by Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis
OCALA, Florida – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds concluded its four-day run in Ocala Friday with the highest average and median in the auction's history.
Through four sessions, OBS sold 660 horses for a total of $52,279,500. The average of $79,211 just bettered last year's previous record figure of $79,068, while the median of $47,000 topped last year's record-tying figure of $45,000. In 2015, 674 horses sold for $53,291,900. With 193 horses not sold this year, the sale's cumulative buy-back rate was 22.6%. It was 22.3% a year ago.
“The results are almost identical to last year,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “I think it was a good sale. We sold a number of good horses. The quality was increased last year and this year, the quality was increased again and they continued to sell well. April is settling in and proving itself to be the 2-year-old sale to the world.”
For the second year in a row, the April sale produced a seven-figure result, with a colt by Broken Vow bringing top price of $1.2 million.
Friday's finale was topped by a daughter of Quality Road. Consigned by Q Bar J Thoroughbreds on behalf of Machmer Hall and Haymarket Farm, hip 1214 was purchased by trainer Linda Rice for $775,000. In all, 33 horses sold for $300,000 during the four-day sale. That figure was 25 a year ago.
During Friday's final session, 163 head sold for $13,999,000. The average was $85,883 and the median was $50,000. During last year's final session, 160 horses sold for $13,871,000 for an average $86,694 and a median of $43,000. With 107 outs from Friday's session, 197 horses went through the sales ring with 34 failing to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of just 17.3%.
While many sellers lamented a lack of competition in the middle market during the April sale, bloodstock agent Larry Zap, who purchased a filly by Broken Vow on behalf of Joseph Ciaglia, Jr. for $310,000 Friday, found plenty of company in that price range.
“I see the middle market between $75,000 and $250,000,” Zap said. “We bought three horses earlier in the sale for that. To me, that's the middle market and the middle market is loaded. We had to go over the middle market to buy a filly we had to have, but everything else [we bought] at this sale has been in the middle market. I don't know why people keep saying [there is no middle market]. I think it's as strong as could be, period.”
Quality Road Filly Tops Friday at OBS
A juvenile by Quality Road became the OBS April Sale's top-selling filly when trainer Linda Rice bid $775,000 to secure hip 1214 from the Q Bar J Thoroughbreds consignment Friday in Ocala. The youngster was one of three to share the quarter-mile bullet time of :20 2/5 during last week's under-tack preview.
“Frankly, I passed several horses yesterday and today waiting for this filly,” Rice admitted after signing the ticket on the filly. “I knew she would be difficult to buy. She was pretty exceptional. She stands over a lot of ground and she had a great workout. She is a beautiful filly. I'm glad I stuck around–I missed my flight for her.”
Rice, who purchased four juveniles during the four-day auction, declined to name the filly's new owner, but called it “a group of some old and new clients.”
The April sale's top filly is out of Over Andover (War Chant), a half-sister to graded stakes winner Called to Serve (Afleet Alex). She was purchased by Machmer Hall and Haymarket Farm for $112,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale.
“She wasn't originally on my shortlist and I was looking at another horse at another barn, but I was watching her at the next barn over and I just said, 'What is that?'” recalled Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden. “I watched her walk by as a baby and she was amazing. I was floored. At the time, she was the most expensive weanling I'd ever bought at public auction.”
Returned to the sales ring at Keeneland last September, the dark bay RNA'd for $130,000. Brogden said the filly's sire might have effected the reaction she received in September.
“Quality Road came out gangbusters, but then he went through a cool punch from August to November,” she explained. “By January he was picking up steam again and now he is back to the leading third crop sire. She was gorgeous and she was in Book 2, but people had seen what we paid for and we wanted $140,000 for her as a yearling and we didn't get it.”
Q Bar J's Quincy Adams had plenty of confidence going into the sales ring at OBS Friday.
“Haymarket and Machmer Hall breed and buy and sell a lot of really good horses,” Adams said. “And we're just blessed that they gave us the opportunity to train such a superior athlete.”
