Harness: Third session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale concluded
HIP 460 Fout led a strong night for offspring of Bettor's Delight on Thursday at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale, going to agent Wallace Standardbreds Inc. for $250,000.
Bred and consigned by Winbak Farm, Fout, named after Winbak's Head Trainer Jeff Fout, is out of the Allamerican Native mare Weeper (1:49, $569,511).
"He's a Bettor's Delight. He might be the best stallion ever, both from a breeding point of view and a racing point of view, and both Down Under and here,” said Joe Thomson, founder of Winbak Farm. "[Fout] is a great-looking horse. He is out of Weeper and she was really fast.
"[The sale] has been good, really good. We've had three horses that have sold for $200,000 and a bunch of them that have done well. Every once in a while in every sale you get those downers, so you better expect it, but overall I think it's really good."
Fout was one of four Bettor's Delights to crack into six figures during the session. HIP 437 Fancy Delight (consigned by Walnut Hall Limited as agent) and HIP 445 Better Deo (consigned by Preferred Equine, Inc. as agent), a pair of colts, both went for $120,000 to Jack Darling and Mac Nichol, respectively, and HIP 470 Futurelooksbright, a filly consigned by Kentuckiana Farms, fetched $105,000 from Douglas Overhiser. Fancy Delight is out of the Western Hanover mare Fancy Filly (1:49 4/5, $1,080,806) and Better Deo is out of the Artsplace mare Full Picture (1:51, $581,876).
Futurelooksbright, out of the Jate Lobell mare Just A Glimpse, making her a sister to the Art Major mare Galleria Gal (1:52 2/5, $261,707), was one of three big ticket buys for Overhiser during the night, as he also took HIP 516 She's A Lady for $210,000 and HIP 364 Morning Edition for $145,000. She's A Lady, a Captaintreacherous filly, is the second foal out of the Well Said mare My Lady Love, a half-sister to American Jewel (1:48 2/5, $1,840,565) and Luck Be Withyou (1:47 4/5, $1,454,166), and Morning Edition, a Walner colt, is out of Morning Glow, a Muscle HIll half-sister to the Trixton mare Starita (1:53 3/5, $307,696).
"[She's A Lady], honestly, Erv [Miller] signed off on her. She looked really, really good. The breeding is there, and the page is there,” remarked Overhiser. "Looking at her, she just kind of gave me a feeling that I had to have her. I looked at her before we came to the sale and I just had my fingers crossed that Erv was going to say 'yes, she's good,' and he did.
"I thought $250,000, so for it to end at $210,000, I was happy. I don't know if I'd call it a bargain yet, we'll talk about that next year."
While her run of having bought the session-topper each of the first two nights came to an end, agent Nancy Takter was represented in the top three by HIP 421 Blue Lou, a Sweet Lou colt consigned by Kentuckiana Farms as agent. Purchased for $160,000, Blue Lou is the first foal out of the Rock N Roll Heaven mare Dance Blue (1:50 2/5, $313,450)
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Overall, the sale continued to out-pace the 2019 standard tonight, as the average was $45,806 and the gross was $10,169,000 (222 horses sold). In 2019, the third session had an average of $44,254 and the total was $7,656,000 (173 yearlings were sold). Through three nights, the 2021 sale has a gross of $46,636,000 and an average of $84,793, and four sires that have had multiple yearlings available (Walner, Captaintreacherous, Muscle Hill and Chapter Seven) continue to have averages well north of $100,000.
"The sale has been fantastic," said Randy Manges, co-Sale Manager. "Walking through the crowd tonight, the turnout was great with a really strong group of buyers."
With racing at The Red Mile on Friday afternoon, the fourth session of the sale will go at the usual time of 7 p.m. HIPs 581-749 will be available for bidding.
--quotes by Derick Giwner--