by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis
OCALA, FL – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training produced an additional two seven-figure juveniles during its second session Wednesday, with a filly by Good Magic leading the way when selling for $1.1 million to Sean Flanagan.
Through two of three sessions of the March sale, 269 horses have grossed $39,588,000 for an average of $147,167 and a median of $70,000. Those numbers are down slightly from the end-of-session figures from last year's March sale, which included a $1.5-million session topper who was later reclassified as an RNA, but show an increase in average from OBS's finalized 2024 figures through two sessions. Those final figures show 323 horses grossing $45,835,000 for an average of $141,904 and a median of $70,000.
The action picked up noticeably during the auction's second day Wednesday, with just 31 horses listed as buy-backs at the end of the day. The session's 17.8% buy-back rate lowered the two-day figure to 21.8%.
“The sales seems a lot more positive [Wednesday], some faster times and a little more for the buyers to look after,” said Top Line Sales' Jimbo Gladwell. “It's a good vibe around here and things are going good.”
Through two sessions, Top Line is the sale's leading consignor with 15 head sold–including the $1.1-million topper–for $5,390,000.
Still, consignors continued to see a polarized market during the first juvenile sale of the season.
“We struggled a little the first day, but when you bring up the right horse, you get rewarded,” said David Scanlon.
Eddie Woods, who consigned the day's first seven-figure juvenile, a $1-million son of Independence Hall, said, “It's dodgy to say the least. It's not all roses. For the cheaper horses, forget that. No one there at home at all.”
The number of withdrawn horses also remained high Wednesday. From 544 catalogued lots, a full 200 were scratched before going through the ring.
“It's an early sale,” Scanlon said of the number of outs. “We have other options. So, if you don't get the action you're looking for, and you still believe in your horse, we will live another day. Especially with the first day when you had a bad day with the wind, you feel like maybe I could get a better day and maybe have a better performance.”
The two million-dollar juveniles Wednesday join Tuesday's $1-million session-topping son of Maxfield to bring the total at the auction so far to three. There were four million-dollar horses at the 2024 auction. Through two sessions, 17 horses have sold for $500,000 or more. That figure was 23 at the same point in 2024.
The OBS March sale concludes with a final session Thursday beginning at 11 a.m.
Flanagan Racing Leads Day 2 at OBS With Good Magic Topping Filly
After securing a $650,000 Midshipman colt earlier in Wednesday's session, John Kimmel and Nick Sallusto handling the buying duties on behalf of Flanagan Racing jumped to the front of pack when bidding $1.1 million for Hip 486, a filly by Good Magic. During last Friday's show, the Don Alberto-bred juvenile breezed an eighth in :9 4/5.
Outbid on Tuesday's session-topping Maxfield colt, the Flanagan Racing team was intent on landing Wednesday's top prize, but appeared to be getting close to the cut-off point.
“I guess that was about as far as we were going to go,” admitted trainer John Kimmel, who handled the signing duties on the filly. “These good fillies that breeze well and have the physical that she has, you really have to pay for.”
“Phenomenal. She was the highest graded filly I saw.” Hip 486, a filly by Good Magic consigned by @TopLineTBs, sets the new standard at #OBSMarch selling for $1.1 million to Kimmel & Sallusto for Flanagan Racing. Will head to trainer Danny Gargan. (OBS Photo/Penelope P. Miller) pic.twitter.com/NUff9zsHrY
— OBSSales (@OBSSales) March 12, 2025
Offered at Keeneland last September, the May 7 foal was purchased by Passion for Racing for $275,000. Out of unraced Rose Mine (Street Cry {Ire}), the bay is from the family of champion older mare and GI Breeders' Cup Distaff heroine Escena.
“Phenomenal,” said Kimmel when asked about the purchase. “She was the highest-graded filly I saw. Her physical attributes were something where if you could produce offspring that look like her, she'll be a hell of a broodmare. The thing about her is she has the look of a real quality filly. I've had many good fillies over the years and this filly exudes that kind of quality. Time will tell.”
