Breeders Crown Charity Challenge sets new record

LEXINGTON, KY – The ‘Breedings for a Cause’ charity auction at Wednesday’s Lexington Selected Yearling Sale saw eight of the most sought-after breedings in the harness racing sport bring a record total of $207,000 for the ‘Breeders Crown Charity Challenge’ pot.

The 2021 Challenge, presented by the Libfeld-Katz breeding partnership, is on track to outpace previous year’s donations, with more than $130,000 having already been pledged by industry participants.

Steven Head bid $15,000 to breed to 2020 Dan Patch divisional champion Perfect Sting when he eventually goes to stud. But the son of Always B Miki, to date the leading 2021 money-earning 3-year-old in the sport with over $800,000 in the bank, still has plenty of racing to do before it’s time to head for the breeding shed.

Brad Grant spent a whopping $55,000 for a breeding to Walner, the sport’s current trotting super-sire, whose offspring Exile was the sale topper on Opening Night after being sold for $800,000. Lucas Wallin signed as agent for the Chapter Seven slot at $27,000.

Kountry Lane Standardbreds dug deep, bringing home a Tall Dark Stranger breeding for $21,000 and came back for a Captaintreacherous booking at $27,000.

Blue Chip Bloodstock signed for the high-performance trotting sire Bar Hopping at $12,000, and Indian Mound Bloodstock of Lexington held out for a mating to Muscle Hill for $33,000.

A breeding to the red-hot Ohio pacing sire Downbytheseaside went home with Tom Fanning as agent for Dave Van Wart for $17,000.

Many thanks go out to breeding donors Hanover Shoe Farms and Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, the Captaintreacherous Syndicate, Blue Chip Farm and Chapter Seven Syndicate, Adam Bowden of Diamond Creek Farms, Southwind Farm and Muscle Hill Syndicate, the Walner Syndicate and Brittany Farms and Val d’Or for their generous donations.

This year, the proceeds of the auction and the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge, which has raised over $400,000 in its first two years, will benefit the enCourage Kids Foundation (Team Miller), John Theurer Cancer Center (Team Dunn), New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund (Team Gingras) and Special Olympics New Jersey (Team Tetrick).

The battle for the first-place check will go through Friday, Oct. 29, when the freshman Breeders Crown Finals are contested at The Meadowlands. Post time is 6:20 p.m. Winners and check presentations will take place Sat., Oct. 30, prior to the Breeders Crown 3-year-old and up Finals with an unprecedented post time of noon.

To vote for your favorite, Team Dunn, Team Gingras, Team Miller or Team Tetrick, and to find out more about the Breeders Crown Charity Challenge, go to playmeadowlands.com.