Friday's result marked the second straight OBS sale at which Machmer Hall has sold the top-priced filly. Through the de Meric Sales consignment, the operation sold a Twirling Candy filly for $825,000 at the OBS March sale. That filly was a $50,000 FTNMIX weanling purchase.
“People know in the end, we're going to raise them like runners,” Brogden, whose Machmer Hall also bred champion Tepin (Bernstein), said. “They have to be runners first and sales horses second.” @JessMartiniTDN
A Ghostzapper Filly for Chu
A speedy filly by Ghostzapper will be joining the barn of trainer Bob Baffert after bloodstock agent Donato Lanni saw off a determined Justin Casse to secure the youngster for $720,000 on behalf of Charles Chu's Baoma Corp. during Friday's final session of the OBS April sale. Bred and consigned by Off the Hook, hip 1127 worked a quarter in a co-bullet :20 2/5 during last week's under-tack show.
“She is obviously a fast filly who worked great and she came out of the work great and she carried good flesh,” explained Lanni. “I never know what is going to happen [with the bidding], but she's a nice filly and the nice ones are getting a good price. She did everything right. I hope we bought a good one for them.”
The Hong Kong-based Chu campaigns 'TDN Rising Star' Drefong (Gio Ponti), who returned to the work tab Thursday with a three-furlong work at Santa Anita, as well as stakes winner Swift Lady (Awesome of Course). He also purchased a colt by Union Rags (hip 103) for $975,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Florida sale.
Friday's sale was special for Off the Hook's Joe Appelbaum, who purchased the filly's dam, Mighty Eros (Freud), for $55,000 at the 2006 OBS February sale.
“We raced her mother too and she was a very special filly who got hurt after her second race and was never quite the same,” Appelbaum explained. “It makes it especially gratifying. I bought the mare from Becky Thomas maybe 10 years ago and we thought she was truly a special horse and to see that validated by her progeny now by other people in the business, especially one of the best like Donato, it is great.”
A stakes winner on the track, Mighty Eros RNA'd for $37,000 at this year's Keeneland January Sale.
Asked who the mare might be bred back to, Appelbaum said, “She is about to drop a Munnings foal in New York, so let's get through that hurdle and then I'll worry about the next thing.” @JessMartiniTDN
High Mark for Stay Thirsty
A colt by Stay Thirsty became the highest-priced offspring from the freshman sire when summoning a final bid of $575,000 from Steve Young Friday afternoon.
The bloodstock agent bought Hip 1132 on behalf of Robert LaPenta, who has campaigned the likes of GI Florida Derby winners Dialed In and Ice Box; GI Belmont S. upsetter Da'Tara; and more recently MGSW and GISP March and GSW Far Right. LaPenta's Whitehorse Stables purchased Stay Thirsty for $160,000 as a yearling at the 2009 Keeneland September sale and sold him to Mike Repole for $500,000 at the following year's Fasig-Tipton Florida 2-Year-Olds in Training sale.
“He's a very good two-turn horse, who trained great for the sale and we have had luck with the pedigree on the bottom side,” Young commented on the colt, who worked in :21.1 during last week's breeze show. “It makes it hard in a four-day sale to wait on the colt you like the best, but it all worked out and I hope he goes ahead and builds on what he's done here.”
Bred by Michael Connelly, Hip 1132 is a half-brother to $475,000 2013 OBS March buy Conquest Titan (Birdstone), who broke his maiden in that term's Swynford S. at Woodbine and finished second in the 2014 GII Holy Bull S.
His unraced dam Miner's Secret (Mineshaft) is a half-sister to MGSW Woodlander (Forestry).
With that pedigree, Young was not surprised that there was plenty of competition for the colt from the Kirkwood Stables consignment.
“Without overanaylzing anything, he's by a sire that's owned by Mike [Repole] and he's a half-brother to a horse that sold here a couple of years ago that did very well for Mark Casse,” Young said after signing the ticket out back. “The recipe to be a popular horse was there.”
