New York-Breds Dominate at Morrisville Sale

ALBANY, NY (09/22/2008)(readMedia)-- More than 80-percent of the 197 yearlings hammered down to buyers on Sunday at the Morrisville Sale were New York-breds. With sale prices ranging from upwards of an average of $27,000 for offspring of New York-eligible Conway Hall to an average of $2,425 for offspring of New York-eligible Majestic Victory, the sale proved the New York-bred program has something to fit everyone's budget.

Agriculture & New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund Executive Director Peter Goold said, "We're extremely pleased with how well the New York-breds sold at the sale. We pride our NY-bred racing program on having a ‘fit for every horse' and the results of this sale prove that we also have a fit for every budget."

A total of 24 New York-eligible Sires had a combined 160 of their New York-bred yearlings sold on Sunday.

The top price was $80,000 paid for Via Conway, a son of Conway Hall consigned by the Morrisville Equine Institute. He was hammered down to Kenneth Jacobs of Baldwinsville, New York. The colt is the second foal of Becca J, a top New York Sires Stakes performer herself and winner of $318,068.

The highest-priced filly was JP's Dream, sold for $75,000 to Anette Lorentzon of Paris, Ky. The Dream Vacation filly is a sister to the current sophomore trotting star Crazed, a winner of the Colonial and $813,150 this year in just nine starts. She was sold by Lakeview Equine as agent.

Andre Farms of Pennsylvania paid $55,000 for the SJs Photo colt Southwind Peyton, who is the first foal of a sister to the New York stallion Plesac, a winner of more than $2.5 million on the track.

Trotters were more popular than pacers, as is usually the case at yearling sales today. Trotting colts at the Morrisville sale average $12,838 while trotting fillies were nipping at their heels with an average price of $12,531.

Pacing colts averaged final bids of $11.265 while pacing fillies sold for an average of $6,211.

A dozen yearlings by Conway Hall sold for an average of $27,792 and nine by Malabar Man averaged $14,333. A strong selection of 34 colts and fillies by Dream Vacation averaged $13,326. A half-dozen pacing yearlings by Artiscape averaged $21,667.

The sale's largest consignor, Winbak Farms, sold 51 yearlings for an average of $12.327.

Fueled by a strong demand for New York-sired yearlings, the Morrisville State College's Equine Institute's Fall Yearling Sale on Sunday averaged $10,774, up 10.1 percent from last year's sale.

Goold said of the increase, "The increase was remarkable in that it came after a week of the worst economic chaos and uncertainty in the United States since the Great Depression. This is further proof that New York's Standardbred industry is alive, well and thriving today."

The Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund (the Fund) is a public benefit corporation established in 1965 by the Laverne Law (Laws of New York, Chapter 567 of the Laws of 1965). The mission of the Fund is to promote agriculture through the breeding of standardbred horses and the conduct of equine research within the State. To carry out its legislative mission, the Fund administers the New York Sire Stakes races, State Fair Series races, Late Closers Series events, and County Fair Series races. Additionally, the Fund provides assistance to county agriculture societies and contributes to the statewide 4-H program and to the Harry M. Zweig Fund for Equine Research.

For more information about the Fund and its programs visit www.nysirestakes.com. For complete sale results visit www.morrisvillesale.com.

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