The 2021 edition of the Standardbred Horse Sale begins on Monday (November 8) and will feature HIPs 1-138 stepping through the ring. With all the other major Standardbred sales showing significant gains across-the-board so far this year, hopes are high that the same will be said at the conclusion of this event. "I think we're going to have a great yearling sale and I think we have one of the strongest mixed sale catalogs we've had in a long time," said Dale Welk, President of the Standardbred Horse Sales Company. "We always have great yearlings. I'm very excited about what went down in Lexington. I'm hoping a lot of it carries over. "We've had tons of catalog requests and quite a few foreign buyers have asked me for letters of invitation, and we've done them. It looks like we're going to have a good crowd and I'm hoping to continue the success that the other sales have had." After being operations manager of the Standardbred Horse Sale since 1989, it was announced earlier this year that Welk would take over as President of the company from Pete Spears. That gave him extra responsibilities, but Welk says that he and his team are ready for the sale to get underway, with no significant changes or alterations coming to how business has been done. "It's a new experience. I have been with the sale company for over 30 years," Welk said. "Now being promoted to President of the company, and I'm still doing the operations, it's a lot more paperwork and stuff like that, but I'm really looking forward to it and I think we're going to have a gangbuster sale. "I'm just trying to keep things as normal as possible. Now that we're back in Harrisburg, it's going to help a lot. We're back to pretty much normal as far as the sale goes. I don't see me making any big changes at this point." As Welk mentioned, one of the major positive developments for the 2021 Standardbred Horse Sale is that it will return to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg after having to be held in Timonium, Maryland a year ago due to the pandemic. The indoor building in Harrisburg alleviates any weather concerns and should provide its usual welcoming atmosphere to buyers and consignors. "We had a great sale and a good time in Timonium, but we're in a building now, and like today we're getting three inches of rain here and you don't even know it's raining in the building," remarked Welk. "I think it's important for the whole sale. It gives everybody a better feel. It's a better environment for our buyers and a better environment for our consignors." Day One in Lexington or Harrisburg usually gets most of the attention since that's when the marquee horses sell, and although this is the fewest number of horses that the Standardbred Horse Sale will have ever offered for the opening session, the quality more than makes up for the quantity. "This is our lowest number we've sold on day one, but I think all 138 are capable of ringing the bell. I think we're going to have a great day on the first day," Welk said. "There are a lot of strong pedigrees, and I've seen many of the horses that are selling. They are great individuals as well." Hanover leads consignors After an absence of a few years, Hanover Shoe Farm returned to Lexington in October, so the Standardbred Horse Sale isn't the first chance the industry will have had to see and bid on their top-notch yearlings, but they have their usual eye-catching individuals in Harrisburg, especially on Monday. "I think it's a pretty strong group and I think we're well represented in all the categories - pacers, trotters, colts, and fillies," stated Dr. Bridgette Jablonsky, the farm's Executive Vice President. "I'm really happy with the group. "All the ones that are on Monday belong there." Jumping right off the page from Hanover's consignment is HIP 118 Swanky Hanover, a Muscle Hill filly out of Secret Magic, making her a full sister to the recently-retired triple millionaire Manchego. "She's probably the highlight of the consignment, of course. She's a June 11 foal and she's dual-eligible (New Jersey and Kentucky). She gets better and better and better. When she first came in, she looked every bit the part of a June 11 foal, but she just looks great now. She's matured so much and she has good conformation," remarked Dr. Jablonsky. "We didn't sell Manchego, but everyone that saw Manchego as a yearling says this one is a little bit bigger, has a little bit more bone and is a little bit more correct than Manchego was. She's good in the paddock and she has a good personality." Two other trotting fillies selling from the Hanover consignment that should get plenty of notice on Monday afternoon are HIP 24 April Hanover and HIP 119 Solidad Hanover. April Hanover is a half-sister to $266,372 earner Donatover, while Solidad Hanover is from the next-to-last crop of the late Kadabra. "She's a beautiful Walner