by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm
OCALA, FL – The action picked up noticeably during the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and, with the auction's first seven-figure offering leading the way, figures concluded above 2023 levels Wednesday evening.
“It was an excellent day,” OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said at the close of business Wednesday. “As I said yesterday, there are plenty of good horses left to be sold and obviously that was borne out today. Quality horses sell well and we're fortunate to have a high-quality group of horses here. It was a good day and hopefully we can continue on the next two days.”
During Wednesday's session, 171 horses sold for $25,841,500. The session average was $151,120 and the median was $75,000.
Through two sessions, 324 horses have grossed $46,428,500. Halfway through the four-day auction, the average of $143,298 is up 9.6% from the same point a year ago and the median of $80,000 is up 14.3%.
A filly by Tiz the Law brought the auction's top price so far when selling for $1.9 million to Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. The seven-figure purchase was part of a frenzied day of bidding for Lanni, who signed for six of Wednesday's top 10 purchases for various clients for a total of $5,675,000.
The largely domestic buying bench at the top of the market was interrupted late in the day when Naohiro Sakaguchi went to $925,000 to acquire a colt by Into Mischief from the Scanlon Training & Sales consignment.
“Mr. Sakaguchi is new–that's the first horse he's ever bought,” Wojciechowski said. “So it will be his first racehorse in Japan. We're excited to have them here.”
Despite the lively bidding throughout the day, there was still some polarization in the market, according to consignor David Scanlon.
“It's been a little difficult in spots,” Scanlon said. “You will sell one good and you'll start to feel a little good and then you'll come back and it will humble you a little bit. But we've done good. We bought a couple back, but we sold them after the sale. We sold quite a few just over the reserve, so you have to be pretty decent with the reserves, you can't get too aggressive. For the horses at the upper end, it's very good. At the other end, we still continue to struggle a bit in the lower and middle market. But we are still getting horses sold, so I am happy with it.”
The OBS Spring sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning daily at 10:30 a.m.
$1.9M Tiz the Law Filly to Petersen
A filly from the first crop of GI Belmont S. winner Tiz the Law (hip 365) lived up to the pre-sale hype when bringing a final bid of $1.9 million from bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who was acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. She will be trained by Bob Baffert.
“[Petersen] has had great luck with fillies and Bob loved her,” Lanni said. “We're delighted to have her.”
Among his star fillies–all purchased at 2-year-olds in training sales–Petersen campaigned champion Gamine (Into Mischief), a $1.8-million purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale; and Adare Manor (Uncle Mo), a $375,000 purchase at the 2021 OBS June Sale who captured Saturday's GI Apple Blossom H.; as well as Grade I winner Faiza (Girvin) ($725,000 '22 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May) and multiple graded winner Kinza (Carpe Diem) ($350,000 at '23 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May).
The session topper capped a frenetic few minutes for Lanni, who warmed up for the seven-figure purchase with hip 342, a colt by Nyquist acquired for $675,000 for Frank Fletcher; and hip 351, a colt by Bolt d'Oro for $800,000 acquired for Three Amigos. He concluded his morning buying frenzy with a $925,000 colt by American Pharoah (hip 371) for Fletcher and came back a little later to acquire a colt by Vekoma (hip 411) for $800,000 for Zedan Racing Stable and a colt by Curln (hip 417) for $575,000 for Fletcher.
The Tiz the Law session topper's work last week | Judit Seipert
Hip 365 worked the co-fastest quarter-mile of the auction's under-tack show when she covered the distance in :20 1/5 last Wednesday. She is out of Moonlight Sky (Sky Mesa), a half-sister to champion Abel Tasman (Quality Road) and the dam of Grade I-placed Urban (Quality Road).
Tom McCrocklin purchased the filly on behalf of Jim Tilton for $170,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
“She's a special, special filly,” McCrocklin said. “She showed it in her breeze. We bought her off of her physical conformation. She is out of a half to Abel Tasman, so she has a lot of quality in her pedigree. When we bought her, I didn't know, like all of us. And when she got here, it was effortless. She's very sound with clean vet work. She was amazing in her breeze with a strong gallop-out and she attracted the attention of all the buyers.”
Asked how the filly had changed since he purchased her for $170,000 last fall, McCrocklin said, “She didn't change a lot. She was a beautiful yearling and a beautiful 2-year-old. Just a little bigger and a little taller. But she really didn't change very much.”
McCrocklin has been working with Tilton for several years now and the partnership started out with a bang.
“We've done several horses together, but nothing like this,” McCrocklin said. “He actually owned a part of Ruby Nell (Bolt d'Oro) and that's when I was introduced to him. He owned a quarter of her when we sold her at Gulfstream for $1.2 million, so he got a little taste of blood and came back for more. He loves the action and loves the game. He races and now he pinhooks.”
McCrocklin was typically non-plussed by the big sale Wednesday. Asked how his client had reacted, McCrocklin said with a straight face, “He's probably more stoic than me. So it was a standoff of who would smile first.”
McCrocklin was also responsible for the $800,000 Bolt d'Oro colt, who was purchased for $160,000 on behalf of Michael Sucher's Champion Equine at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale. @JessMartiniTDN
Lanni A Busy Man Wednesday
Agent Donato Lanni, working the pavilion on behalf of several top-end clients Wednesday, kicked things off early and kept the momentum rolling throughout the afternoon during the second session of OBS April. In addition to the $1.9-million session-topping Tiz the Law filly (hip 365) for Michael Lund Petersen, Lanni signed tickets on behalf of Frank Fletcher, Zedan Racing Stable and the Three Amigos.
