A total of 713 yearlings have been cataloged for the OBS October Sale, which kicks off a two-day run Tuesday morning in Central Florida.
Based on the foot traffic on the grounds over the last few days, OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski is confident there will be plenty of demand for what is on offer.
“We were very busy Sunday and by Monday afternoon we were busy again, so I feel pretty good about what we've seen traffic-wise,” he said.
October graduates don't get much important than Crimson Advocate (Nyquist), who was purchased by Dew Sweeper II from the consignment of Beth Bayer, agent, for $100,000 last fall and has won two of her three starts to date. A debut third to future GISW Brightwork (Outwork) at Keeneland this past April, the chestnut earned a trip to the Royal Ascot meeting when taking out the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies in May and made the most of the opportunity by posting a 9-1 upset in the G2 Queen Mary S.
As recently as this past weekend, the October Sale was represented by Time Passage (Tunwoo), an $85,000 purchase by trainer Eddie Plesa for his clients Karl and Cathi Glassman, who prevailed in the Miss Gracie S. at Gulfstream Park this past Saturday.
Nothing inspires confidence in a sale than success at the races, said Wojciechowski.
“Absolutely. When you have those sorts of results, it certainly entices a buyer to come in and maybe they can find one like that,” he said.
The October catalog features a diverse cross-section of stallions from Florida, Kentucky and New York, and should have something for everyone, Wojciechowski said.
“More and more we see a better mix of and we also have some of the sire power that has been in favor as of late,” he said. “We have some Mitoles, Complexitys sold well at the previous sales, so the quality of sire continues to grow for us here.
The October Sale comes on the heels of regional events over the past few weeks which posted mixed results year-over-year. At the Fasig-Tipton California sale, which also included a Horses of Racing Age Section, the average was fractionally higher, but the median took a significant dip while one of every three horses was bought back. The average was down slightly during last week's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale, and there remained an uneasiness in the middle market while buybacks also trended a bit higher.
“From the sales standpoint, I think we're going to see what we've seen at the yearling sales this year,” Wojciechowski offered. “The perceived upper end will sell very well and it might get a little thin in some of the middle spots. But there's no reason we should expect something totally different.”
With sessions beginning at 10 a.m. ET, hips 1-338 and supplemental entries hips 339-359 are set to go under the hammer Tuesday, followed by hips 401-739 and supplements 740-755 on Wednesday. Some 37 yearlings were added to the sale after the catalogs were printed.
The Green family's D. J. Stable acquired last year's joint $210,000 toppers, a colt by Mitole and a Filly by The Factor, each bred in Florida.
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