2-Year-Old Sales | Horse Racing Free Tips

$1.5-Million Not This Time Colt on Top as Action Ticks up at OBS March

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis

OCALA, FL – With a pair of colts topping the seven-figure mark, the tempo picked up during the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Wednesday. With 144 horses sold Wednesday for $25,488,000, the session average was $177,000–up 6.2% from last year's corresponding session–and the median of $87,500 declined 2.8% from a year ago. The buy-back rate was 31.8%.

“I thought it was a very good session,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “It felt like there was activity all through the day at all levels. The numbers bear that out. It felt really good today.”

Through the first two days of the three-day auction, 307 horses have grossed $47,164,000. The average of $153,629 is down 2.2% from last year's corresponding figure and the median is down 11.8% to $75,000. The cumulative buy-back at the end of Wednesday's session was 26.7%. It was 27.3% at the close of the second session last year.

Trainer Jose D'Angelo made the highest bid of Wednesday's session when going to $1.5 million to acquire a colt by Not This Time. Earlier in the session, Ramiro Restrepo of Marquee Bloodstock went to $1.3 million to acquire a colt by Flatter. With that colt to be trained by Gustavo Delgado, both million-dollar juveniles will be kept in training with Florida-based trainers.

“It's exciting for the future of Florida racing,” Wojciechowski said.

With one session still to come, this year's OBS March sale has now produced three seven-figure juveniles. The entire 2023 sale had five 2-year-olds reach that threshold.

A total of 23 horses have sold for $500,000 or more through two sessions, compared to 14 to reach that level at the same point last year.

The OBS March sale concludes with a final session Thursday beginning at 11 a.m.

D'Angelo Looking for More Time

Jose D'Angelo, who has a colt on the GI Kentucky Derby trail with Morplay Racing's No More Time (Not This Time), was already looking ahead to next year's Triple Crown chase when he purchased another colt by Not This time for $1.5 million in Ocala Wednesday. D'Angelo said he purchased the colt for a partnership of owners, which includes Morplay's Rich Mendez. Mendez had partnered with Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo to purchase the colt for $900,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

Jose D'Angelo | Photos by Z

“I train No More Time, so we were looking at another son of Not This Time,” D'Angelo said after signing the ticket on hip 533 in the name of Pro Racing Stable. “He had an amazing work with a nice gallop out. And he looked mentally very focused. We are on the way to the Derby with No More Time. And I spoke with all of the owners and I told them this was a good opportunity to get a good horse for racing next year. Rich Mendez owns No More Time and I train horses for him. So hopefully we can replay this story next year with another son of Not This Time.”

Consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, the colt is out of Pammy Whammy (War Front) and is a half-brother to stakes-placed Pammy's Ready (More Than Ready). He worked a furlong last week in :9 4/5.

Mendez was standing next to Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo when the pinhookers acquired the colt at last year's Saratoga sale.

“We paid a lot of money for him at the yearling sale,” Hartley said. “We thought he was a beautiful horse at Saratoga. We took a shot and brought him here and he worked beautiful. It is bittersweet because we loved the colt so much. We wanted to hang on, but we're here to sell horses.”

Of the colt's final price, Hartley said, “The sale has been all or nothing, so we figured it was going to be really big or nothing. Jose got the colt and we are so proud of him because he also trains some for us, too. He has our horse [No More Time] that we're headed to the Derby with, too. There are a bunch of his people that just love Not This Time, so they made a deal together. We hope they can be successful.”

A native of Venezuela, D'Angelo has been training in the U.S. for five years now. He works alongside his father, who was a champion trainer in their native country.

“I arrived in the U.S. in 2019 and in 2020, I got Jesus' Dream, who brought me to the Breeders' Cup and the Preakness S. and Dubai World Cup and Pegasus World Cup. He put me on the map.”

D'Angelo hopes No More Time will help continue his career's upward trajectory. The sophomore won the GIII Sam F. Davis S. in February and was second last week in the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby.

“This is the first year with my babies,” he said. “I am very happy and I feel blessed. Probably next year we will have better babies.”

