(More than just Ontarians Scott McEneny and his wife, Michelle, were checking out the Ontario Sired and Ontario Bred horses at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale thanks to new owner bonuses that come into effect next year - Dave Landry photo)
by Dave Briggs
Long before Ontario Sired and Ontario Bred trotting filly Magic Carpet Glide topped the third session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale Thursday night (Oct. 6) with a bid of $175,000 (U.S.), Jackie Warner had already spent days talking to sale consignors and buyers to tout the benefits of the Ontario program.
“Most people understand the Ontario Sired product and the Ontario Sires Stakes program… and breeders understand the Ontario Bred program, specifically the benefits for them (of the bonuses). So now that there are benefits for the owners and purchasers of these horses, I’m down here promoting that,” said Warner, the Promotions and Industry Development Coordinator for Ontario Racing.
Starting in 2017, owners of two- or three-year-old horses that are Ontario Sired, Ontario Bred or both will share in a pro-rated portion of a $2 million Owners’ Bonus, based on their earnings in overnight races in Ontario. A horse that is both Ontario Sired and Ontario Bred will receive double the bonus.
“It adds value,” Warner said. “I was (in Lexington) for Sale Preview Day and put up stall cards that were specific to the Ontario-sired and Ontario-bred horse or cards that indicated they were both and that they were eligible for double bonuses. I spent time with consignors so that they understood the program.
“There were a lot of questions from American breeders regarding the program and the benefits to potential owners for the Ontario Bred product.”
Through three days of the Lexington sale — one of the premier yearling sales in the standardbred industry — 21 Ontario eligible yearlings sold for $1,544,000 combined, for an average of $73,524.
Swedish agent Robert Lindstrom purchased Magical Carpet Glide on behalf of Lennart Agren’s SRF Stable of Boden, Sweden. The same group also purchased the second highest-priced Ontario Sired horse to sell, so far in the five-day sale, spending $150,000 on a Kadabra filly out of On The Bright Side named Magical Lindy.
Floridian W. J. Donovan purchased a Shadow Play filly out of Hallie Gallie named Data Driven for $100,000 and a Sportswriter colout of Dancewiththebest named Dancin Doug was bought for $95,000 by a numbered company based in Windsor, ON.
Non-Canadians purchased five of the six highest-priced Ontario Sired horses sold, so far, which may be an indication that Warner’s campaign to promote Ontario bonus programs is having an impact.
For more information about a number of Ontario bonus and incentive programs, please visit:
http://ontarioracing.com/Breeding-Programs/Standardbred-Improvement-Program.aspx
And
http://ontarioracing.com/Breeding-Programs/Standardbred-Improvement-Program/Bonuses-Incentives.aspx
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