There’s at all times one other public sale down for the highway, however whereas lots of the patrons and sellers at this week’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale will probably be returning to Lexington, Ky., within the weeks to come back for the autumn blended gross sales, the employees of Most well-liked Equine will probably be heading in one other course.

The operation of David Reid has about 140 horses to promote in Pennsylvania on the Standardbred Horse Gross sales Co. Harrisburg Yearling and Combined Gross sales, happening Nov. 6-10.

It is a return to regular enterprise for the Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.-based consignment, which can put over 400 Standardbreds by the gross sales ring in 2023, in comparison with about 20 Thoroughbreds. Of that smaller group, 11 have been provided at this week’s Fasig-Tipton October Sale.

On the floor, the variations between Thoroughbred and Standardbred auctions would possibly seem negligible. The horses are proven to potential patrons on the barns within the days main as much as the sale, they undergo the ring till a hammer falls, and the horse hopefully will get a brand new proprietor. With the identical auctioneers usually holding the gavel for auctions of each breeds, they even are likely to sound the identical.

It is a related vacation spot, however the roads to get there will be fairly completely different.

That begins with when and why the horses are being offered. The place the Thoroughbred realm has a number of shops for patrons to buy horses forward of their racing careers, Standardbreds supply solely a yearling market at public public sale for younger prospects, adopted by racing-age and breeding inventory markets for older horses.

“Most of your Standardbreds, a excessive majority of them are being bought by end-users and racing them, the place right here (at Thoroughbred gross sales), you have got a weanling-to-yearling pinhook market, 2-year-old in coaching pinhooks,” Reid stated. “Simply by the character of the breed, we’re not in a position to try this. [Standardbreds] cannot go race pace in March (of their 2-year-old season). It is a gradual development, beginning in November and so they count on to race in June, the place the Thoroughbreds can go race pace earlier for a brief time frame.

“Once we’re at a Standardbred sale, there aren’t any brokers, per se, so it is far more hands-on,” he continued. “There is a excessive proportion of the horses which can be being offered that the coach has laid eyes on, that’ll be coaching that horse for the subsequent few years.”

The inspection course of at a Standardbred sale arguably requires extra self-reliance from its patrons, however that may take away numerous the friction between patrons and sellers seen within the Thoroughbred realm.

There isn’t a repository of radiographs and scopes on the Standardbred gross sales, and there aren’t any books with veterinarian experiences on every horse for patrons to reference. As a substitute, events are inspired to have horses radiographed by their very own vet within the evenings of present days, versus interrupting potential inspections in the course of the day to seize an x-ray.

Reid stated he is seen an uptick in horses being vetted on the Standardbred gross sales over the previous decade.

This may appear much less clear than providing up experiences and x-rays, however having patrons do their very own work ensures no disputes with the sellers if what’s within the repository differs from what a non-public vet finds. That stress has been some extent of fervent debate within the Thoroughbred sphere for years, even resulting in courtroom instances.

This doesn’t imply, nonetheless, that Standardbred consignors are promoting horses with none disclosures. Most well-liked Equine’s Austin Luttrell stated sure procedures are far more forwardly introduced than their Thoroughbred counterparts.

“OCD (Osteochondritis dissecans) surgical procedures are talked about on the sale and placed on the stall,” he stated. “If one thing did have OCDs within the stifles, we put when the surgical procedure occurred, and it is introduced publicly within the sale.

“I believe that the potential perspective patrons caring for the vet work themselves, as a substitute of counting on a vet guide that is supplied by the consignor would assist the Thoroughbred sport lots,” he continued.

The exhibiting course of begins the identical between the 2 breeds – with buyers checking off the horses they need to see on a card and them on the finish of the shank – however what the horses are requested to do and what patrons are on the lookout for is a fork within the highway.

Thoroughbred patrons should depend on a little bit of creativeness when forecasting how a yearling will transfer on the racetrack. At that time of their improvement, they have been skilled to shine on the stroll, and that is how they’re proven. Movies of the horses strolling have develop into extra common in recent times, to assist buyers additional look at their stride, however they aren’t requested to go along with any extra urgency for public show.

Standardbred yearlings are sometimes provided with a video exhibiting the horse transferring on the trot in a paddock – not at racing pace, however transferring freely – getting as much as extra pace to assist patrons differentiate their gaits between potential pacers and trotters. The movies are made obtainable on the barns on screens, and posted on-line, and so they maintain numerous affect in a purchaser’s opinion.

