by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Harrisburg, PA — The decision was not a hard one forBenoit Baillargeon when he saw Alarm Detector. “I like the wholepackage,” he said of the Chapter Seven – Final Countdown – Yankee Glide coltwhose sales ticket he signed for $110,000, the day’s sales topper, at theStandardbred Horse Sale on Wednesday.

“There’s a guy (Bryan Montgomery) who put me on to him,”said Baillargeon. He said, ‘Ben, this is a very nice looking colt, youshould go take a look at him. He knows I’m a trotting man. I buy mostlytrotters all the time. He said you should go take a look at thishorse.

USTA photo

Benoit Baillargeon stands to the left of Armbro Detector.

“Bryan saw him raised, really, because he lives locally,near the farm (Concord Stud Farm, consignor for Order By Stable). He saidhe’d seen the horse grow up and he was a nice horse. So I looked at thehorse, I looked at the video and he had a beautiful way of going and I said,‘Well, let’s try to buy him.’

“I know all these horses (in his pedigree), it’s a goodfamily. Trotters have been good to me; they’ve been bread and butter tome. I buy and race a lot of trotters, it’s good fit for me.

“He will head north, in Canada, no Florida forme. I’m at Ideal Training Center, about half an hour north ofMohawk. He will have the harness on him Monday.”

Russell Williams, Chairman of the Standardbred Horse Sale,was pleased with the virtual wrap up of the yearling portion of the sale. “It was the second best average we ever had,” he said. The top averagecame in 2007, when 1,048 yearlings sold for an average of $40,824. This year’saverage was $38,662 for 866 yearlings.

“Very satisfying, particularly when you think of all thework that goes in to raising these horses. It’s really great that ourconsignors can have a pay day.”

Top ticket horses for the day included:

Hip #515 Photobomb Hanover (Explosive Matter – Phaeton)$65,000 filly to Purple Haze Stables – Hanover Shoe Farm

Hip # 590 Sweet Toujours (Mach Three – Sweet Hedge) $60,000filly to Determination – Preferred Equine Marketing

Hip # 685 Muscle Miley (Muscle Mass – Bar Ballad) $60,000filly to Bjorn Noren, Agent – Fair Winds Farm

Hip # 704 Brandon Hanover (Big Jim – Brissonte Hanover )$60,000 colt to David Menary – Hanover She Farms

Hip # 723 Shadow Moon (Shadow Play – Lofty Yankee) $60,000colt to Dr. Ian Moore – Spring Haven Farm

Hip # 759 Everyone Hanover (Sportswriter – Edra Hanover)$65,000 colt to Mark Steacy – Hanover Shoe Farms

Hip # 765 Western Passage (Sportswriter – Ever Western)$80,000 colt to Casie Coleman – Winbak Farm

The day’s offering of brought the three day total to866 yearlings sold for an average $38,662 against $30,818 after threedays in 2015 for 1,010 yearlings, and $32,903 in 2014 for 1,089 yearlings.

Trotters led the overall totals, bringing an average of$40,438 against $37,207 for pacers.

The sale resumes Thursday morning at 10 a.m., with a limitednumber of yearlings and weanlings selling first, then bloodstock. Friday’s sale features racehorses.

For more detailed results and a look at the catalog for thenext two days, go to www.theblackbook.com.