Harness: Roll With Joe among leading Goshen Yearling Sale sires

With 158 yearlings expected to go through the ring during Sunday’s (9/18) Goshen Yearling Sale in New York, there will truly be something for every shopper of your standradbred talent. Three particular stallions are well represented as the only with double-digit offerings available.

Roll With Joe and Betterthancheddar lead the way with 11 yearlings each ready to head home with the highest bidder. They are followed in close attendance by Rock N Roll Heaven with 10 young prospects in the sale.

Roll With Joe saw his first crop hit the track in 2015 and that group has truly been on a roll as 3-year-olds, sitting second in earnings ($2,716,064) and average earnings ($30,864), trailing only Somebeachsomewhere among sophomore pacers.

Leading the Roll With Joe charge is Racing Hill, the leading money-winner among 3-year-olds of both gaits in 2016 with $1,211,702 earned. A 2014 Harrisburg bargain purchase for $22,000, Racing Hill has won the $500,000 Hempt, $500,000 Messenger Pace and $400,000 Adios while boosting the stock of Roll With Joe for Blue Chip Farms.

Of the 11 pacing colts and fillies at Goshen, four hail from Blue Chip, most notably HIP 60 Python Blue Chip.

“Roll With Joe has quickly become a prominent sire in NY who has passed on his natural ability, toughness and demeanor to his offspring. One thing that stands out about RWJ babies is how they immediately seem to know their job, moving effortlessly at a young age,” said Blue Chip Farms owner Tom Grossman.

“Python Blue Chip is a half-sister to a World Champion, ONE MORE LAUGH ($2,678,245). She’s already got an athletic look, laser-focus and a cool-headed demeanor that makes her stand out,” remarked Grossman.

While Betterthancheddar will be represented by 11 young pacing yearlings, amazingly only two are consigned by Winbak Farms, which stands the stallion. Betterthancehddar earned over $1.6 million during his career including the Breeders Crown as a 3-year-old. His first two crops, including those at Goshen this weekend are New York eligible. He has since been moved to Ontario for stallion duties.

Rock N Roll Heaven is the final stallion on the Goshen rosters to reach double digits available on Sunday. Like Betterthancheddar, his sons and daughters are New York eligible, but the multi-millionaire stallion did move to New Jersey (Deo Volente) in 2016, so his eligibility will change when those yearlings hit the sales in a few years.

Rock N Roll Heaven has seen the most success with his fillies and the Goshen Sale features six of his daughters, four raised and grazed at Blue Chip Farms where the stallion stood for many years. Of that group, HIP 29 Pelican Blue Chip stood out for Grossman as a “looker.”

“Pelican Blue Chip is the first foal of mare, Feathery Game ($450K), that is Blue Chip raised. She’s got a lot of energy and already looks the part. She’s a good looking filly and is positioned early in the sale,” said Grossman.

While short of double-dgits, other sires with an abundance of yearlings at Goshen are Artiscape (9), So Surreal (8), Art Major (7), Chapter Seven (7) and Quik Pulse Mindale (7).

The Goshen Yearling Sale kicks off at noon in Middletown, NY at the Mark Ford Training Center.