The bay is from the first crop of Stay Thirsty, who won the 2011 GI Travers S. and 2012 GI Cigar Mile. The young stallion stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud for a fee of $10,000.
“I think Stay Thirsty is a horse who was unfortunate to be, perhaps, in Uncle Mo's shadow,” Young remarked. “They were in the same barn, same owner, same trainer. [Stay Thirsty] was a good 2-year-old. He showed that [when second] in the [GI] Hopeful [S.] as a baby. He was durable and could run a mile and half in the [GI] Belmont and a mile and quarter in the [GI] Jockey Club Gold Cup. He was a very good horse. I didn't have a whole lot of expectations about him coming to a 2-year-old training sale, but they trained very, very good as a group and obviously we thought this was the best of them.” –@CDeBernardisTDN
Majesticperfection Colt New York-Bound
Eric Fein, who has campaigned multiple graded stakes winner Musket Man and graded stakes winner Big Truck, added a colt by Majesticperfection to his stable Friday in Ocala when bloodstock agent Ian Brennan signed the ticket at $450,000 on hip 1090. Consigned by RiceHorse Stables, the youngster worked a furlong in a co-bullet :9 4/5 during last week's under tack show.
“We loved his work and pretty much everything about him,” Brennan said. “He's a New York-bred. He came back from the work really sound and he was clean on X-rays and he is a colt that we liked from the breeze show and he's just been showing himself really well. He acts like he has a ton of class.”
Of the colt's final price, Brennan added, “Good colts are bringing this kind of money here, but looking at the pedigree you'd like to be getting him in the $300-350,000 range. But we had to give that little extra for him.”
Out of Magic Belle (Gold Case), the juvenile was purchased by Mike Mulligan as part of his Emerald Sales pinhooking partnership for $92,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale.
“I thought he was an awesome horse–he's one of the best that I've had in a long time,” Mulligan said. “I think he has that brilliant speed, but he'll also carry it a route of ground.”
Mulligan was quick to give credit for the sales success to consignors Alexandra and Brandon Rice.
“They did an awesome job and they deserve all the credit,” Mulligan said of the husband-wife team. “I picked out a nice horse and they did a great job with him. And I'm really pleased with who got him because I think they will do a good job with him.”
Brandon Rice, in turn, credited Mulligan with finding an exceptional athlete at last year's yearling sale.
“Every time we've had a big sale, it's because we've had a big-time athlete come into our program,” he said. “The key to having a high-priced sale is getting the right horse in your barn, and that goes back to Mike Mulligan dropping back into the business with his Emerald Sales. Obviously, he's off to a bang-up start, and if it wasn't for him picking out a good horse, we wouldn't have had a good horse to present. It was nice for Mike to entrust us with his investment, and with him getting started back up, it's important that he gets off to a quick start. It felt good, because we knew what was at stake for him, and it was great to have that support and confidence from Mike.”
Alexandra Rice usually breezes all the RiceHorse runners at the under-tack shows, but the couple had to call an audible for their April horses.
“We were really glad to have Brittany Dallaire of Envision Equine to pinch hit for Ali, who is pregnant,” Rice explained. “We just found out it's going to be a boy just this week at the sale, and the whole family's really excited about it. It's an exciting time on a personal and professional front.” @JessMartiniTDN
More Force for Casse
Trainer Mark Casse, who purchased multiple graded stakes winner Airoforce (Colonel John) for $350,000 at last year's OBS April sale, returned Friday to take home a daughter of that same WinStar stallion for $370,000.
“She reminded me a lot of Airoforce,” Casse said of hip 1060. “They had some similarities and we've had a lot of luck with Colonel Johns out of this sale. I find with the Colonel Johns that I've had some luck with are taller and leaner with a great walk and that's kind of what Airoforce does and this filly, too. I thought last year, Airoforce was very impressive on the track and this filly was, too.”