Making two purchases Wednesday, Flanagan Racing ranked as the Day 2 leading buyer with $1.75 million in gross expenditures.
“We came here strictly looking for colts,” admitted Kimmel with a chuckle when asked what the team was looking for this week.
Kimmel and Sallusto confirmed the filly will be trained by Chad Brown, who also trains MGISW Chancer McPatrick for Sean Flanagan.
“[Flanagan's] good friend [trainer] Danny Gargan highly recommended this filly to Sean Flanagan,” the team said. “Flanagan asked [Sallusto and Kimmel] to consult on the horse and to be there to purchase the horse on his behalf.”
Top Line also enjoyed a banner day Wednesday, leading all consignors with $4.06 million generated from nine head sold. Top Line also sold Hip 343, a colt by Charlatan, for $660,000.
“The Good Magic filly, everyone on the sales grounds loved her,” said Top Line's Jimbo Gladwell. “She's just been a queen. She showed really well down there. We had high hopes, you never know if they're going to go for a million, but we were very happy with the price.”–CBoss
'The Plan is Sayonara:' Independence Hall Colt Stars in Woods Farewell Tour
Longtime Ocala horseman Eddie Woods, who expects to present his final consignment in April, celebrated yet another seven-figure juvenile when a colt from the first crop of Independence Hall (hip 404) was purchased for $1 million by Muir Hut during Wednesday's second session of the OBS March sale. The bay colt is out stakes-placed Orecchiette (Harlan's Holiday) and worked a furlong last week in :9 4/5. He was purchased for $165,000 at last summer's Fasig-Tipton July sale.
“I sold his mother to Eclipse,” Woods said. “She did ok. And I sold a couple out of the second dam for good money. That's what he looked like, all of those strong horses in the second dam. And I just said, 'I am buying him.'”
Hip 404 | OBS Photo
Woods, who has been based in Ocala for over three decades, said his 240-acre training center is under contract, but added, “they are never sold until you get the check. It's going to go through some stuff with the county and you never know how that's going to go.”
Asked what his plan after April will be, Woods said, “The plan is sayonara. I am going to be done. April will be my last sale. After that we will do a bit of consulting, maybe help some people buy some horses. We are going to travel a lot. I want to do a lot of the Southern Hemisphere stuff that we can't do. I don't want to do it in their winter, I want to do it in our winter.”
Reflecting on the changes in the juvenile market that he helped pioneer in Central Florida, Woods said, “This sales business is getting harder and harder because if you don't nail everything, you don't get rewarded. There was a time you could sell horses in the back ring, there is no one buying horses in the back ring right now. Nobody. So you've got to spend more and more to get the horse that you want. That horse right there [hip 404] was the golden touch, but when you get it wrong, like the one I sold today for $75,000, we gave $250,000 for him. He came up with some issues, but he's a beautiful-looking horse.”
Plans for the farm have yet to be finalized, according to Woods.
“I am not quite sure. It could stay as a training center or it could go on and be developed into, as the guy said, Ralph Lauren barns with even bigger houses,” Woods said. “That's the way this town is going with WEC [World Equestrian Center] and everything like that. Everywhere you drive around, there is a really nice show ring.”
Asked what he will miss most about the sales scene, Woods had a quick answer and a big smile.
“Selling a million-dollar horse,” he said.
Of his latest seven-figure juvenile, Woods said, “The best thing about him is the way he looks and his video is awesome.”
The colt is one of two by multiple graded winner Independence Hall (Constitution) that Woods will send through the ring this year.
“They are good looking and they are really good minded,” he said of the pair. “And they act like they are quick.”
After selling Wednesday, hip 404 will head to the West Coast barn of trainer Mark Glatt.
“He had an excellent breeze and the horse really presented himself back at the barn well,” Glatt said. “He is just a really athletic horse.”
