May 2022 Member of the Month: Francis & Barbara Vanlangendonck

Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck pictured with their grandchildren.

Francis & Barbara Vanlangendonck, of Summerfield Sales, are the featured TOBA Members this month.

Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck are proof that hard work leads to success. The team behind Summerfield Sales, the husband and wife live near their Morriston, Florida, operation, yet their influence extends all over the world. The perennial leading consignors have sold the likes of Medina Spirit, 2016 champion juvenile filly Champagne Room, and grade 1 winner Lion Heart.

“We try to stand out and do a good job and present a product that they want to keep coming back and buying,” Francis said. In 2021, 208 of 244 horses consigned by Summerfield sold at public auction, grossing $10,729,700. And in 2022, Francis became the fifth chairman of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales, an organization of which he has long been an important part.

The Vanlangendoncks’ two sons are also horsemen on the rise. Arthur, the elder, recently moved to Kentucky to be with his fiancée; he works as a broodmare foreman at Darby Dan Farm near Lexington. Younger son Andrew is part of the Summerfield team. Barbara recalled, “He is ingrained in the business. He loves it. He was in the Air Force for ten years and then came back about four years ago […]and started at the end of a pitchfork once again and has moved up to director of sales and has done a great job.”

In days gone by, Summerfield would sell 700 yearlings, plus two-year-olds, mares, and more, annually. Now, they have scaled back, keeping the focus on selling high-quality yearlings for their long-time friends and clients, some of whom have been with Summerfield for four decades. “We have a large New York client base,” said Barbara, “because we’ve always sold New York-breds. One of Francis’ original partnerships was with Gerry Nielsen Sr. in New York, and we continue that relationship to this day, even though he has passed, with the family. They’re absolutely family. In fact, his grandson lives on the farm here.”

At the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, Summerfield sold a son of American Pharoah, bred by Gerry’s widow Joanne, for $1 million. Of their strong client base, Francis mused, “That was just years of putting it all together and then as you go on and you get the reputation of word of mouth, you are fortunate enough to sell for people like Stonestreet and whatnot. So, it’s a combination of time and doing the right thing and it just finally came together after a while.”

The Vanlangendoncks also sell youngsters for Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables, including 2020 champion female sprinter Gamine. At the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling sale, the Into Mischief filly fetched $220,000. And at the very same auction, Summerfield consigned a Stonestreet-bred son by Curlin; OXO Equine bought the handsome colt out of grade 1 winner Molly Morgan for $1.8 million.

But perhaps the most famous runner to pass through Summerfield’s stables is the late Medina Spirit. Summerfield consigned the son of Protonico to the 2019 OBS Winter Mixed Sale, where he brought $1,000 from Christy Whitman. The following year, Whitman Sales pinhooked the Gail Rice-bred to eventual owner Zedan Racing Stables.

Last year, Medina Spirit crossed the finish line of the 2021 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) first but was later disqualified. “Selling Medina Spirit was an incredible highlight for us frankly,” Barbara said. “There’s absolutely no way to advertise that Summerfield sold this Kentucky Derby winner for $1,000.” A subsequent grade 1 winner, Medina Spirit died Dec. 6 after a workout at Santa Anita.

Of his passing, Barbara said, “It was very, very hard,” adding, “This is the kind of story that would keep our business constantly going because who knows who the next Kentucky Derby winner will be, or Breeders’ Cup or Pegasus or Meydan winner? You just don’t know where they’re going to come from, and it just keeps us all moving forward.”

She noted, “I love this business. I love the people that are in this business. I can’t imagine being able to do anything else. We’ve done this for so long, but we have an emotional product and that can’t be said about almost any other business in the world. But we have an emotional product, so when we have an animal that is injured or whatever, it’s hard. It’s very hard, and sometimes you just have to take a big breath and give yourself five minutes and then come on back and do it again.”