Five Share Fastest Furlong at OBS

Five juveniles shared the fastest furlong time of :9 4/5 and a pair of youngsters shared the bullet quarter-mile time of :20 4/5 during second session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Tuesday in central Florida.

The :9 4/5 time, which equaled the standard set by a Wildcat Heir filly Monday, was turned in by colts by City Zip (hip 211) and Jimmy Creed (hip 259), as well as by fillies by Curlin (hip 216), Munnings (hip 345) and Friesan Fire (hip 375).

Julie Davies consigns and is co-owner of hip 259, a colt from the first crop of multiple Grade I winner Jimmy Creed. The chestnut is out of stakes winner Chitka (Jade Hunter).

“He has been a pleasure to train from day one,” Davies said of the colt. “He has just taken everything in stride and every time he breezed, he did it with ease and he showed us more and more potential.”

Of the youngster's :9 4/5 work, Davies added, “I knew he had the ability to do it, it was just a question of the stars aligning and it happening on the day. And it did.”

Davies and Sarah Sharp purchased the colt for $33,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale.

“I liked him the first time I saw him,” Davies said. “Sarah and I liked him physically and we thought he could jump through all the hoops at a 2-year-old sale. He just looked the part.”

A native of England, Davies has been consigning under her own name for the last five years. She came to Ocala by way of south Florida, where she served as an assistant trainer at Calder Racecourse.

“I started out just working the sales,” Davies recalled. “I had some horses of my own and I was selling them with other people and I thought, 'Why don't I just give this a try by myself?'”

Of the decision to go out on her own, Davies admitted, “It's stressful, but days like today make it all worth it.”

Davies, who sold a Gemologist colt (hip 171) for $300,000 after a :9 4/5 work at last year's March sale, has primarily consigned at OBS, but she will be making her debut at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale with two offerings next month.

Blue River Bloodstock, which sent out a colt by Wildcat Heir to work the under-tack show's fastest quarter of :20 2/5 Monday, was represented by the co-fastest quarter-mile time Tuesday when hip 234, a filly from the first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Prospective, covered the distance in :20 4/5.

A colt from the first crop of Grade I winner Violence (hip 377) also worked in :20 4/5 Tuesday. The juvenile, consigned by Top Line Sales, is out of the unraced Dying to Dance (Street Cry {Ire}).

“We don't fully prep them or hammer down on them, so needless to say that :20 4/5 was not expected,” admitted Top Line's Torie Gladwell. “We knew he would work well, but we didn't know he'd work that well. And he galloped out huge. He has a big stride and he covers a lot of ground. He did it easy.”

Of the decision to work the colt a quarter-mile, Gladwell added, “If we worked him an eighth, we thought he might go :10 flat or 10 1/5, but we knew he would put in a good effort to go a quarter. He is super fit. The horse has never worn a bandage, never had a day off. He is just a good, balanced, fit horse.”

The bay colt was a $33,000 purchase at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Yearling Sale and Top Line sells on behalf of a pinhooking partnership.

“We sell a couple of horses for these guys every year and we take a little piece of the horse,” Gladwell explained.

In addition to the five horses who worked furlongs in :9 4/5 Tuesday, 13 horses shared the second-fastest time of :10 flat.

Top Line sent out seven horses to work Tuesday and Gladwell felt the track has been consistent throughout the first two sessions of the six-day breeze show.

“I think there were a couple more :9 4/5 and 10 flats today and it's probably just a difference in horses,” Gladwell said. “Yesterday, for us in particular, we only had two and both of them breezed just like we thought they would and today we knew we had some faster horses. We had a great tack show [Tuesday]–we started with a :10 1/5 and we ended with a :10 1/5, so we can't complain.” ”

She added, “There were a lot more :9 4/5s in March, but when this track heats up when the weather gets hot, it gets a little slower, so I think that's why we're seeing a little slower times this week.”

Gladwell is looking for a deeper buying bench at next week's April sale.

“The middle market at the March sale was a little slack, so I am hoping there will be a lot more middle-market buyers here and if there are, which I expect there will be, it will be a good sale,” she said.

The under-tack show for the April sale continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The auction will be held next Tuesday through Friday.