Consigned by Teresa and David Palmer's Winners Circle Thoroughbreds, the juvenile is out of graded stakes placed Listen (Chester House), a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Listen Here (Gulch) and stakes winner Indy Bird (A.P. Indy). She worked a quarter in :20 4/5 during last week's under-tack show.
Casse signed the ticket on the juvenile as East-West Stable an said, “the same one that bought Airoforce last year.”
Airoforce won last year's GIII Bourbon S. and GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Asked for an update on the John Oxley runner, Casse said, “He's doing really well. He's going to run in the GII American Turf on Derby day.” @JessMartiniTDN
Colonel John Filly a High for Winners Circle
Teresa and David Palmer and son Nicholas of Winners Circle Thoroughbreds celebrated a career-best sale Friday at OBS when a filly by Colonel John, purchased by the family for $37,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale, brought a final bid of $370,000 from trainer Mark Casse.
“She changed in all the right ways,” Teresa Palmer said of the filly's transformation. “She was always a mature, confident filly and as her athletic abilities slowly improved and she was becoming more of an athlete, we just loved her even more. She's always been a farm favorite.”
The Palmers have been involved in racing for nearly two decades, going back to the 1998 purchase of an El Prado (Ire) colt as a yearling at OBS. That acquisition went on to become graded stakes winner Mr. Livingston.
“Mr. Livingston was a very special horse for us,” Palmer said. “He changed our life in a good way. We had many blessings with him. He turned a love of racing, at that point, into a passion.”
That passion led the family to purchase a farm in Morriston nine years ago and it has been a labor of love developing the property.
“We bought our farm about nine years ago and it took us a couple of years to develop it,” Palmer explained. “It was undeveloped land and my husband being a builder, we took our time with really building it and laying our plans. We wanted to have as few regrets as possible when it was done. The first year we just had our own horses and we wanted to make sure we had a plan and a system before we took over someone else's horses. We felt after the first year, year and a half we had a plan in place and we started taking in outside horses. My son and I have been in charge of the training side of it for 3 to 3 1/2 years.”
The Palmers' first love is still racing. The family has some 20 horses in training, so while picking out pinhooking prospects, they always keep their options open.
“We do love to race, that's always something that for us is an option,” Palmer said. “We let the horse tell us. We buy with the intention to sell at a 2-year-old in training sale and if that doesn't work, we love to race. I'd rather have a nice horse at the races than just an ok horse at the sale just to say we made the sale. It's never an absolute. We let the horse tell us.” @JessMartiniTDN
The Coach Adds a New Player to the Roster
Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas was still active at the OBS April sale despite not making it to Ocala in person. Bidding over the phone, the conditioner went to $350,000 for a Bodemeister colt, catalogued as Hip 1118, during the final session Friday.
The bay is out of Grade I winner Meadow Breeze (Meadowlake), who is a half-sister to GI Arkansas Derby hero Overanalyze (Dixie Union). Consigned by Eddie Woods, he breezed a furlong in :10 flat at OBS last week.
“He breezed great,” Woods commented out back as one of his other horses prepared to go in the ring. “He breezed in :10 flat, but he galloped out amazingly quick. Some of the guy's got him in a pretty shifty time, so it's all a part of the picture.”
Quite pleased with the colt's sale, the Irishman was not very surprised by the final price.
“He's been very popular,” Woods remarked. “I thought he'd sell pretty well. You know, you can never say in this kind of sale that a horse is going to bring that, but I expected him to sell big.”
Picked up by Tommy Manion for $45,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September, Hip 1118 provided the Texas horseman with a nice profit Friday.
“When they give it to you, they give you everything,” Woods said of the pinhooking success. “[Manion is] a guy from Texas, who dabbles in some horses and buys a good kind of horse. He's been around horses for years. He does all of those halter horses and show horses. You can see that in that colt that he bought, that great shape.”