Hip 533 | Photos by Z/Joe DiOrio

As for plans for his newest Not This Time colt, D'Angelo said, “We will let him decompress for 15 days on the farm and later we will send him to Palm Meadows where I am getting all my babies. We will prep him for Keeneland or Saratoga. We don't know how early he can go, we are just going to do whatever is best for him and see what happens.” @JessMartiniTDN

Flatter Colt Lights Up OBS

A colt by Flatter (hip 494) became the second seven-figure juvenile of the March sale when bringing a final bid of $1.3 million from bloodstock agent Ramiro Restrepo. Restrepo, who signed for the colt in the name of his Marquee Bloodstock, said he had purchased the colt on behalf of a group of international partners, including Gustavo Delgado, who will train the youngster. Delgado has already had success with offspring of Flatter. The stallion is the sire of Paola Queen, who won the 2016 GI Test S. for the trainer.

Hip 494 | ThoroStride

The dark bay colt, who worked a furlong in :9 4/5 during last week's under-tack show, is out of Napier (Midnight Lute), a half-sister to Grade I winner Obligatory (Curlin). He was consigned by Sequel Bloodstock on behalf of his breeder, Gentry Stable.

“The family, with the dam being a half-sister to Obligatory, it's four generations of Juddmonte,” Restrepo said. “You have to respect that type of breeding program. So this is a horse that, if he goes on to do what you buy these kind of horses to do, eventually he will be a sire. He has that kind of female family supporting him.”

Delgado and his son and assistant Gustavo, Jr., as well as Restrepo hit the big stage with a partnership which tasted victory with Mage in last year's GI Kentucky Derby.

The younger Delgado has plenty of optimism for this newest acquisition.

“Gustavo Delgado, Jr. was with me at the sale and he loved the horse so much and was crucial in getting this done,” Restrepo said.

Of the partnership, Restrepo added, “The group is going to be comprised of several partners, both domestic and international. I was just in the Middle East for the G1 Saudi Cup and Super Saturday [at Meydan] and met with some interesting clients over there. So this will be another interesting hodge-podge mix of characters into this gumbo and we are always open to bringing other partners into this group. It's never one locked-up team. With are using a the-more-the-merrier approach. We will race together and hopefully celebrate together.” @JessMartiniTDN

Chasanoff's Audible Pays Off

Robert Chasanoff of Gentry Stable typically sells his foals as yearlings, but the breeder decided to hold back a Flatter colt last year and the decision paid dividends Wednesday in Ocala when the juvenile, consigned by Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock, sold for $1.3 million to Ramiro Restrepo's Marquee Bloodstock.

Robert Chasanoff with daughter, Carlos Manresa, Becky Thomas, Ramiro Restrepo, and Tom Bozarth | Photos by Z

“Becky has been raving about the horse in her own low key way,” Chasanoff said after watching the colt go through the ring. “Obviously, the horse has done really well. He worked so well and we had just positive feedback. I thought he would sell well, but he exceeded my expectations. But he has exceeded my expectations every step of the way since he's been a foal.”

The colt is out of Napier (Midnight Lute), a half-sister to Grade I winner Obligatory (Curlin). The mare was purchased by Chasanoff's bloodstock advisor Tom Bozarth for $130,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November sale.

“I only have three broodmares and I typically sell my yearlings,” Chasanoff said. “We liked this horse enough to keep him back. He was a little immature and I didn't think we would get full value. I thought, well I haven't trained one in a while, maybe I will send him to Becky and we will train him or race him. The next thing I knew, he was in the sale.”

Chasanoff looked at Thomas and said with a laugh, “She thought he was too good for me.”

Chasanoff gave credit for Wednesday's success to the entire team surrounding the colt.

“Tom Bozarth is responsible for all my matings and he has been for 25 years,” he said. “All of my success is thanks to Tom. The colt was raised by Mike Owens at Cobra Farm, and of course Becky. Becky took him from being just a nice horse to that. It was all Carlos [Manresa] and Becky and the team at Sequel. I couldn't say enough about them.”

Napier, who RNA'd for $285,000 at the 2022 Keeneland November sale, has a yearling colt by Maxfield and was bred back Wednesday as her 2-year-old prepared to go through the sales ring in Ocala.

“She is being bred today to Elite Power,” Chasanoff said.

