Santa Anita will soon be receiving some high-priced horseflesh following this week's conclusion of the three-day OBS March Sale of 2-year-olds in Training in Ocala, Fla.
The sale-topper was a colt by Good Magic out of the winning Uncle Mo mare Hoppa, who commanded a final bid of $2 million on Tuesday. Agent Donato Lanni signed the ticket for the flashy chestnut on behalf of owner Amr Zedan. He will be sent to trainer Bob Baffert.
Baffert, who was on hand for the sale, was back at Santa Anita on Thursday.
“It was good to see some trainers from California there buying horses, that was important,” Baffert said. “I'm not sure how many horses in all will be coming back here, probably not as many as there were in years past, but it was crucial to see owners and trainers there buying horses.”
Also making a splash at the sale was Southern California-based owners Lee and Susan Searing, who race as C R K Stable. Bidding as Parks Investment, the Searing's purchased three fillies for a total of $1.65 million. With trainer John Shirreffs at their side, the Searing's priciest buy was a $950,000 daughter of Arrogate out of Heart of Paradise, who herself is a graded-stakes winner by More Than Ready.
“She was a very good-looking filly, all rangy, great conformation,” Shirreffs said Friday. “She breezed really well at the show. Just a filly that presented herself realty well all the way around.”
The Searings also paid $375,000 for a filly by Union Rags out of the Malibu Moon mare Winding Way. She is a half sister to the Shirreffs-trained Skinner, who is pointed to the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 8. The Searings' third buy was a filly by Curlin out of the Cee's Tizzy mare Tiz o' Gold, who is a half sister to $2 million-earner Bravazo.
“I think Mr. Searing is always wanting to improve his broodmare band,” Shirreffs said of the focus on fillies.
As for Zedan's sale topper, he was one of two colts at the under-tack show to breeze a furlong in 9.60 seconds, which was the fastest time recorded.
“His breeze was phenomenal,” Baffert said. “He handled it well, came out of it well and looked really healthy. That's the key. It's like the NFL Combine.”
Last year, Zedan also landed the sale topper at the OBS April Sale of 2-year-olds with a final bid of $2.3 million. That colt would be named Arabian Knight. He would go on to romp in his debut at Keeneland on Nov. 5 and then add a win in the G3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park in his 3-year-old bow on Jan. 28. Arabian Knight, who was considered among the favorites for this year's Kentucky Derby, was recently taken out of training with plans to return this summer.
You can expect more high-price purchases from Zedan moving forward. After landing the Good Magic colt in a bidding duel with Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who was the reported underbidder, Zedan offered this warning to the competition:
“Our motto is we stop (bidding) when we own them,” he told Blood-Horse.
Shirreffs said the three Searing fillies are slated to arrive at Santa Anita “within the next week.” He expects they should be ready to race sooner than later.
“It looks like it. They have a great foundation having already worked a few times for the sale,” Shirreffs said. “Hopefully everything goes well and they come along.”
Baffert indicated it could be a bit longer before the sale topper makes the races. Good Magic's first crop of 2-year-olds last year was not particularly precocious, but they have gone on to develop to the point where he now ranks second among the freshman sires of 2022. Only Bolt d'Oro rates higher.
“Some that we bought there we'll back off a little, give them 30 days at the farm,” Baffert said. “Some we'll go on with. But there were a few we think will be better as they get older. We'll just them out here and see how they go.”
The first 2-year-old races of the year in Southern California are slated for the weekend of April 28-30 at Santa Anita.
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