The bay's sire Bodemeister is one of many freshman sires who proved popular at the OBS April sale, with seven of the top 15 juveniles sold representing first-crop sires. The 2012 GI Arkansas Derby hero, who stands at WinStar for $30,000, had two other offspring sell for six figures over the four-day sale.
” [The Bodemeisters] are nice horses, good training horses, good minded horses,” Woods offered. “The ones that we had I thought definitely needed to go two turns.” –@CDeBernardisTDN
Roden Snaps Up Speedy City Zip
Hip 1019, a colt by City Zip, was one of the first to make some noise in the pavilion Friday when selling to bloodstock agent Alistair Roden for $320,000. The Irishman was buying on behalf of Peter Redkerope, who will send the :09.4 worker to California.
“I loved him,” Roden remarked. “He's a beautiful horse, one of the nicest horses in the sale. He had a seriously good breeze and is by a great stallion. The horse vetted good, he is a beautiful horse and, as I said, he is by a tremendously good sire.”
The Lexington resident added, “He seemed to have a good disposition. He's pretty much a faultless horse. You'd be very, very picky if you had an issue with him.”
As for the price, Roden said it was about what he expected given the current market and quality of the horse.
“It's a great market for a great horse,” the Irishman commented. “If you have a great horse, there is plenty of money. If they don't breeze good or have veterinary issues you are in trouble.”
Bred in Florida by Sally Andersen, Hip 1019 is a half-brother to stakes winner Quelle Surprise (Slew Gin Fiz). The bay, who RNA'd for $70,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale, was consigned to this sale by de Meric Sales, acting as agent for the Ocala-based Golden Legacy Stables. –@CDeBernardisTDN
Zap Goes Back to the Well
Larry Zap has already bought a pair of Grade I winners at OBS April for Joe Ciaglia in $175,000 2011 purchase Weemissfrankie (Sunriver) and $120,000 2013 buy Dance With Fate (Two Step Salsa). The bloodstock agent hopes he has purchased another stakes quality runner for the California-based owner in Hip 1081, a Broken Vow filly he acquired for $310,000 Friday.
“To be honest with you, I want to make the cover of next year's catalogue with her,” Zap said of the :20.4 breezer, who will be sent to trainer Peter Eurton. “She's a big, strong filly. She looks like a colt. Her breeze was the best breeze in the sale. We bought some nice horses earlier in the sale, but I thought it was the nicest breeze of the sale.”
He continued, “What I really like is the conformation. It was about as close to perfect as you'll find. She doesn't have a lot of family, but that was the reason we thought we could actually afford her. I love the parts. I love the Broken Vow out of a Bernstein mare. I love the Pulpit being in the second dam and Known Fact and Fappiano [being on the page]. The broodmare sires lined up perfectly, which you like seeing and she just had a great mind.”
A colt by Broken Vow topped the sale when selling for $1.2 million during Thursday's session and Zap thought he would have to pay more to take home this daughter of that Pin Oak Stud resident.
“We thought we were going to have to go higher to be honest with you,” Zap remarked after signing the ticket out back. “It's still a lot of money, but a lot less than the $1.2 million one yesterday. She was very playful, but she showed no sign of class leaking out of her in the back ring and that kind of gives you that extra oomph to keep bidding on her.”
Bred by Respite Farm, Hip 1081 was purchased by Summerfield Sales for $70,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November sale and RNA'd for $55,000 10 months later in Lexington. She was consigned here by de Meric Sales.
As for his thoughts on the current market, Zap said, “The market is strong for the right horses. Yesterday proved that with those two colts. There are a lot of sharp buyers in the game, a lot of them. You have [David] Ingordo, both Youngs, Donato [Lanni], Linda Rice has jumped in and a lot of us are on the same horses. It's just perseverance on which one you want more than them and I really wanted this filly. There is just something so straight forward about her. She's just as balanced of a big horse as I've ever seen in my life. That's the bottom line of it, balance and conformation. I'm so happy we got her.”
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