Farm Focus:  Victory Hill Farm

Jeff and Maria King’s Victory Hill Farm (VHF) is located in LaGrange, Indiana.  Equine residents at the northern Indiana venue are certainly in good hands.  Both Jeff and Maria King are veterinarians.  Thus, medical situations do not require calling and awaiting a veterinarian.  Rather, the response is immediate.

Covering 80 acres, VHF opened its doors in 1995.  The farm has 2 barns, with a total of 30 stalls.  The maximum horse capacity, including paddock space with run-in sheds, is 75 horses.

VHF is the home of one of Indiana’s premier pacing stallions, Electric Yankee.  As a racehorse, Electric Yankee was outstanding.  He took a 2-year-old record of 1:53.3, winning the Niatross Stake, Smullin Memorial, and John Simpson Stake.  At three, he lowered his record to 1:51.3f.  His major wins as a sophomore were the Adios Pace (elimination and final) and the James B. Dancer at Freehold.  Over the course of his career, Electric Yankee earned $506,752.  A son of the great Jate Lobell, Electric Yankee’s first crop raced in 2000.  Standouts from his early crops include Miss Yankee Doodle, DL Lyndie, Yougotit, Simply Electric, and Electric Star.  Electric Yankee stands for a fee of $3,000.

Over the past few years, VHF yearlings have been sold at several venues.  In 1999 and 2000, the majority of the VHF yearlings were offered in the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale, held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana.  In addition, a few Indiana-sired yearlings were sold at the Kentucky Standardbred Select Yearling Sale in Lexington, Kentucky.  In 2001, they offered another handful of yearlings in the Lexington sale.  Moreover, VHF elected to consign most of their yearlings to the Indiana Standardbred Sales Company Select Yearling Sale, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The sale featured 122 Indiana-sired yearlings, selected by pedigree and a visual inspection by Northwood Bloodstock’s Bob Boni.  The sale in Fort Wayne is managed by Steve Cross, the announcer at Hoosier Park.  The King’s are confident in Steve’s ability and commitment to the sale.  The inaugural sale was quite successful.  The sale totaled $686,600.  The average price was $5,628.  An Electric Yankee filly, New Electric, was the sale topper at $35,000.  This was the highest price ever brought by an Indiana-sired yearling.  VHF feels a select sale, in conjunction with the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale, creates a scenario well-serving to the Indiana Breeders.

VHF does retain a few offspring to be put into training.  In recent years, they have placed horses in the care of Indiana trainer Dwayne Pletcher.  The Pletcher Stable is located in Shipshewana, Indiana.  Being located near VHF, the King’s can easily keep tabs on their prospects.

VHF is quite proud of the success of Electric Yankee.  He was well-represented in Indiana Sires Stake action.  Miss Yankee Doodle was dominant in the 3-year-old filly pacing events in 2001.  Electric Yankee offspring are often seen at the top of the results of Indiana-sired events.  More importantly, his offspring have illustrated the ability to be competitive outside of the state boundaries.  One of his most noted sons, DL Lyndie, is the co-fastest Indiana-sired 2-year-old ever.  Interestingly, he shares the title and mark of 1:54.1 with another Electric Yankee, Electric Star.  At age 3, DL Lyndie was the winner of the Count B Series at Woodbine Racetrack (Ontario), lowering his record to 1:53.4.  In addition to taking the Hoosier Stallion Stake at Indianapolis, Electric Star won the Hanover Stake and an elimination of the American National at Balmoral Park.  Victories at this level are certainly an accomplishment.

Maria King talks about Electric Yankee, “You go through four breeding seasons before the first crop races.  During this time, you often wonder if your stallion will get to breed many mares.  Will he get to breed good mares?  How will his offspring look?  How will they be accepted at the sales?  Finally, how will they race?  Everything has gone well so far for us and we know we are fortunate.  We would like to thank all who have shown support by breeding, buying, or training an Electric Yankee.”

Farm goals for VHF include doing whatever they can to help improve the Indiana program.  They have worked hard to put together a strong group of broodmares.  Currently, VHF is set up to prep 12-15 yearlings for fall sales.  The number remains manageable, allowing them to concentrate on quality yearlings.  The King’s re-invest about one-third of the revenue from their yearling sales into improving their breeding stock.  According to Maria, “Our goal is for our Indiana-sired yearlings to be sought because they are good yearlings, not just good Indiana-sired yearlings.”

With respect to stallions, their goal is to keep Electric Yankee, as long as his yearlings are competitive.  He has gotten off to a tremendous start and has shown potential for continued success.  In 2001, the Annual Breeders’ Book ranked him 14^th in the nation for Leading Percentage Sires of 2:00 2-year-old pacers.  These statistics put him ahead of Artsplace, Cambest, and Cam’s Cardshark.  He is certainly keeping the right company!

In the future, VHF would like to add a second stallion to the farm.  However, they are not willing to accept just any stallion.  “We will be patient and keep looking for the caliber of stallion we would like to bring to Indiana,” says Maria.  VHF feels it is important to breed quality stallions to quality mares, so the level of Indiana Racing continues to improve.  Quality racing produces a product marketable for simulcasting.  VHF feels this quality product would decrease our dependency on the Riverboat Subsidy.

Though the Indiana program is growing, VHF recognizes some areas needing attention and improvement.  “Indiana needs security.  Every two years we worry about the Riverboat Subsidy.  We do not know how many days of racing we will have and whether there will be one or two tracks.  I think we have a great program.  If we could stabilize it and have a plan to build upon our current program, we could all plan to invest accordingly,” says Maria.

The King’s trust Indiana Standardbred Breed Development to promote breed quality and ownership.  An Indiana-sired racehorse, capable of being competitive outside the bounds of the Hoosier State, would be a better financial investment for an owner.  This versatility would serve to attract more owners to invest in Indiana.  VHF believes the Indiana program will continue to improve if we all work together, as a unified group, for the betterment of our Indiana Standardbred Industry.

Thank you to Maria King for providing the information about Victory Hill Farm!