Pair of Seven-Figure Colts Top Opening Session of OBS March Sale

Home » Business

Posted March 16, 2022 | By Michael Compton
Correspondent

Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company ushered in the always popular 2-year-olds in training sale season with a robust opening session of its annual March Sale on Tuesday, March 15. Replete with a strong catalog of top juvenile prospects, the sale attracted an international buying bench and showed dramatic across-the-board increases in key economic categories on the sale’s first day.

The two-day auction began with fireworks as Hip 257, a bay colt by Into Mischief commanded $1,100,000 from Japanese trainer Hideyuki Mori late in the session. The colt, who breezed a swift eighth in :09 4/5 at the under tack preview, is out of the Not for Love mare Zapara and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Basso. Consigned by Eddie Woods, agent, the colt was bred in Kentucky by Brookstone Farm and Lee Mauberret.

Just 20 hips later, Hip 277, another colt by Into Mischief—this one out of Chester and Mary Broman’s homebred Grade 1 winner Artemis Agrotera (by Roman Ruler)—sold to the partnership of Spendthrift Farm and BSW/Crow Colts Group, for $1 million. The Bromans, who bred the colt in New York, will remain involved with the horse as well as part owners. A half-brother to Chestertown (a record $2 million March sale purchase in 2019), the colt breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 at the under tack preview.

“He is a big, beautiful Into Mischief,” said Ned Toffey, general manager of Spendthrift Farm, where the sire, Into Mischief, stands. “We thought he could be the sale topper. He’s a very nice horse. When you see a horse like him in the catalog, you just hope you aren’t disappointed when you come to the sale. He definitely did not disappoint.”

Florida-bred 2-year-olds also proved popular with buyers at the sale. Hip 291, a Florida-bred colt from the initial crop of Bolt d’Oro, brought $600,000 from Kaleem Shah. Consigned by Top Line Sales, the colt worked an eighth in :09 4/5 at the under tack preview. Bred by Loren Nichols and out of the unraced Uncle Mo mare Beautissimo, the colt is from the family of Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Halfbridled, multiple stakes winner Ravi’s Song, and Grade 1 winner and stallion Mshawish.

A Florida-bred filly by first-crop sire Mendelssohn fetched $525,000 from Gracie Bloodstock as agent. Sold as Hip 125, the dark bay or brown filly is produced from the stakes-placed Candy Ride (ARG) mare Simply Confection, making her a half-sister to Kentucky Derby (G1) hopeful and recent Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Simplification. Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, the filly was bred in the Sunshine State by France and Irwin Weiner and breezed an eighth in a lively :10 at the sale’s under tack preview.

The filly failed to meet her reserve when first offered at public auction last year as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale—leaving the ring on that occasion on a final bid of $190,000—but she proved popular with prospective buyers on Tuesday.

“We always felt like she was a pretty special filly,” consignor Niall Brennan noted ahead of the sale. “All fall and winter she has been the definition of class. She has so much balance. She is a filly that ticks all the boxes. She has a lovely pedigree, she is from a wonderful family, and she has a ton of class.”

Ocala Stud had a strong day in the ring on Tuesday, selling a fleet-footed Florida-bred filly by their stallion Adios Charlie for $410,000 to West Point Thoroughbreds and Talla Racing. The filly, who breezed a blazing quarter-mile in :20 2/5 (the fastest time of the entire under tack preview), is out of the stakes-winning A.P. Jet mare Travelator and is a half-sister to recent stakes winner Hollywood Jet. She was bred by William J. Terrell and Frank De Savino.

Total figures for the first day of the sale saw 188 horses change hands, generating gross receipts of $26,325,000, representing a 37.6 percent increase compared to 175 head sold for $19,125,000 in 2021. Average price was $140,027, a 28.1 percent increase over last year’s average of $109,289. The median price was $77,500; it was $55,000 in last year’s corresponding session. The buyback rate (horses not sold) inched a bit higher in the initial session, coming in at 16.8 percent compared to 13.8 percent last year.

As of press time on Wednesday, the sale featured a new top horse as Hip 318, a Kentucky-bred colt by More Than Ready, sold for $1.2 million to Kaleem Shah early in the sale’s final session on March 16. The bay colt, who breezed an eighth in :09 4/5 at the under tack preview, was consigned by Ciaran and Amy Dunne’s Wavertree Stables, agent. The handsome colt is out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare Broad Spectrum, making the colt a half-brother to stakes winner Broad Approval.

The 2-year-olds in training sale scene shifts to South Florida later this month for the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach on March 30. Next up for OBS will be the Spring Sale April 19-22 with under tack previews slated for April 10-16.