Donato Lanni | Photos by Z
Fletcher got the action started shortly after the sale began, pairing up a $675,000 Nyquist colt (hip 342) with a colt by American Pharoah (hip 371) for $925,000 and a Curlin colt (hip 417) for $575,000.
Hip 371, consigned by de Meric Sales, Agent XVIII, worked in :10 and was sold as a yearling at FTKOCT last year for $115,000. He is out of a half to the dam of GSW/GISP Merneith (American Pharoah). Breeder D.C. Goff purchased that dam, More Roses, carrying hip 371 in utero for $475,000 at KEENOV in 2021
Lanni, who secured all three colts for Fletcher, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity after signing for hip 371.
“He's a cool horse, we're very happy,” said Lanni. “I'm just fortunate to buy good horses for good people.”
Around the same time, the Three Amigos secured a Bolt d'Oro colt (hip 351), who breezed a quarter-mile in :20.3, for $800,000 from the Tom McCrocklin, Agent XV consignment with Lanni signing the ticket.
Of that purchase, Lanni said: “He's beautiful and he looks like a racehorse. And the sire has done really well.”
Responsible for two of the top three highest-priced colts during Tuesday's opening session, Nyquist continued to be in demand Wednesday when Fletcher went to $675,000 early for hip 342. The colt, a half to GSP Sonic Brees (Maclean's Music), was consigned by Wavertree Stables (Ciaran Dunne). Fletcher and Donato indicated that the trio of colts would wind up in training with Bill Mott.
“He just looked good to us,” said Fletcher after signing the ticket for hip 342. “We like the sire and we're excited to get him. He'll go to Eddie [Woods] for a rest and then to Bill Mott.”
Hip 342, who worked in :10, brought $300,000 as a yearling at Keeneland last September.
“We're excited to get him at that price,” Fletcher continued. “We'll see him [with Mott] hopefully in Kentucky and in New York.”
Later in the afternoon, Sequel Bloodstock, acting as agent for Chester and Mary Broman, sold the colt Rookie Racer (Vekoma) (hip 411) to Lanni (who signed on behalf of Zedan Racing Stable) for $800,000 after he worked in :9.4. Speaking from the back ring, Becky Thomas and Carlos Manresa joined Mr. Broman to celebrate the sale.
“Through the winter, he was a farm favorite,” said Manresa of the colt. “We had a lot of trainers out to the farm and we had nothing but good remarks about him. He's always been a beautiful mover, loves the dirt and we got him in front of pretty much everyone. He's got a beautiful body, beautiful paces and we're really happy with the result. We've got a really good gut feeling about Vekoma.” @SGrimmTDN
Into Mischief Colt Provides Late Bang at OBS
A flashily bred colt by Into Mischief out of multiple Grade I winner Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}) (hip 603) caused late fireworks when selling for $925,000 to Naohiro Sakaguchi. Sakaguchi, making his first-ever racehorse purchase, did his bidding on the colt, the second-to-last horse through the ring Wednesday, alongside trainer Makoto Saito. Through an interpreter, he credited Saito with picking the juvenile out and Saito confirmed the horse will be heading to Japan.
Separationofpowers in the 2018 Test | Sarah Andrew
The bay, who worked a furlong during last week's under-tack show in :9 4/5, was consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales. He was purchased by that operation for $350,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.
“He's just been a real straightforward colt all winter,” David Scanlon said. “At the yearling sale, he was just a little immature, but he had a great hip and a great walk. He looked like a speedy horse, a real 2-year-old. We were really happy to get him.”
Of the colt's progression since last August, Scanlon said, “He came to the farm and he did really well. We took our time with him and he really matured. He is a really level-headed colt who has done everything right. We pointed him to this sale rather than March just to give him a little more time. He breezed great. He's a real honest horse. He gets really low and tries really hard. And he has a super pedigree.”
Saito trained 2014 G1 Japanese Oaks winner Nuovo Record (Jpn) (Hearts Cry {Jpn}) and saddled that filly to an 11th-place finish in the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf before winning the GIII Red Carpet H. a few weeks later.
Oscar Performance Colt to Speedway
Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner's Speedway Stables added a colt by Oscar Performance to its roster when going to $725,000 to acquire hip 477 from the Wavertree Stables consignment Wednesday in Ocala.
“[Bloodstock advisor] Marette [Farrell] did wonderful research on the pedigree and we liked everything on both sides,” said Weiner. “And the speed obviously was important.”
Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner | Photos by Z
The bay colt, a $180,000 Keeneland September purchase, is out of Post Script (Quality Road) and is a full-brother to stakes winner Act a Fool. He is from the family of graded winners Coffee Clique and Admission Office and worked a furlong last week in :9 4/5.
Hip 477 was the third purchase so far for Speedway at the OBS Spring sale. The operation also purchased a filly by Good Magic (hip 16) for $300,000 and a colt by Collected (hip 63) for $310,000.
It was a homecoming for hip 63, who is out of Golden Orb (Orb) and was bred by Speedway. The chestnut sold for $12,000 at last year's Keeneland January sale and again to Tom McCrocklin for $42,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October sale.
“He reminds us of Collected,” Weiner said of the colt. “It's a re-collect,” he added with a laugh.
Racing in the Speedway colors, Collected won the 2017 GI Pacific Classic.
“They do sell their yearlings,” Farrell said. “Peter and K.C. have a mandate that, to be open and honest, every yearling is sold. So it's fair for everyone.”
Of the colt, she added, “He had an amazing breeze. We had lots of conflabs. Do we do this? But it's supporting Collected who is having an amazing run with his progeny and we love him.” @JessMartiniTDN
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