OBS spring sale fetches record $74 million

Willy Fuentes leads Hip 1139, a dark bay or brown colt by Bayern and consigned by Eisaman Equine, around the outside walking ring on the final day of the OBS Spring Two Year Olds in Training sale at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, April 23, 2021. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

This year’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales spring auction of 2-year-old thoroughbreds ended with a record sales total of nearly $74 million during the four-day event.

The record comes after a challenging 2020 season hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 auction registered total sales of more than $57.7 million.

Almost 100 more horses sold this year, 723 compared to 634 in 2020. The average price was also up to $102,224, compared with $91,033 a year ago. The median price per horse was $50,000, identical to last year. The percentage of horses that did not sell fell to 13.2%, compared to 18.5% last year.

Two horses sold for seven-figures during the sale.

A colt by stallion Quality Road, consigned by Ocala’s de Meric Sales, sold for $1.5 million on Wednesday to Speedway Stables to lead the first two days of the four-day sale.

The auction’s second-highest selling horse also sold on Wednesday. A filly by the stallion Arrogate sold for $1 million to Katsumi Yoshida, who bought the horse through an online bid. Marion County-based Mayberry Farm consigned the filly.

The Ocala sales company introduced online bidding last year in the face of the COVD-19 pandemic. The option allowed buyer to purchase horses without having to travel to the sales pavilion. Yoshida’s purchases was the most expensive horse to sell via the internet.

On Tuesday, during the first day of spring sale, a son of Gun Runner, consigned by Eisaman Equine, sold for $850,000.

On Friday, a son of stallion Into Mischief consigned by de Meric Sales sold for $875,000. The colt went to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners & Whitehorse Stables.

The next scheduled OBS auction is the June sale, set for June 9-11.

– Carlos Medina