by Kim French, USTA Internet News Editor

Indianapolis, IN — Sales manager Steve Cross certainly knew what he spoke of when he intimated the second day of the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale might pack a bit more punch than the first.

While the first day of the annual event held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds yielded two colts that sold for $60,000, Saturday’s (Oct. 29) edition yielded a top bid of $75,000 for a black son of Here Comes Herbie-Ljanearl named Au National Herbie.

Dan Shetler, as agent, signed the check for the youngster, who went through the ring as Hip No. 218 and is a full brother to the $1.02 million earner Natural Herbie. Au National Herbie was consigned by Black Creek Farm which is clearly becoming a power player on not only the regional, but national sales scene.

That organization was also responsible for producing yesterday’s most expensive trotting purchase in Hip No. 119 Rocking Destinys. While that son of Guccio fetched the highest sum yesterday at $60,000, the stallion also continued to sell extremely well at this sale as Hip No. 268, Bluebird Mario, was bought by John Roberts, as agent, for $62,000.

Consigned by Bluebird Meadows, the colt is out of My Sweet Shiela. He is her first foal, however, the daughter of Southwind Elian was very competitive on the Indiana Sire Stakes circuit during her racing career and amassed $111,027 in purse money. My Sweet Shiela is also a full sister to Bluebird Elian, who earned $354,715 and was an Indiana Sire Stakes champion.

A total of 356 yearlings went through the sale and brought in a gross total amount of $5.9 million. The sale average was $16,630, which was an increase of 14 percent from last year. Friday’s edition saw 183 yearlings purchased for $15,783, while Saturday’s session included 173 yearlings that averaged $17,527.

“I was a little nervous when the sale began on the first day,” Cross said. “We had some nice colts go through that weren’t selling for an incredibly large amount of money, but as the sale went on it only got better and better. We are extremely pleased with the results and would like to thank everyone that was a part of the event. Our buyers and consigners are what brings us success.”

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