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Shartin N had one of the most celebrated and accomplished careers in the sport of harness racing.
Now, her first foal, a striking, solid-bay filly, appears to be one of the most anticipated distaffs offered for auction when she steps into the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion ring on Monday evening, Oct. 2, the first day of the Lexington 2023 Selected Yearling Sale, as Hip No. 61. The sale begins at 7 pm that evening.
“I haven’t seen the baby, but it’s super intriguing for Shartin N to be coupled with Captaintreacherous,” said trainer Tony Alagna. “I hear great things about her, and her video is quite impressive, and I’m excited to see her soon. With the international success that Captaintreacherous has been showing with his progeny racing Down Under, this will be a horse that fits the international as well as the domestic market.”
The filly, a daughter by world champion Captaintreacherous p, 3, 1:47.1 ($3,148,657), has been christened Caroline Kountry, and is both Pennsylvania and Kentucky eligible. She was foaled February 13, 2022, at Beth and Doug Yontz’s Anvil and Lace Farm in Cynthiana, KY, where Shartin N resides during breeding and foaling season.
“Everything went very smoothly with Shartin’s first foal,” Beth acknowledged. “It’s a great opportunity for us to have a mare like Shartin. She moves back and forth between Mr. Yoder’s farm and ours, roughly on July 1st every year we do a flip-flop and horses go back and forth between his farm and ours, that way all his yearlings moving forward will be duel eligible.”
Named 2019 Dan Patch Harness Horse of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA), Shartin N retired as the fastest pacing mare in history with a mark of 1:46.4 taken at age 6, winning 39 of 55 starts and $2,555,629 in career earnings. Beth said Caroline Kountry is the splitting image of her infamous dam.
“She’s done everything right and has been a true class act from day one,” Beth offered. “She looks just like her mother. When you look at her, there’s no denying who her mother is. She’s very professional; she learns fast, and if I had a barn full of yearlings like her my life would be a lot easier.
“More than anything, I hope for Mr. Yoder that he has tremendous success,” Beth added. “He runs a cabinetry business in Indiana, and understands what it takes to run a successful business. The best part of working with him is that he’s a team player, and while he ultimately makes the decisions, he allows everyone to be part of the program. I take pride in the team we put together here in Kentucky, as well, when it comes to having a great operation for our mares and foals.”
Unraced as a freshman, Shartin N had been bred in Canterbury, New Zealand by G. J. Crabbe, and was foaled Oct. 20, 2013. Her sire is the McCardle p, 3, 1:49 ($2,455,609) stallion Tintin in America, and her dam, Bagdarin, is a daughter of Live Or Die p, 2, 1:51.4 ($728,264).
Both sides of Shartin N’s pedigree sport a plethora of royal blood—Meadow Skipper and Bret Hanover (Save Fuel/Slatina/Bagdarin) on her dam’s maternal side, with Oil Burner (No Nukes/Die Laughing/Live Or Die) on her dam’s paternal side.
Tintin in America’ side is equally impressive, as his sire McCardle hails from the pedigree line of Bret Hanover (Warm Breeze/Falcon Seelster) and Niatross and Most Happy Fella on the paternal side, with Most Happy Fella, Tar Heel and Direct Scooter on the maternal end.
She made her debut at age 3 in Australia, earning $76,117 with seven wins and a trio of seconds in 13 starts. She was sold first to Richard Poillucci of South Easton, MA, on Nov. 18, 2017, who then partnered with trainers Jo Ann Looney-King and Jim King, Jr., as owners—later adding Tim Tetrick to the mix in March of 2019.
She began her stateside trek by earning $1,053,236 her first year, winning 19 of 24 starts and taking a mark of 1:48.2 at Lexington as a 5-year-old. She devastated her rivals in impressive fashion, winning the $270,000 Breeders Crown Mare Pace, the $373,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker Final, the $281,200 Roses Are Red Final, the $197,400 Lady Liberty and every other major event for open mares.
The following season she stormed to her career mark of 1:46.4 in the $183,500 Lady Liberty TV Free For All at the Meadowlands on Aug. 3, 2019 (Hambletonian Day), posting a front-stepping performance with a :25.4 final panel that is still talked about today. She also captured the $402,600 Blue Chip Matchmaker Series Final for the second time and the $247,500 Roses Are Red Final for the second straight year, among other triumphs.
SHARTIN N WORLD RECORD REPLAY
At 7, she was equally impressive, earning $444,099 and recording a mark of 1:48.1f in the $100,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace Free For All at Plainridge (for the second year in a row) on July 26, 2020, where again, she accomplished that triumph in front-end style and was never headed. She also won the $177,1000 Lady Liberty and the $129,000 Artiscape for the third consecutive season. When she retired at the end of 2020, she had finished on the board in 49 of her 55 starts stateside.
Bloodstock agent and Harnesslink magnate John Curtin, who had initiated the sale of Shartin N to Poillucci, also was the agent behind the sale of the mare to Ola Yoder, at his Indiana-based Kountry Lane Stables.
In 2021, yearlings by Captaintreacherous sold for a total $11,077,000 and those numbers increased in 2022 to $11,409,000. His sub 1:47 foals include Allywag Hanover 1:46, Rockyroad Hanover 1:46.2, Catch The Fire 1:46.4 and Warrawee Vital 1:46.4.
His richest foals include Lyons Sentinel $2,325,124, (1:48), Allywag Hanover $2,068,070 (1:46), Captain Crunch $1,725,495 (1:47.2), Catch The Fire $1,525,829 (1:46.4), Blue Diamond Eyes $1,340,144 (1:47.2), Treacherous Dragon $1,258,744 (1:48.3), Workin Ona Mystery $1,203,092 (1:48.1), Rocknificent $1,184,514 (1:48), I Did It Myway $1,154,265) (1:47.3), Boudoir Hanover $1,086,966 (1:48.3), Tall Drink Hanover $1,053,023 (1:48) and Rockyroad Hanover $1,035,685 (1:46.2) among others.
Less than one month ago the world’s richest harness race, the $2.1 million TAB Eureka, was held in Australia and there were four Captaintreacherous foals in the race that was won by the only mare in the field, the Captaintreacherous mare, Encipher.
ENCIPHER TAB EUREKA REPLAY