Of the sale result, he added, “I am gratified beyond all reasonable expectation. When you do business with Tom Bozarth or Becky and Carlos, good things will happen. That will be the best comment I could make.” @JessMartiniTDN

Nyquist Filly to Casse, Eventually

A filly by Nyquist (hip 304) jumped to the lead early in the second session of the OBS March sale Wednesday when selling to bloodstock agent Justin Casse, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed client, for $750,000. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, the juvenile is out of High Heeled Girl (Malibu Moon), a daughter of Grade I placed High Heeled Hope (Salt Lake) and a half-sister to graded winners Lady T N T (Justin Phillip) and Sweet Hope (Lemon Drop Kid).

Hip 304 | Photos by Z

“I love the sire,” Casse said of the filly's appeal. “And I think she was a beautiful physical. She'd catch your eye just walking by. She was just that type. And then what she did on the track was very special as well. She put in a very good time and she's an excellent mover and she did it right.”

The filly worked a furlong in :9 4/5 at last week's under-tack preview.

“I don't know which trainer she is going to,” Casse said. “She doesn't seem like the type that needs any time. She could probably go right on. She looks like a promising 2-year-old type. But as of this moment, there are no plans.”

The chestnut filly was originally led out of the ring at $850,000, but after some confusion and much discussion, she was ultimately sold for $750,000.

“I am not entirely sure what happened,” Casse said. “It looked like basically a bid might have been taken that was supposed to be lower than what they were put in at–it looked like somebody was put in at $800,000 and they were trying to be $775,000. I think there was a bit of that. That was my take, from what I could tell. We are very happy to have the horse at the end of the day at that number after the dust had settled.”

Also unsure how the kerfuffle had occurred, Wavertree's Ciaran Dunne said, “I haven't had time to go and talk to OBS and see what actually did happen. Unfortunately, you have to make game time decisions and we couldn't sit around, we had to make a decision and we made the decision to go ahead and sell her. We probably would have been very happy without the shenanigans and when the check arrives, we will probably forget about the shenanigans and be happy again.”

The filly was purchased by the Red Wings pinhooking partnership of Paul Reddam, who campaigned her GI Kentucky Derby-winning sire, and Dunne for $250,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“She's by a stallion, for us, that is probably one of the top stallions in the country,” Dunne said. “I think he's an amazing stallion–dirt, long, short, it doesn't matter. They are horses that are great to train. We have been fortunate to be around enough of them because to our connection with Mr. Reddam. So he's always a stallion who is high on the radar for us. Physically, I thought she was as good a filly as you're going to get. Great shape, great hind end on her, moved good, and she did everything we wanted her to do on the racetrack.”

Later in the session, Wavertree sold a colt from the first crop of graded stakes winner Shancelot (hip 421) for $650,000 to Bill Childs. The juvenile, who worked a furlong last week in :9 4/5, was purchased by Dunne's Waves Bloodstock partnership for $130,000 at Keeneland last September.

Hip 421 | Photos by Z

“He brought all a Shancelot was ever going to bring,” Dunne said. “He was a beautiful colt when we bought him, so it wasn't rocket science. He matured just as you would want him to and he performed on the racetrack. I think he brought as much as a first-season stallion people probably forgotten was at stud could bring.”

The speedy Shancelot won the 2019 GII Amsterdam S. and was second in that year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, but questions surrounded him as he began his stud career when his trainer Jorge Navarro was sentenced to five years in prison for employing performance-enhancing drugs.

Asked if there were any concerns about buying a six-figure yearling by the stallion last fall, Dunne said, “Maybe I am naive, but we've been doing this a long time and I'm not sure that anybody has ever come up with anything that can make one go faster than it is. I remember seeing that horse win at Saratoga and I was blown away.” @JessMartiniTDN

One and Done for Speedway

Peter and Ann Fluor and Kane Weiner's Speedway Stables don't depend on numbers when attending the season's biggest sales. But what they lack in quantity they more than make up for in quality, and employed that formula again Wednesday when landing Hip 445, a colt by Mitole, for $725,000. Peter Fluor handled the bidding duties for the dark bay, who was the sole purchase for the team through the first two days of the sale.

Hip 445 | Photos by Z

“It was a little beyond where we had hoped he'd be. We are aware of the fact it is usually all or nothing,” admitted agent Marette Farrell. “We didn't want to pay any more, but we are happy to get the horses. We had to stretch a little bit, but we were at the tipping point.”

