from the Ohio Selected Jug Sale

Lexington, KY — The Ohio Selected Jug Yearling Sale will be back in business this year, with the 2014 sale slated for Sept. 15 at 12 noon at the Eden Park Equestrian Complex in Sunbury, Ohio.

The single-session sale, conducted by the Ohio Harness Horse Breeders and the Lexington Selected Yearling Sales Co., will be held on the Monday prior to the Little Brown Jug.

The Jug Sale has been on hiatus the past three years due to the shrinking foal crop in Ohio. Now that video lottery terminals are in place at Ohio’s harness tracks, the state’s foal crop has blossomed over the past two years.

According to the U.S. Trotting Association and the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association, there were 1,650 Standardbred mares bred in Ohio in 2012 and 2,200 in 2013 — quite a considerable jump from the 400 bred just a few years ago.

“We’re glad to be back in business in Ohio,” said sale manager Randy Manges. “Ohio is now second only to Pennsylvania in number of mares bred each year, and as all the new farms and new stallions show, interest in the program has never been higher.”

According to Manges, the sale will again represent a solid core of Ohio’s most prominent breeders.

“With the quality of the horses we’ll be selling, and the skyrocketing growth in Ohio Sire Stakes purses, we expect to see buyers from not only Ohio, but from all over the U.S.,” he said.

Entries for the sale will be taken through April 15. Those wishing to consign should contact the sales company’s Lexington office by calling 859.255.8431 or e-mail Randy Manges at randy@kentuckystandardbred.com.