filly from the family of Andover Hall. She has a lot more size than most out of the mare, which I think she gets from Walner," Dr. Jablonsky remarked in regards to April Hanover. "She's very nice, one of our nicest trotting fillies. "[Solidad Hanover] is the first foal out of a sister to Manchego. You're running out of opportunities to buy Kadabra fillies, and I think she's probably one of the better-bred ones to come along." On the pacing filly side, Hanover has the likes of HIP 7 Tallchief Hanover, a Stay Hungry sibling to Lyons Sentinel and HIP 59 Froufrou Hanover, a relative to millionaire and O'Brien Award recipient Bettor's Up. "[Tallchief Hanover] is a three-quarter sister to Lyons Sentinel and from the first crop of Stay Hungry. She's not very big, but Lyons Sentinel wasn't a very big yearling and Trillions Hanover wasn't a very big yearling. It's not a very big family, but she's a very athletic filly with a great video," said Jablonsky. "[Froufrou Hanover] is our best-looking pacing filly, to me. She is a sister to Bettor's Up and she's a dual-eligible (Pennsylvania and Kentucky) Captain filly. I'm pretty excited about her seeing how the ‘Captain' fillies sold in Lexington. She's really nice. She has the family, she has the looks and she videos well." As for pacing colts, Dr. Jablonsky was high on the chances of HIP 6 Tickertape Hanover, a Huntsville colt out of a half-sister to Took Hanover [1:49, $641,485] and HIP 133 Sparrow Hanover, a Captaintreacherous colt from a family she believes is ready to really explode. "He's a gorgeous Huntsville colt. One of our best pacing colts I would say," she said of Tickertape Hanover. "He's from a great family, Triplet Hanover is the second dam. He's a big, gorgeous colt. I love him. "Sparrow Hanover is a very handsome Captaintreacherous colt. He's out of Stacia Hanover, who was a very fast mare. It's her first colt. I think this family is on the verge of having a great horse. They're all really, really fast. None of them have quite made that leap from being very, very fast, good horses that have made $300,000, $400,000 to being great horses, but I think one of them in this family is. Why not this colt? He's athletic-looking and he's got a great video." Hanover also has a dozen trotting colts to sell on Monday. Among them are HIP 4 Try-Hard Hanover, a Walner full brother to stakes-winning 2-year-old Temporal Hanover and HIP 110 Pratt Hanover, a son of Father Patrick that Jablonsky is hoping can carry over his attributes from the field to the racetrack. "To me, he's a better looking yearling than Temporal Hanover was. He's a really striking yearling," remarked Dr. Jablonsky when discussing Try-Hard Hanover. "We know what Walner's done, so we're pretty excited about him. "[Pratt Hanover] is a brother to Piper Hanover and Palermo Hanover, both doing good things this year. He can trot as fast in the paddock, I think, as any trotting yearling I've ever seen. He can just fly. Not sure what that's worth, but if it's worth anything, he can do it." ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Others to Watch Since there's a full sister to Manchego in the sale, it seems almost appropriate that there is also a full sister to Atlanta that will be available on Monday. In Italian is her name and the daughter of Chapter Seven-Hemi Blue Chip will sell as HIP 69. She is part of the Concord Stud Farm consignment and was bred by Stefan Balazsi's Order By Stable. What's especially noteworthy about In Italian is that she's the first full sister to Atlanta that has been available and she's the first foal that Hemi Blue Chip has had since 2018. That yearling, Balloon Girl, who was by Muscle Hill, fetched $160,000. Speaking of siblings to successful horses, HIP 114 Rocklamation Deo, a filly from the first crop of Lazarus N that will be sold by Preferred Equine Inc. as agent, is a half-sister to Breeders Crown Mare Pace champion Rocknificent, and HIP 67 Warrawee Youknow, a daughter of Sweet Lou that is also part of the Preferred Equine consignment, is a full sister to $1.8 million earner Warrawee Ubeaut and a half-sister to $1.25 million earner Warrawee Needy and Breeders Crown Open Pace finalist Warrawee Vital. If first foals out of successful race mares are your thing, there are plenty of those available on Monday as well, including HIP 48 Capt Daryl Dragon, a Captaintreacherous colt out of Delightful Dragon [1:50, $819,971], HIP 58 Lord Bridgerton, a Muscle Hill colt out of Fine Tuned Lady [1:52 2/5, $643,987] and HIP 108 Perfect Patrick, a Father Patrick colt out of Perfect Summer K [1:56 3/5, $219,883]. Capt Daryl Dragon will be offered by Walnridge Farm as agent, Lord Bridgerton was bred and is consigned by Concord Stud Farm and Perfect Patrick comes from the Diamond Creek Farm group.                    Monday's session at the Standardbred Horse Sale begins at 12 noon.