Consigned by Eddie Woods, the son of Midnight Magic (Midnight Lute) breezed :9.4 during Friday's breeze session. The Florida-bred colt is a half-brother to GIII Delaware Oaks winner Midnight Stroll (Not This Time) and stakes-placed Atthecrossroads (Practical Joke). Midnight Magic is a half-sister to Grade III winner Coalport (Kitten's Joy), in addition to French listed winner Jolly Good Kitten (Kitten's Joy).

“He had a flawless breeze and we just loved his gallop out,” recalled Farrell. “An obvious selling point was that he was by Mitole, who was the champion first-season sire last year. However, what we really liked about this particular colt was the way he was built. He had more Midnight Lute in him, more stretch and more length. [Trainer] John and Tonya Terranova train [GSW Midnight Stroll], so we were aware of that.”

According to Farrell, the $250,000 OBS October purchase will ultimately head to Bob Baffert.

“We hope he will be a Del Mar horse,” she said.

In addition to the obvious talent witnessed on the track last week, Farrell also pointed to some of the more intangible factors that went into pursuing the colt.

“It was the class of the horse. We went back after we bought him and there he was, head out of the stall eating hay and very calm. I love that too,” explained Farrell. “Angela [Woods] told us he's a highly intelligent horse and every day when they clean his stall, he's back on the clean part of the shavings laying down. To me, growing up in Ireland, that was something that was really important. The really good horses really take care of themselves and are easy on themselves mentally.”

She continued, “When they go to the next level, it's stress 24/7. They go into a tense environment every morning. So if they can zone out and chill, I think they are easy on themselves mentally and physically as a result.”

From limited 2-year-old purchases over the past few years, Speedway has unearthed a handful of gold nuggets at OBS, most notably GI Pacific Classic scorer Collected (City Zip), a $170,000 OBS March buy in 2015, and juvenile champion Corniche (Quality Road), secured for $1.5 million at the OBS Spring sale in 2021. Both colts were trained by Baffert for the majority of their careers.

“I feel really comfortable at the 2-year-old sales,” she said. “We have a great team here. At the yearling sales, sometimes it feels like 'pin the tail on the donkey'. You just don't have as much information to go by. But at the juvenile sales, there are a lot more factors to consider. And I really find that fun.”–@CBossTDN

Strong Showing for Woods at OBS

Eddie Woods usually can be counted on to come well armed to the OBS sales and this season was no different. Highlighting his consignment on the second day of the sale, the Woods team was headed by Hip 445, a colt by Mitole who realized a $725,000 final bid from Speedway Stables. Woods purchased the colt for a sale topping $250,000 at OBS last October. Also during Day 2 of the sale, Woods sold Hip 499, a filly by Twirling Candy, for $600,000 and Hip 348, a Florida-bred colt by the Lane's End sire for $550,000. Rounding out his top sales of the session was Hip 395, a $400,000 colt by freshman sire Improbable.

From 10 horses offered Wednesday, Woods got nine of the sold, with eight realizing over $200,000.

Eddie Woods | Photos by Z

“I thought he'd sell really well, but I didn't really think he'd bring over $700,000,” admitted Woods on the sale of his session topper. “We paid well for him in the beginning because he was a really good-looking yearling. He just kept getting better all winter. He stayed together and vetted well. He worked fantastic even though he worked on his wrong lead, which was a surprise because he's never put a foot wrong. But that's the way it goes. He's magnificent looking and I think he has a chance to be a really top-end horse.”

Weighing in the colt's dam, Midnight Magic (Midnight Lute), Woods added, “He's out of a good mare. I tried to buy the sister [GSW Midnight Stroll] a couple of years ago, but Tonya Terranova outbid me for her and she went on to become a graded stakes horse for them. And these horses were similar. The Midnight Lute is a big influence on that whole family.”

At this venue last year, the Woods consignment was headed by the Twirling Candy colt Top Conor, who brought $1-million from Sean Flanagan. The colt, who was the co-fourth highest priced at this venue last season, broke his maiden for Chad Brown at Gulfstream Park Feb. 17 and is targeting the GII Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Apr. 6.

