Harrisburg, PA — Male trotter De Kooning, a son of Muscle Hill-Brooklyn whose full brothers Kings County and Brooklyn Hill were winners on the Grand Circuit, sold for $600,000 on Monday to top the opening session of the 85th annual Standardbred Horse Sale. Ron Burke will train the colt, who was purchased by the group Burke, Brixton, Hatfield.

De Kooning’s family also includes 2008 Hambletonian Oaks champion Creamy Mimi, who is the dam of near-millionaire French Wine, and Dan Patch Award winner Pizza Dolce. The colt was bred by Stefan Balazsi’s Order By Stable AB and consigned by Concord Stud Farm. He is New Jersey eligible.

De Kooning sold for $600,000 on Monday to top the opening session of the Standardbred Horse Sale. USTA/Ken Weingartner photo.

“Bud (Hatfield) and those guys thought it was the best trotting colt in the sale,” Burke said. “They said buy it, pretty much no matter what. They’ve had really good success buying off Stefan and Concord, so they like to go back to where they’ve done well.

“I know Bud really wants to win a (Hambletonian). He said that’s the best colt, he wants it. I give those guys credit for stepping up. It’ll be cool. It’ll be something different. I’m used to pressure anyhow, so it doesn’t bother me. Actually, I thought he would bring more, so I was all right with it. They were prepared to go more.”

De Kooning was one of six horses to sell for at least $390,000 on Monday.

Second on the best-sellers list was trotting filly Voguish for $535,000, followed by pacing colt Twin B Euchre for $500,000. Both horses were purchased by trainer Andrew Harris as agent, as was $400,000-buy Penny Benjamin, a pacing filly. Harris also will add to his stable the trotting colt Hatfield, who sold for $400,000 to Bill Pollock as agent.

Completing the top-six sellers was trotting filly Royal Mission, who was purchased by Jeff Snyder for $390,000.

Second on the best-sellers list was trotting filly Voguish for $535,000. USTA/Ken Weingartner photo.

Voguish is a daughter of Gimpanzee-Jolene Jolene. She is a half-sister to Dan Patch Award winner Venerable and Grand Circuit winner Crucial. She was bred by Maumee River Stables, Black Creek Farm, Martin Schmucker, and Steve Stewart and consigned by Hunterton Sales Agency. She is Kentucky eligible.

“She’s royally bred,” Harris said. “You’ve got the (return on investment) as a broodmare as well, so you’ve got that, and hopefully she works out to be a nice racehorse too. I thought she would be the sales-topper for trotters.”

Twin B Euchre is a son of Bettor’s Delight-Fresh Breeze and is a half-brother to millionaire stakes-winner Twin B Joe Fresh. His family also includes Grand Circuit winner American Ideal. The colt was bred by Twinbrook Limited, consigned by Twinbrook Farms and is Ontario eligible.

“Physically, he was a specimen,” Harris said. “Even if you didn’t look at his family, he was just gorgeous, and I liked his attitude at Twinbrook Farms. Just that good attitude that the Bettor’s Delight colts have; the good ones seem like they’re a little roughhousing and playful like that. I really liked that part of it. So, with how good he looked individually, and the family seems to be clicking, this just made sense.

“But, that said, I had no idea when that horse walked in the ring that he was going to sell for that much. I knew he was going to be a good number, but I was thinking maybe half that. I wasn’t thinking 500.”

The trotting colt Hatfield sold for $400,000 to Bill Pollock as agent. USTA/Ken Weingartner photo.

Hatfield — the yearling — is a son of Cantab Hall-Nicole’s Promise. He is a full brother to 2-year-old T C I, who has earned $1.23 million this season, and Grand Circuit winner Global Pandemic. Half-brother Livininthefastlane also was a winner on the Grand Circuit. The colt was bred and consigned by Concord Stud Farm. He is Pennsylvania eligible.

Penny Benjamin, a daughter of Sweet Lou-Dismissal, is a half-sister to $2-million-earner Bythemissal. She was bred by Stephen Dey III and consigned by Preferred Equine Marketing. She is Pennsylvania and New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund eligible.

Harris added a total of seven horses to his stable on Monday, to go with 10 yearlings purchased at last month’s Lexington Selected Sale.

“We cut down a lot on the racehorses to concentrate on the stakes horses,” Harris said. “The spring will be very busy. There will be a lot of late days training all these guys. But that’s the fun part. There are a lot of dreams there. With what we’ve bought, we should hit on something.”

Trotting filly Royal Mission was purchased by Jeff Snyder for $390,000. USTA/Ken Weingartner photo.

Royal Mission, a daughter of Chapter Seven-Swinging Royalty, is a full sister to two Canadian Trotting Classic winners, Ahundreddollarbill and Slay. She was bred by Jonas Schlabach and consigned by Concord Stud Farm. She is New York eligible.

Snyder also purchased trotting colt Lorax Hanover, a son of Chapter Seven-Lifetime Pursuit, for $300,000. Bred and consigned by Hanover Shoe Farms, he is New York and Kentucky eligible.

“We came to buy these two horses, and we got them,” Snyder said. “These were our two favorite horses in the sale. We got what we wanted. Let’s hope the investment pays off.

“(Lorax Hanover) is a Chapter Seven, which we’ve had luck with, and he’s out of a great mare who earned over a million dollars. I thought he was the best colt in the sale. Actually, I thought he would bring more, we were prepared to go more, however we were very happy with the price. He was a perfect individual and we’re thrilled to have him at a price that I thought was good.

(Royal Mission) is a gorgeous-looking filly, also by Chapter Seven. We had to pay a lot more than I thought, but we fell in love with her looks. She’s well bred and we’re happy with her. Between the two horses, it averaged out.”

Overall, the opening session saw a total of 153 horses sell for $15.2 million, an average of $99,497. Last year, 165 yearlings sold on the first day for a session-record gross of $19.7 million and average of $119,491.

“It’s disappointing, of course,” said Dale Welk, the Standardbred Horse Sales Company president and director of operations. “There were soft spots, but there were also great spots. We have some great horses coming up. I’m looking forward to (Tuesday); I think we’ll get more back on track. I really do. There were some great horses bought at good prices today. I think there should be a lot of happy buyers, and I know we’ve got some happy consignors.

“As I told a couple consignors this morning, there’s been a lot that’s happened just in the last month worldwide, economy wide, and everything else. But I think there’s still money here, and I heard quite a few buyers today say they can’t wait until tomorrow.

“We’ve come off two great years. You’ve got to accept the fact that sooner or later, it’s going to happen. It’s tough, but I think everybody understands what’s going on. I’m still looking forward to the rest of the week and a great sale yet.”

Tuesday’s second session of the three-day yearling sale begins at 10 a.m. (EST). For complete results, catalog, and livestream, visit The Black Book website here.