“The bodily inspection is identical,” Reid stated. “The stroll will not be necessary within the bodily inspection (for Standardbreds). They might be involved about how a horse carries his limbs, however the last resolution can be primarily based on the video.”

Most well-liked Equine was based in 1989, beginning as a Standardbred-only operation and later increasing into Thoroughbreds. Being primarily based in a state wealthy in custom with each breeds, Reid stated having a foot on either side of the road was a pure development.

“I used to be born up in Saratoga and at all times had a bit curiosity within the Thoroughbreds,” he stated. “Then, numerous the gross sales assist that I’ve for the Standardbred gross sales labored for the Thoroughbred gross sales. I’ve a really shut relationship with numerous key staff, and so they have been the primary ones to encourage me that we should always have that.”

Reid stated he owns some Thoroughbred mares and shares in some racehorses, although Thoroughbreds solely comprise about 10 p.c of his consignment enterprise.

Luttrell’s roots run deeper within the Thoroughbred realm, having labored as an assistant to trainers Christophe Clement and Kiaran McLaughlin, as a bloodstock marketing consultant in Australia and Argentina, and as a supervisor at Denali Stud and Donamire Farm.

Whereas each Reid and Luttrell agreed that the Thoroughbred aspect may gain advantage from adopting a number of the Standardbred {industry}’s habits on vetting, Luttrell stated a number of the advertising and marketing effectivity of the Thoroughbred auctions may go a good distance on the harness aspect, as properly.

“I actually like the thought of categorical lanes,” he stated, referencing the showcases when all of a consignments are paraded on the identical time for teams of buyers to soak up a number of horses without delay. “Within the Standardbred enterprise, there are 4 or 5 consignments which have numerous horses, and if you happen to may present an categorical lane and a few form of little lunch or cocktail hour and parade numerous the horses, it may presumably unlock a number of the heavy congestion site visitors with potential patrons all through the day.

“I labored for Magic Hundreds of thousands in Australia, and that was an enormous factor,” he continued. “Every consignor would have some kind of little social gathering or get-together, and they might parade all of the yearlings so you possibly can get a very good preliminary take a look at every thing, after which return and tidy up your shortlist.”

Although they’re some of the high-profile examples, Most well-liked Equine will not be the one operation with a presence within the business market of each breeds.

Taylor Made Farm, an industry-leading Thoroughbred consignor and stud farm, has been a participant in a handful of high-dollar purchases of Standardbred racehorses, and manages a portfolio of Standardbred stallions. The 4 brothers that head up the Taylor Made operation received their begin making ready yearlings for gross sales for his or her grandfather who bred harness horses.

John Gaines, the late head of Gainesway Farm and the founding father of the Breeders’ Cup, received his begin working at his grandfather’s Standardbred farm, and he was a high-profile breeder and proprietor in that realm earlier than increasing to Thoroughbreds within the early Sixties. Joe Taylor, the daddy of the Taylor brothers, labored for Gaines in the course of the transition.

Most well-liked Equine is a smaller fish within the grand scheme of the Thoroughbred consignment pond, grossing $80,000 at this yr’s Fasig-Tipton October sale. Although industry-wide figures have typically been strong within the Thoroughbred public sale realm, and particularly sturdy on the excessive finish of the market, mid-to-lower degree choices have usually struggled to seek out their footing, and Reid stated they noticed that first-hand this week.

“It is a persevering with schooling,” he stated. “We did not have excessive expectations coming in (to the Fasig-Tipton sale). From a breed viewpoint, we’ve not seen this within the Standardbred sport. The Standardbred gross sales have held up sturdy this yr.”

It was a unique story earlier this month on the identical property, when the Most well-liked Equine consignment had almost 150 horses within the catalog for the Lexington Chosen Yearling Sale and grossed greater than $10.5 million. Amongst these choices was Treacheryinthedark, who offered for $700,000 — a brand new document for the best value introduced by a yearling filly pacer.

There may be loads completely different within the public sale processes between the 2 breeds, however the drivers of commerce on the prime of every market bear the same chorus.

“The market is extremely sturdy for Standardbreds,” Luttrell stated. “Racing is nice, the purses are good. Numerous the horses that we’re promoting are Kentucky-eligible, and that is due to the historic horse racing. That helps us out as a result of persons are working for greater purses than ever.”