Asked about his apparent affinity with the sire, Woods explained, “I've been lucky with Twirling Candy. We also had a beautiful-looking horse sell here for $550,000 here today. I actually thought he would bring a little bit more because Twirling Candy is a bit more accomplished [than Mitole] at this point. We also had a filly bring $600,000 and she was just an athlete. She was an oil painting. She did just everything right.”

However, even with the stars aligning and all the pieces falling exactly into place, Woods was quick to point out the common theme in the juvenile sales market.

“If they are good they'll give you all you need from them, but if they're not, you'll be holding on to your hat.” —@CBossTDN

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HISA Not Positioned to Police Sales

The case of Jeffrey Englehart, who bought a horse at an OBS 2-Year-Old sale in June who had given Clenbuterol sometime before being purchased by Englehart, has renewed questions about the role of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and whether or not it would be in the sport's best interest for it to expand its jurisdiction to cover sales as well as racing. Currently, HISA has no authority over a horse until it has its first recorded public workout, which is when it becomes a “covered” horse. HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus doesn't see that changing any time soon.

“There is a little bit of a misunderstanding about what HISA's authority is in this regard,” she said. “We can only do what the statute allows us to do and right now the statute specifically provides that a horse becomes a covered horse upon its first workout. We would have to ask for a legislative change if we wanted to change the scope of that jurisdiction, which would be a heavy lift and not something we'd probably go to Congress and try to do right now.”

Lazarus stresses that the sales companies should use every resource available to them to make sure that sellers are not using drugs that might enhance the value of a horse being sold.

Lazarus said she has had discussions with the heads of the sport's three largest sales companies–Keeneland, OBS and Fasig-Tipton–and asked that they work together to come up with unified rules that mirror those already in place by HISA for covered horses.

“HISA did convene a meeting with all the sales companies in October,” she said. “We all got together in a room and discussed the fact that it made sense to get on the same page. We would hope that there would be was a logical protective flow from weanling to retirement that makes sense. It doesn't have to be the same program for every stage of a horse's life, but it needs to be sensible and consistent and all fit together. There was wide agreement with all the sales companies that this was an important initiative and they said they would work towards it. They've been working really hard on coming up with an aligned agreement.”

Lazarus said that if there is still a reason to suspect that some horses are slipping through the cracks at the sales, HISA might take another look at getting legislation that would allow it to categorize a horse as covered at some time prior to its first official workout.

“I trust that the sales companies are going to be able to do this on their own and that we won't need to take a stricter view,” she said. “If for some reason that doesn't happen, we would definitely, over time, look at that and consider our options. Once a horse comes into the HISA program and is our responsibility we do everything we possibly can to protect it. But not having a window into what has happened with the horse before they become a covered horse can be challenging. That's why we are working towards this aligned system where everything is really clear and the sales companies are all doing the same thing. If that is a fit with HISA's program, that would be really beneficial for the industry.

“The way to move the sport forward is to have more consistent and stricter regulations throughout a horse's life. Based on my experience since HISA's inception, that is most effectively done when the stakeholders come to the table and are willing participants. You come up with a much stronger program when you have everyone buy in. I am working every day to earn the trust of horsemen and earn the trust of the racetracks. If I could get sales companies on board and make changes that make a lot of sense, that would mean we would have a much better chance of being successful right out of the gate. I really believe that's where we need to end up. But I also believe that given where we are and given the commitments I have received from the sales companies, we'll be able to do that without having to legislate or change HISA's jurisdiction.”

Englehart was notified that a horse under his care had been found to have Clenbuterol in its system when it was tested by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) after it broke down in a workout at Finger Lakes in November. The positive was the result of a hair test and the infraction was made public on the HIWU website. Englehart faced a suspension of up to two years.

Englehart insisted he never gave the horse the drug and that it had to be given to the horse before he bought it at Ocala. The original HIWU test was a standard hair test. Tests known as segmented hair test can pinpoint when a drug was given to a horse and Englehart pushed for the horse to undergo that type of test. HIWU had the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California, Davis perform the segmented test and it revealed that the Clenbuterol was in fact administered before Englehart became the trainer. All charges against Englehart were then dropped.

Lazarus admitted that the Englehart matter could have been handled better.

