by David Carr, director of Information and Research, the U.S. Trotting Association

Lexington, KY — Pacers comprised the large majority of yearlings offered at Sunday’s fifth and concluding session at the Lexington Selected Sale.

A Real Desire filly took honors as the highest priced yearling in the session, selling for $76,000. Defiant G is a daughter of $500,000 winner Carolache and was selected from the Hunterton Sales Agency consignment by Rick Rader.

A Real Desire colt named Jokin’ Man finished just a nose back of the sale topper, leaving the ring with a serious bid of $75,000 from J & J Como Jr. Inc. Peninsula Farm presented this son of Kiddin’onthesquare for his breeders Jayne Cummins and the Genesis Racing Stable.

Western Terror had a couple of high-priced yearlings on Saturday, and picked up on Sunday where he left off. His son Laugh It Off brought a winning bid of $65,000 from Jason Libby. Kentuckiana consigned the colt as agent for Bulletproof Enterprises.

Then, the Western Terror filly Appreciation sold for $60,000 to Ted Gewertz. Appreciation is the second foal from Monique’s Legacy. Gewertz is an owner of Appreciation’s half-brother, the speedy 2-year-old Hay Goodlooking. Peninsula Farm consigned the filly for her breeder Ubaudi-Gendreau Stable.

Gordon Rumpel of On The Road Again fame is hoping for a successful ride with his new Cadillac of a colt named Mr Escalade. This Mr Lavec colt, which sold for $60,000, is out of Berto Cathy, a producer of five $100,000 winners. Spring Haven Farms consigned the youngster for Doug Millard Farms.

With no racing at The Red Mile on Sunday, the sale session was larger than those on the preceding days. A total of 242 yearlings sold for an average price of $16,657. Despite the previous couple of sessions showing sizeable declines from 2007, Sunday’s sale average represented an increase of eight percent.

Overall, the Lexington Selected Sale sold 799 yearlings for a gross of $32,159,000, which averaged out at $40,249. This was a drop of about 11 percent from the outstanding sale in 2007, but a three percent increase over the healthy sale in 2006.

Here is a summary of the fifth session and the complete sale. Look for more detailed statistics to come this week.