Annual yearling sales bring different ideas and different appetites to the table. Sellers come hoping to offer up a better version of the trotters and pacers they have brought each year. Buyers come looking for something different, a unique specimen that can be bought and fulfil their dreams. This year a pair of accomplished trotters with sub-1:50 records will send a large supply of yearlings to market for the first time hoping to capture the attention of top owners and trainers while carving a niche in this sector of the breed. Both Greenshoe and Six Pack retired from racing following the 2019 campaign. Both were Kentucky Futurity winners as 3-year-olds and it's fitting to see many of their first crop offered in the coming Lexington Selected Sale. But similarities between the two on the track and off are hard to come by and thus as they commence their post-racing careers. With coming 2-year-olds hitting the track in 2023, Greenshoe and Six Pack offspring will be inspected, sold and then sent out to new trainers so that more than a select few would get the chance at future greatness. Perhaps since he first set foot on the track in June of 2018 at the Meadowlands, Greenshoe, a $350,000 yearling purchase the previous fall, became the talk of the trotting world. Never had a 2-year-old whisked through an opening baby race with such power and precision. It was that 1:55 mile that had the trotting world abuzz and it was that mile that would make him the talk for the next two years. "He was the best conformed yearling we saw that year," said Anders Strom, who purchased Greenshoe in 2017. "Well balanced body and almost thoroughbred-like with his noble looks. He was in a different class from the others, and we immediately said he could represent the future super-stallion. Harmony in all ways." Strom and company had to wait a long time to see that vision begin to take shape because despite the brilliance displayed early in his 2-year-old season, Greenshoe's true racing career would not take off as a freshman, with just four starts and some breaks in stride limiting his chances of showcasing his enormous talent. Greenshoe's 3-year-old season was much better if not perfect, but win or lose there was always that extreme speed that was captivating and a powerful gait that could make him the transformative stallion Strom suggested. Bloodlines count as well when studying a yearling catalog, and Greenshoe offers a continuance of the Cantab Hall line through his sire Father Patrick's first crop, as well a strong maternal line as the first foal from the $656K winner Designed To Be, herself a 1:52 2/5 Bluegrass stakes winner at The Red Mile as a freshman, defeating Shake It Cerry and Cooler Schooner at the time. The pedigree is on record and the racing career, both ups and downs, has passed. For Greenshoe and his chance at greatness in his second career, his first crop will be extremely important. "His first crop looks just fabulous," said Strom. "He seems to mint his offspring really well with great conformation, nice psyche and lots of energy." On that front, Greenshoe brings a first crop of which 49 will be offered at the Lexington Selected sale that is filled with black-type and beyond. That he's been matched with some of the greatest racing mares of all time is an understatement. The first offerings include colts out of Hannelore Hanover, Mission Brief and Ariana G, as well as one from Cedar Dove. Strom likes the racing and breeding business and thus has retained some of the 16 colts and fillies he has from the first crop of Greenshoe. "We've retained six fillies for racing and future breeding," Strom said. "And also Pasithea Face's colt Lynam, a brother to Joviality and Kayleigh. That dam has a special history to me, and I decided to at least keep her first colt." Strom has already seen the buzz from Greenshoe - a Pennsylvania-based stallion -  travel to Sweden where his offspring was a sale topper. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter While Greenshoe may possess the flash that attracts some buyers, there's a strong chance that Six Pack will have an even wider audience at the sales this fall considering his first crop will be eligible for the New Jersey program that has received a boost of money and energy this year, and will likely get even better in the coming years. Six Pack put in three strong years on the racetrack for Ake Svanstedt and the son of Muscle Mass retired as the fastest trotter to go to stud. Six Pack won the Kentucky Futurity as a 3-year-old in 1:49 1/5 and then returned a year later to capture the Allerage in 1:49 2/5. As a 4-year-old he finished a solid second while parked much of the way to Bold Eagle in a memorable confrontation in the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Mike Gulotta, the headmaster of Deo Volente Farms in New Jersey where Six Pack has been a stallion since his racetrack retirement, sees the first crop as an opportunity for buyers. "If you're looking at Six Pack you're looking at looks, great demeanor and great racing opportunity," said Gulotta, who has been encouraged by the reaction future owners have had inspecting the colts and fillies from Six Pack's initial crop. The recent rich New Jersey Classic races held at The Meadowlands are indicative of the extraordinary opportunity a colt or filly from Six Pack offers without a trainer having to leave New Jersey. There will be 47 colts and fillies on the block by Six Pack in the Lexington Selected Sale and Gulotta was somewhat surprised that perhaps the best colt from his consignment will sell on the third day of the auction. HIP number 600 Sonic Deo is a great-looking colt according to Gulotta, from a European family. In keeping with those international bloodlines, the dam has already produced a winner from Bold Eagle. Sonic Deo is one of many dual-breds in the Lexington Sale and that will make him eligible not just to the New Jersey program but the Kentucky races that are expected to go for higher purses in the future. What Six Pack offers from a pedigree perspective is an incredible amount of Valley Victory blood through generations, both on his sire's side and through his dam's blood. By Muscle Mass, a son of Muscles Yankee, Six Pack can be a successful branch to a family tree that already includes the incomparable Muscle Hill. On Six Pack's dam, Pleasing Lady is perhaps stronger than it looks in recent generations, but it extends well back into the 1970's where one of the top FFA performers named Crowns Star was one of the early stars at The Meadowlands. Six Pack was an ultra-consistent performer during his three years on the racetrack and the belief is that his demeanor was part of his traits that made him so successful. Should he pass that along to the next generation, combined with the potential for sub-1:50 miles, there's every reason he can compete quite well in what appears to be an ever-growing field of trotting stallions. There's always competition in the ranks and future stars that will arise. Gulotta confirmed that Six Pack's popularity has extended overseas and that his first three crops have the numbers to give him all the tools necessary to achieve in his current role. For now, the first crop from both Greenshoe and Six Pack await, with 2023 the real start for the two stallions that never raced one another to do battle with their offspring. If expectations are realized, the trotting world may never be the same.