“There was an initial matter that we had to flag because something was found in the horse,” she said. “But we should not be holding the trainer responsible if that substance went into the horse before he or she was responsible for it. One thing we are going to change, we are not going to make a positive test from hair public until a B sample comes back.

“The only way we failed Mr. Englehart in this case was the public announcement of his violation. He didn't have any suspension and there were no repercussions from a sanctions standpoint. There was nothing in place until the system concluded, but the public did know about it. It would be different if Clenbuterol were found in the blood or urine. We know how long Clenbuterol can stay in blood and urine. So if there is a Clenbuterol finding in blood or urine there would be no ambiguity unless the trainer got the horse the day before or within a week. With hair testing we can find things going back six months and even a year sometimes.”

“What I really hope is that this situation shows the public and the racing industry that HISA is always going to do what's right. We are going to follow the science and we are going to follow the facts. We are giving Mr. Englehart the money back that he spent for the B sample. He is going to be made entirely whole. As I said, the one thing I would do differently is not to have made this public from the outset. This is the first case we've had of this nature and I've always said there will be things that we learn along the way that we didn't foresee and that we have to adjust.”

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De Meric’s Odyssey Brings Him ‘Home’ To Horses

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. A lot of these guys would have a cooler beside them while driving these huge trucks on night shift. So there were accidents. Some that drove over cliffs. Most of them, if they weren't already, were on the way to becoming alcoholics. Either running away from bad marriages, or from the law. They all had a story.”

This young Englishman was still in the early chapters of his own tale, one that would eventually bring him into our community as one of the most respected horsemen in Ocala. Back then, however, the Australian toughs working Koolan Island (next stop Indonesia) must have found him an object of some curiosity.

How did he get here? Well, horses had already long captured his imagination. Back in England, he'd shown ponies as a boy, moved onto eventing and steeplechasing, worked in racing yards. He'd passed up a university place to read English and Philosophy to make a first trip to Australia, working on a cattle ranch; went home to dabble in journalism; then a stint in agricultural college. At one point he exercised horses over the ancient gallops of Salisbury Plain for one of the great throwbacks of the English Turf. As somewhat of “a rebel and a wanderer,” however, de Meric was soon resuming his travels, returning Down Under to work a couple of years under Tommy Smith.

“A great trainer,” de Meric recalls. “Very much in the Woody Stephens, Jack Van Berg school. He would chew a few of them up, but when he found a good one, nothing was too good for them. And there were some great horses in the stable at the time. So that was a really good education.”

But the routine was numbing: up at 3 a.m., all the usual chores but also hours at the walk, riding and leading, round city blocks, in the mornings and then bareback in the afternoons. Or vanning over to Mascot Bay to swim them–behind a rowing boat.

“So picture this,” de Meric says. “Your legs are over the back of the boat and you've a shank in your hand, and there's a guy behind you rowing. A lot of horses, the first time they swim, they say, 'I'm not going in there. I'm not going there. Okay, I'm going.' And they practically get in the boat with you.

“One time a filly got loose and disappeared into the mangrove swamps. They found her two weeks later, standing there with her head down, covered in crab bites and sores. Dehydrated, but alive. And actually I think she was able to race again.”

Next de Meric bought an old car and drove up the coast with a pal. “We followed this little road through the rainforest, and it opened up onto a massive beach, just miles and miles of sand,” he recalls. “And we were like, 'Yee-hah!' And we're doing 'donuts' over the sand. Well, guess what? The car gets slower and slower, until eventually it sinks up to the hubcaps. And then suddenly that huge beach starts to get smaller and smaller, as the tide came in. I remember standing on the roof of the car, saying, 'We need to get our s*** out of here.' So we threw what we could into a backpack, waded ashore, and hitchhiked the rest of the way to Cairns.”

After staying there for a few months, de Meric traveled down to Perth where he was hired to work on Koolan Island, climbing giddy poles with a line-belt and handing kit to the electricians working on the power cables. But none of these hard-drinking men around him seemed to notice that they were surrounded by a dazzling marine environment. The one exception was a chef from New Zealand.

Courtesy Nick de Meric

“So we found this old catamaran, and spent three months fixing it up,” de Meric explains. “What was cool is that everybody on the island got a bit interested in what we were doing. So on night shift, the welders would make us a little bracket for the motor, the mechanics overhauled the motor, the carpenters helped fabricate new rudders. And then we took off, up the coast. Our grand plan was to cross the Timor Sea and island hop up the Indonesian chain to Thailand.”

