OBS nets $82.7 million in annual spring sale

File photo: A dark bay of brown colt consigned by Woodside Ranch is shown to prospective buyers on the first day of the 2022 Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

An exciting week of sales concluded at Ocala Breeders’ Sales on April 19, with an impressive turnout and profit from the sale of hundreds of young horses.

OBS netted $82.7 million in its annual Spring Sale last week after the auction and sale of 642 premier thoroughbred horses from April 16 through 19, according to OBS.

The sale, for 2-year-old thoroughbreds in training, produced a slightly lower gross total than the 2023 sale, which brought in $90.4 million in the sale of 699 horses.

The heftiest price tag of this year’s sale was for Hip No. 365, a daughter of Tiz the Law, which sold for $1.9 million. The horse was consigned by Tom McCrocklin and purchased by Donato Lanni, an agent for Michael Lund Peterson, according to OBS.

The median price per horse in the 2024 sale was $70,000, an increase from the previous year’s median price of $65,000.

Out of the 783 horses up for sale over the course of four days, 141 horses were not sold, according to OBS.

The highest day of sales took place on April 17, with a total of $26.2 million in profit for 181 horses in a single day.

The second-highest ticket horse was Hip No. 371, a son of American Pharoah, which sold for $925 million. The horse was consigned by de Meric Sales and purchased by Donato Lanni, an agent for Frank Fletcher Racing Operations.

To top the sale’s day four finale, Hip No. 915, a daughter of Nyquist, sold for $850,000. The horse was consigned by Wavertree and purchased by Donato Lanni, an agent for Baoma Corp.

“The dark bay or brown filly, whose Under Tack eighth in :9 4/5 was the Saturday session’s co-fastest, is out of Amagansett, by Tapit, a daughter of graded stakes placed stakes winner Twirl (IRE),” according to an OBS press release.

The next sale for 2-year-olds in training will take place from June 3 through 8.