pollock, who said he now has 46 horses and may target a few in Harrisburg. "At least if you have fillies with good breeding they have a future, and it isn't a total loss if they don’t race well."

With only Friday's action left to go at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, there have been 779 horses go through the ring for a total of $61,041,000 and an average of $79,171. While the gross likely won’t top last year's record of $67,916,300 due to there being fewer horses available this time, there is a definite chance of eclipsing 2022's record five-day average of $73,690.and also topping 2022's gross of $65,289,000.

Walner is once again top dog on the sires list for both gross and average as his 51 offspring have brought a sum of $8,936,000 and an average of $175,216. Chapter Seven, Muscle Hill, Gimpanzee and Captaintreacherous round out the top-five for gross and Walner and Chapter Seven are followed by Downbytheseaside, Muscle Hill and Gimpanzee in the averages for sires that have had at least 10 horses sold thus far.

On the consignors list, Preferred Equine Marketing Inc. is poised to come out on top with the highest gross, and Hanover Shoe Farms leads the consignors by average.

The 2024 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale concludes Friday at 7 p.m. with HIPs 805 through 946 available to buy.