Asked about buying a colt by a first-crop sire, Glatt admitted, “It makes me really nervous because you never know which way they are going to go, but we looked up [Independence Hall]'s numbers and he ran very, very fast. He was consistently fast in all of his races. At these 2-year-old sales, you are here to buy the best athlete you possibly can. And we just thought he was an athlete. Certainly, you look at the pedigree, but we are here to buy what we think are the best athletes.” @JessMartiniTDN
Sallusto/Kimmel Mining for Another Chancer McPatrick at OBS
At OBS last April, advisors Nick Sallusto and John Kimmel landed on a colt by McKinzie out of the Bernardini mare Bernadreamy. Ultimately purchased for Flanagan Racing for $725,000, the colt, later named Chancer McPatrick, won his first three starts under the guidance of Chad Brown, including the GI Champagne and GI Hopeful Stakes.
Fast forward to Wednesday's second OBS March session, the duo was back in action, securing Hip 325, a colt by Midshipman, for Sean Flanagan, this time extending to $650,000.
Consigned by Caliente Thoroughbreds, the chestnut worked a session-topping quarter mile in :20 2/5 last Friday.
“We come here primarily for performance-based horses and his performance was arguably as good or better than anybody in the sale for us personally,” said Sallusto. “We thought he'd be a great horse that would be very effective this summer. As easily as he performed in his breeze, we thought he had a chance to carry his speed quite a way. We don't feel he's just one-dimensional.”
The Mar. 26 foal is out of Meetmeonline, a half-sister to GSW and sire Bucchero. This is also the family of MGISW World of Trouble.
“We try and buy those bigger pedigreed horses that are athletic as yearlings, and we would still like to buy the pedigrees here that also have the performance, but the performance is mainly come to the 2-year-old sales for. If you can get all of that, it usually costs a bit more,” Sallusto explained.
Chancer McPatrick ultimately lost out to GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull for a divisional title, and recently made his 2025 debut, finishing runner-up in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby last weekend.
Hip 325 | OBS Photo
“[Chancer McPatrick] was a little bit different because he had more of a two-turn pedigree and stood over a bit more ground and was a bit more stretchy,” recalled Sallusto. “He had what I considered to be the top work in the sale. It's a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle putting it all together [from year-to-year]. He's was an absolutely smashing -looking horse and mentally, he's as good a horse as I have ever been around. So he has given us the right feel.”–CBoss
Cox Extends to $660K for Charlatan Colt
Midway through Wednesday's session, trainer Brad Cox stepped in to secure Hip 343, a colt by freshman sire Charlatan, for $660,000. Signing on behalf of Prime Bloodstock, Cox was impressed by the Top Line Sales-consigned colt.
“He's just a powerhouse,” said Cox. “He's a very good-looking colt. I looked at him walk down the row for me a couple times and from what I could tell he has a pretty good mind. We're excited about marching forward with him.”
During last week's breeze show, the son of stakes-winner Miss Interpret (Street Sense) covered an eighth in :10 flat. This represents the family of MGISW Paulassilverlining.
“He's a beautiful colt, obviously had a very fast work and he has some pedigree that suggests he'll stretch out,” explained Cox. “And we're hopeful he can in time.”
Cox added, “He obviously comes from a very good consignor that we've had luck with in the past with the likes of [GISW] Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming) and [GSW] Key of Life (Mo Town), we hope we can continue with this horse.”
Top Line's Torie Gladwell said, “[The price] was higher than we thought. There were the right people on him but you never know when you get a horse like that who is going end up with them.”
In regard to Hill 'n' Dale's freshman stallion, Gladwell added, “He's just a man. We have quite a few Charlatans on the farm and he stacks up right there with the best of them. He just does everything right. He's so cool and laid back. Great horse, they're going to love him in the barn.”--CBoss
'The Racing Part is Fun:' Lee Ackerley Gets Back in the Game
Lee Ackerley and his brother Bob steadily built up a large racing stable and broodmare band over a couple of decades before scaling back some 20 years ago, but Lee got back in the game in a big way Tuesday in Ocala, buying four juveniles for $1.175 million during the first session of the OBS March sale.
“We got in in the early '90s. We started claiming horses,” Ackerley said. “Then we hooked up with Steve Asmussen. He got some horses for us. We ran in Texas. We met Todd Pletcher and he picked out Jersey Girl for us. Steve picked out Valid Expectations. We got up to about 150 horses by the early 2000s. Then we started cutting back. We just have a few mares left.”
