Tristan de Meric

A son of Corniche (hip 473) became the third juvenile to reach seven figures at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale when Susan Montanye signed the ticket at $1 million to acquire the colt on behalf of Lee Ackerley Tuesday. The juvenile will be trained by Steve Asmussen. "Steve Asmussen was here and he watched the breeze and picked this horse out for Mr. Ackerley," Montanye said. "He went back to the track today and called and asked if I would bid on the horse on behalf of them." The bay...

by Jessica Martini and Stefanie Grimm A filly from the first crop of Jackie's Warrior became the second highest-priced juvenile to ever sell at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale when she brought a final bid of $2.3 million and the four-day auction reached its halfway point Wednesday with double-digit gains over its 2025 renewal. Through two sessions, 314 horses have sold for a gross of $50,655,000. The average of $161,322 is up 13.0% from the same point in last year's Spring sale and is up...

Five years ago, Stonehaven Steadings enjoyed one of its biggest days in the sales ring when a colt by Quality Road, co-bred by the Reddoch family's operation, topped the 2021 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring sale on a bid of $1.5 million. The youngster went on to become champion Corniche. Leah and Aidan O'Meara, daughter and son-in-law of the farm's founders Jeff and Chiquita Reddoch, will be back in Ocala next week and dreaming of a similar result when they send a filly by Curlin (hip 800) through the ring...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - With brisk activity at the top of the market, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened Tuesday with a lively day of trade topped by a $1.35-million son of Corniche. The colt was one of three to bring seven figures during the session. The entire 2025 March sale produced seven million-dollar juveniles. "Certainly an excellent day," said OBS president Tom Ventura. "We had a lot of activity in the barns during the week and expected that...

Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has been named the sixth chairman of the board in the history of Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Inc., succeeding Francis Vanlangendonck, who steps down after 35 years on the OBS board. Vanlangendonck had held the position of chairman since 2022, succeeding Mike O'Farrell, who was elected chairman in 2007 and was an OBS board member for nearly 40 years. George Onett was the first chairman in 1975, followed by Harry T. Mangurian, Jr., Norman E. Casse, O'Farrell and Vanlangendonck. Treasurer Nick de Meric...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training had one more seven-figure juvenile up its sleeve with a colt by Tiz the Law bringing a sale-topping $1.5 million during the final session of the four-day auction which concluded with it third straight record average Friday. "We are very appreciative and glad and happy--all of the adjectives you can apply to the week," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said at the close of business Friday. "It was a...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - A colt by Tapit brought the high price of $1 million during a day which featured lively trade at the top of the market at the opening session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Tuesday in Central Florida. A total of 153 juveniles had sold by the end of Tuesday's session for a gross of $19,615,000. The average was $128,203 and the median was $60,000. During last year's opening session, 145 horses had sold by...

When Cary Frommer was first approached by Fasig-Tipton about the concept of a digital 2-year-old in training sale, she was immediately sold. Frommer isn't necessarily known for showcasing the sharpest drills at the breeze-up sales, so when the veteran consignor learned that the horses in the sale would be presented to buyers with a gallop video rather than a timed breeze, she saw this as an opportunity to let her trainees show off their true potential. "I love the idea that you don't have to ship the horses and train...

"It's a really difficult thing, to let go of something that you've spent your whole life building," acknowledges Nick de Meric. "I don't know if 'letting go' is quite the right way to put it. But to actually cut that umbilical cord, it's a leap of faith." The Ocala horseman, who reflected on a colorful past in yesterday's TDN, now turns his attention to the future. For the evolution of a successor program, parallel to his own, makes the de Meric family a particularly pertinent case study for our series...

The island is still there, nearly 50 years later, which would have surprised Nick de Meric at the time. He'd have assumed that there could be nothing left by now. "Because they were basically mining it off the map," he recalls. "It was made of iron ore. So they had these massive Euclid trucks, wheels high as a building. And all these men on shift work, living in long huts. Not quite a prison environment, but it was all-male, tropical heat, nothing to do but drink beer and play cards....

OCALA, FL - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training duly marched through its opening session with a $450,000 son of Hard Spun one of three horses to top the $200,000 mark Tuesday in Ocala. At the close of business Tuesday, 192 juveniles had sold for a gross of $7,110,400. The average of $37,033 was up from the 2022 session's final average of $34,431--which included post-sale transactions--but was down from the end-of-session figure of $38,628. The median of $20,000 dipped from the final figure of $22,000,...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - For the third straight day, the team of Bob Baffert and Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, made the highest bid of the session, this time going to $2.2 million--top price of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training sale so far--to acquire a colt by Gun Runner from the de Meric Sales consignment as the Spring sale continued to produce figures largely in line with its record-setting 2022 renewal. Through three of four...