Morrisville State College's Standardbred Yearling Sale Brings in Nearly $1M

A yearling gets groomed prior to Morrisville State College’s Annual Standardbred Yearling Sale. Photo by Franci Valenzano of Morrisville State College

From Morrisville State College:

Morrisville State College took in close to $1 million at its 26th annual Standardbred yearling sale Sept. 20. 

The event drew a record crowd of potential buyers, sellers, trainers and owners from across the Northeast. The college's sale is the only one of its kind in New York state held on a college campus. 

A total of 62 yearlings, including 18 owned by the college, were sold at an average of $15,540, up 43 percent from last year’s average bid of $10,715. The sale topper was Royal Pinot, who sold for $55,000. 

Adding to the allure of the sleek and immaculately groomed horses up for sale was the professionalism, enthusiasm and teamwork of MSC faculty, staff and students.  All of the college’s nearly 250 equine students had their hand in some aspect of the sale and played an integral role in its success.

Alexis Cook, an equine science western major from Martville, Cayuga County, was among them. Clad in a professional black suit, she and four others led the yearlings into the sale ring.

In another barn, Amber Pruchnik, an equine breeding student from Connecticut, was showing horses to potential buyers and answering their questions.

Students also prepped the horses before they headed to the show ring, bedded stalls, groomed, helped set up the business office, braided manes and put a coat of shiny black polish on yearlings’ hooves.

Throughout the sale, potential buyers scanned their sale catalogs intently as bid spotters kept track of those who raised their hands and shouted out amounts. 

The sale is an all-around great experience for students, allowing them to learn in a real-life business setting. 

It’s also a momentous time for students as they have played a large role in the MSC-owned yearlings’ lives — many who have helped foal and raise them.  They even have a hand in naming them.  

The college’s Standardbred sale is a major industry-based entrepreneurial activity for its equine programs and a vehicle to showcase the campus and its array of equine programs, which are known throughout the industry in addition to the college’s top-notch equine facilities. Profits go toward general maintenance and enrichment of the college’s equine programs.

Morrisville State offers a bachelor of technology degree in equine science and two associate degrees in equine racing management and equine science and management. Students have many options as the college’s diverse equine offerings include specializations in breeding, western, hunt seat, draft/driving, Thoroughbred racing, Standardbred racing, business, and equine rehabilitation therapy.

For more information visit www.morrisville.edu.

Morrisville State Yearling Sale Sept. 20

From Morrisville State College:

Morrisville State will hold its 26th annual Fall Yearling Sale at 1 p.m. Sept. 20 at the college’s Nancy Sears Stowell Arena on Swamp Road. 

There are a total of 69 yearlings cataloged for the 2015 sale. Eighteen of them are being sold by the college, including two yearlings of Cash Hall; six yearlings of RC Royalty; three yearlings by Conway Hall, three yearlings by Deweycheatumnhowe and one by first crop stallion, Archangel. 

Conway Hall (six total yearlings in the sale) and RC Royalty (21 total yearlings in the sale) are among the leading money-winning stallions in the New York Standardbred Sale for 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds in 2014. Conway Hall,

Cash Hall and RC Royalty, all rank among the national leaders for 2- and 3-year-old trotters, on an RC Royalty became the fastest 2-year-old trotting colt ever in the NYSS on a half-mile track by virtue of his 1:58.2 score at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in 2005. RC Royalty also holds the Massachusetts Sire Stake record for 3-year-old trotting colts of 1:59.4.

The yearling sale, which features year-old Standardbred horses sold on consignment by the college, is organized and run by Morrisville State Equine Department faculty, staff and students.

Equine students will be working the event, participating in every aspect of it from bedding stalls, grooming, leading and showing horses, to setting up the business office and assisting with cleanup.

Last year, the sale grossed nearly $1.4 million.  

Profits from the sale, which is free and open to the public, go toward general maintenance and enrichment of the college’s equine programs. 

For more information about the annual event, visit www.morrisvillesale.com or call 315-684-6355.