The Ackerley brothers helped both trainers kick off Hall of Fame careers. Jersey Girl (Belong to Me), a $220,000 purchase at the 1997 Fasig-Tipton Florida sale, went on to become Pletcher's first Grade I winner when she won the GI Test Stakes, GI Acorn Stakes and GI Mother Goose Stakes in 1998.
Valid Expectations, acquired for $225,000 at the 1995 OBS March sale, was a two-time graded winner for Asmussen the following year.
“The whole fun of it was buying 2-year-olds,” Ackerley said. “That was the most fun. Jersey Girl was a 2-year-old, Valid Expectations was a 2-year-old. Business has done well over the past decade and I wanted to get back in it. That's the whole story.”
When Ackerley, who is co-founder and director of the Texas-based electronic component distributor Smith, decided to get back in the 2-year-old game, he called on those familiar names. And he let them do their thing.
“I have long since learned, these guys are great,” Ackerley said of the two trainers. “They are both Hall of Fame trainers. I trust them implicitly to pick out horses and to train them, do the whole thing. I just give them an amount. I told them I was looking for runners.”
During Tuesday's session of the March sale, Ackerley purchased a daughter of Vekoma (hip 65) for $425,000; a filly by Charlatan (hip 40) for $400,000; a colt by Violence (hip 208) for $200,000; and a colt by Charlatan (hip 50) for $150,000. During Wednesday's session, Ackerley added a colt by Beau Liam (hip 457) for $300,000.
“Great,” Ackerley said when asked what he thought of the quartet. “I watched the workouts. They looked great. But the main thing that matters is that Todd and Steve liked them. And if they like them, I like them.”
Ackerley expects to continue shopping throughout the juvenile sales this spring.
“I'd like a fun stable, 10 to 15 horses,” he said. “In the past we raced them, we bred them, we did all of it. This time, I am just looking to run them. No breeding. I want to race them and that is absolutely the fun part of the game. I've been through all of the other stuff. It's not for me. The racing part is fun.” @JessMartiniTDN
Hip 536 | OBS Photo
SCANLON CAPITALIZES ON UPSTART UPSWING
536 colt Upstart Sister Marette $500,000
Consigned by Scanlon Training & Sales, Agent V
Purchased by Hideyuki Mori
Dave Scanlon and team were able to acquire this colt by Upstart for $90,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale in Saratoga.
“He had a great body, but he was really young and immature,” Scanlon said of his impressions of the yearling. “He had a big hip on him and a beautiful walk. He just had that look. He was the total package of a horse who looked like he was going to be fast.”
Scanlon admitted he had hoped to get the yearling for slightly less than he ended up paying.
“I actually thought because he was immature, I might be able to get him for a little less. But I think because he looked so fast, he attracted a lot of pinhookers. So I was thinking maybe we can get this horse for $50,000 or $60,000 or $75,000, but there were other pinhookers on him and we ended up giving $90,000. We were probably getting near the end of our budget.”
The colt, who is out of Sister Marette (Cuvee) is a half to stakes-placed Taoiseach (Dublin). He worked a furlong last week in :9 4/5.
“He turned out even better than we thought,” Scanlon said. “He always looked fast. But he just grew up. He was one of my favorite horses to be around. He was just so classy. He never had a bad day.”
The colt was helped in the ring Wednesday by the recent exploits of his sire Upstart.
“At the time, Upstart was doing ok,” Scanlon said. “But since then, he's had some really good horses. And I think we've seen a few of them here bring $300,000s. So I think Upstart is having a bit of a surge right now, too.”
Of Wednesday's result, Scanlon said, “I came in here thinking, we gave $90,000, if we get $250,000 that's a great day's work. Then I was getting a little excited. I thought I might get $300,000. I didn't really count on $500,000. So I am pretty happy.” @JessMartiniTDN
The post ‘A Good Vibe’; $1.1-Million Good Magic Filly Tops OBS March Sale Wednesday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
