I have fallen in love!

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Crosshill Pacers

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Last October I drove up to York to a Standardbred sale with my best mate. Neither of us were buying, although we'd marked our catalogues for a few that had taken our fancy. Nothing caught my eye in the ring, but after the sale my friend took me to see the dam of her 2yo filly that had won the Breeders Crown earlier in the season.

The mare belonged to a friend of her parents, and he had a field of 15 mares all with foals at foot. The minute we rocked up, all the foals bar one scattered to find their mothers (obviously we looked like predators!). The one foal who didn't seem remotely bothered by us sauntered up to me and started sniffing around. My friend wandered off to find the mare she was looking for and I stayed with the young fella, who was letting me stroke his face and behind his ears, all the way down his neck and over his back. When my friend came back she picked up his front feet while I stood by his head, then picked up his back feet too. He was such a gentleman! He then followed me around quietly while my friend showed me who all the mares were. I had actually fallen in love. Before we left my friend took some photos of me and 'Frank' as I'd called him :)

I've been waiting for the owner to send in his paperwork to register the foals and yesterday I found out the foal's name and pedigree. He is literally bred to the hilt. At first I thought that was great, and it made sense because he was quite a proud chap, the breeding sort of matched his personality. But then I realised that come the sale in October, he's going to be the one that everyone wants. I had sort of convinced myself that if I put some money aside, perhaps I could buy him and OH could break and train him for me. I told OH about the feeling I'd got from him in the field and last night he said that if he likes the look of him as well, that he'll bid to a certain amount for him as he loves his breeding.

Now I don't know if I can physically wait until October! It's not like me to wish away the summer, because I'm excited about racing starting again, but I want to see my Frank again! Someone give me a shake and tell me patience is a virtue!
 
He sounds like he picked you!

Will the breeder not agree a sale before he has to go to the sales ring? Might he let you pay in installments up to weaning or the time he would be going? Might be an option, I wouldnt pass up a good home for anything I had bred (not that I breed).

X
 
Coldfeet! said:
He sounds like he picked you!

Will the breeder not agree a sale before he has to go to the sales ring? Might he let you pay in installments up to weaning or the time he would be going? Might be an option, I wouldnt pass up a good home for anything I had bred (not that I breed).

X
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That's what I said to OH when he asked why I picked him!

The breeder does sell them prior to the sale in October, but at hugely inflated prices. Fair play to him, if he can get the money in a private sale then I can understand why - if you don't ask, you don't get. They don't make quite as much in a sale ring though. I dread to think what his asking price would be for Frank, he sold one of his British bred 2yo's last spring for £27,000, and Frank is a full-American :o
 
SarahThomas said:
That's what I said to OH when he asked why I picked him!

The breeder does sell them prior to the sale in October, but at hugely inflated prices. Fair play to him, if he can get the money in a private sale then I can understand why - if you don't ask, you don't get. They don't make quite as much in a sale ring though. I dread to think what his asking price would be for Frank, he sold one of his British bred 2yo's last spring for £27,000, and Frank is a full-American :o
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Ouch .. maybe its not the start of soemthing lovely, Hahaa :o
 
Yeh, that 2yo didn't live up to the expectation either...the top yearling filly he sold last year went for £8000 and the top yearling colt was £6000. That's certainly more affordable and Frank isn't the only fullbred American he's got for sale, plus there's 14 for sale in total so OH thinks perhaps that will drive the price down a bit?

I keep telling myself that I shouldn't get my hopes up and someone else will get him and he'll still have a lovely life and be successful and I can follow his racing career. Buuuuuut I want him! Argh I'm being a spoilt brat :mad:
 
Why torture yourself with what ifs when you could call the breeder and ask:) That way you will know what you are dealing with. If he asks for too much ££££ s then wait until the sales.

I think I found My Horse last august when I went to the races in Nottingham with my OH and fell in love with a bay mare. I even phoned up to ask about her afterwards. Every time I think of getting another horse I think 'but it's not RG! Why out of all the horses I spotted that day did I get transfixed by just one? Not phoned them back but she's now raced six times and come last six times. I think it's fair to say that she just does not get racing.

Go on! Make the call:)
 
I'm going to have to call him aren't I?! I'm expecting a call from him actually through work so I might drop it into conversation at the end :)

I've got that excited feeling and it's such a long time to be excited until October! I could have taken him home there and then when I met him, probably wouldn't have been too difficult to nab him because he stuck to me like glue, it was hard to leave :(
 
Sorry to drag up an old thread BUT the sale was last weekend and 'Frank', or Alexander Camden as he's known officially, went through the ring. There'd been a lot of hype surrounding him and I'd given up being able to afford him, but a friend of a friend had told me he would bid up to £15,000 on him.

The bidding opened up at £22,000 :O he was eventually sold for £38,000! Alexander is now the record British sales topper for Standardbreds! Definitely out of my price range, but sounds as though he's going to be trained by a really great trainer so fingers crossed for him. I'll be cheering home my Frank every time he races!

Photos of him and the other top-priced lots can be found on the STAGBI Facebook page :)
 
£38000!!! EEK! I always find it a lot easier to take when something is so waaaay out of my price range it was not an option. So much better than just a bit over when you think 'maybe'.

Go Frank - and have a lovely prosperous life :)
 
Ha WelshRuby I wish! Unfortunately I don't think I've even made that much money in my whole working life...now eyeing up a training prospect at the next sale in a fortnight, somewhere around the £1000 mark! Much more affordable :)
 
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