Summit on Retired Racehorses Set for Sept. 1 in Saratoga Springs

From The Horse, a magazine about equine health:

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) will host a day-long summit focused on retired racehorses — both thoroughbred and standardbred — Sept. 1 at the Fasig-Tipton Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs.

This event is designed to focus attention on the issue of racehorse retirement and publicize the current status of New York and national initiatives, including those ongoing and those developed since the New York Task Force on Retired Racehorses issued recommendations in late 2011. The summit, which will begin at 10 a.m., is free and open to the public.
“It’s our duty to make sure they have access to safe havens once their days on the track are complete," said Sackatoga Stable’s Jackson W. Knowlton, a prominent owner and former task force member who has been instrumental in putting the summit together. 

"Everyone — breeders, trainers, owners, track management, and more — have an obligation to work together and address this issue. The Retired Racehorse Summit will showcase some exciting new endeavors being undertaken by the commission and the industry to bring about real positive change for our horses,” he said.

Knowlton will kick off the event by reviewing the task force’s key recommendations and discussing the status of ongoing research indicating where horses go after they leave the track. He will also discuss the social responsibility component of the issue.
Tentative panels and participants include:
 
The history and current status of retirement initiatives and programs by New York thoroughbred horsemen

• Moderated by Eric Wing, Daily Racing Form
• Richard A. Violette, New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, Inc.
• Additional Participants TBA

National leaders in Thoroughbred retirement

• Stacie Clark Rogers, Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance
• Diana Pikulski, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation
• Additional Participants and Moderator TBA

Accredited organizations: Current status and future challenges in providing aftercare to New York-based horses

• Moderated by Jack Wolf, Starlight Racing
• Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue
• Equine Advocates, Inc.
• Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program, Inc.
• New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program
• Old Friends
• ReRun

How does the standardbred industry address retirement?

• Moderated by M. Kelly Young, New York Farm Bureau
• Ellen Harvey, U.S. Trotting Association
• Katherine Starr, Sunshine Horses
• Judith Bokman, Standardbred Retirement Foundation
• Additional Participants TBA

Approaches to aftercare at the track level

• Moderated by NYSGC commissioner Peter Moschetti
• Sam Elliott, PARX Racing
• Mike Rogers, Stronach Group
• Mike Ziegler, Churchill Downs
• Additional participants TBA

Morrisville State College Horse Wins at Vernon Downs

News from Morrisville State College:

Morrisville State College’s horse racing programs notched another victory, this time with one of its Standardbreds, at the Vernon Downs harness racing track.

The July 6 race was a mark in both the driver’s and horse’s career. 

Driver Cole Wimmer, of Camden, an instructional support assistant at the college, raced Mr. Wiskers to the win, claiming his first career pari-mutuel driving victory. 

Wimmer is a 2006 graduate of the college’s equine racing management, Standardbred program. 

“It was a lifetime mark for Mr. Wiskers,” said Keith Cluff of the three-year-old Bay Colt’s maiden race, his first for money, earning him $1,500 for his share of the purse. 

Mr. Wiskers, owned by the Morrisville College Foundation, is trained by Cluff, director of the college’s Standardbred program with assistance from Krystal Koster, a junior in the college’s equine racing management, Standardbred program.

The colt, donated to the college last October, is one of two Standardbreds racing at Vernon Downs this summer. The second, Stirling Dusty, recently celebrated a second-place finish.

Wimmer was elated, giving credit for the win to Mr. Wiskers, who underwent surgery last fall to remove a bone chip from his hock and spent 60 days being rehabilitated at the college’s own equine rehabilitation center.

Mr. Wiskers shares a victory with Thoroughbreds, Hot Idea and Don’t Back Down, who raced to victory in June at the Finger Lakes Racetrack.  

Both of those Thoroughbreds are trained by Dr. Clyde Cranwell, associate professor and director of the college’s Thoroughbred program, with assistance from students in the college’s Thoroughbred program.