At the time, it wasn't even charted: just countless little islands and reefs, with 35-foot tides rushing in between and 20-knot currents. They put in at a tiny settlement on stilts, where Japanese merchants hired Thursday Islanders to dive for pearls. Three days out from this last outpost of civilization, they anchored off one of these tiny islands.

“And in the middle of the night we got hit by what they call a cockeyed bob, like a mini-hurricane,” de Meric says. “We fought this thing for three hours and finally drove the boat onto the reef. And when the tide went out, here we are high and dry. It's the right way up, but it's got holes all through the bottom.”

At least they had plenty to salvage: rice, flour, firearms, fishing tackle, not to mention plenty of wine and whiskey. They dragged it all up the beach, made a tent fly of the sail, and made camp. His buddy, remember, was a chef. So that was something, and they fished every night. When sharks started hauling off fish and fishing tackle combined, they switched to a meat hook and caught shark instead.

De Meric's island 'home' | Courtesy Nick de Meric

“Just barely edible, but Graham was good,” de Meric recalls. “The problem we did have was water. There was no fresh water, and our supply was diminishing. We made a bunch of solar distilleries: you make a little depression in the ground, fill it with leaves and brush, put a garbage bag over the top with a pebble in it and a cup underneath. And you get condensation and it drips. But that was nothing like enough.”

They had a radio, but the distances were hopeless. In certain conditions they could get onto the “Skip” frequency but only managed to raise a taxi driver somewhere in Japan. There was nothing else for it: de Meric would try to row the catamaran's dinghy back through the three days' sail to the pearl-diving hamlet. He'd go from island to island, riding each tide, resting in between. But if he could get there, then he could organize Graham's rescue as well.

The initial leg went to plan: de Meric made it to the first island, rested, then took off with the tide for the next one. But half a mile or so out, the tide turned and started rushing him back the way he came. “A depressing moment,” he says wryly.

So he must have thought he was more or less done for?

“We were kind of thinking that before I left, actually,” de Meric admits. “Leaving Graham behind was a very hard thing to do. But he was a chef and I was the seaman, son of a naval officer. Anyway there I am, scanning the horizon, and suddenly I glimpse this little bow wave just caught by the sunset. We hadn't seen a vessel of any description in 13 days out there. So I'm standing up in the dinghy, waving my arms, yelling, but it just keep going. And then, miraculously, it turns round and this boat is coming towards me.”

It turned out to be Australian coastguards, exceptionally patrolling that remote stretch because “Boat People,” as Vietnamese refugees of the time were known, had been washing up along there. They hadn't seen him, of course, but picked up a ping on the radar–and only because the dinghy was aluminum. Otherwise, well, maybe two piles of bones on two different islets might yet remain undiscovered. And nor would dozens of stakes and graded stakes winners (including a Horse of the Year) have benefited from de Meric's eventual discovery, after all these peregrinations, of a vocation that could keep him settled in one place.

And how did that happen? Usual story: Cherchez la femme! Next time he went traveling, de Meric tried the States, got a job with Lee Eaton. Met a girl on Eaton's fall yearling crew of 1981; independently they both got hired by the same Louisiana farm to prep yearlings for the 2-year-old sales; and wound up in the same staff house. “Rancho Malaria, we called it affectionately,” de Meric says. “It was right by the bayou.”

Here, they yielded to two lasting enchantments: one professional, one personal. The first yearling they pinhooked together, a filly by Nearly on Time, cost $15,000: de Meric himself had scraped together five grand, and his parents and then his uncle put in the same. Nick and Jaqui would come home from their work as freelance gallopers, and tend their filly with manic attention. They cooked bran mash on the kitchen stove and rushed it over to her hot. She made $30,000 at OBS March in 1983, and that summer they married.

“Although that may seem a paltry profit, today, at the time it felt like we'd won the lottery,” de Meric recalls. “If that filly had sold for $3,500, or gone lame, my life could have been very different. But the fact that we were able to show even a modest profit inspired us to keep going, to see whether we could make a career of this.”

So they leased a plot outside Ocala, found a couple of believers to send them a horse or two: Moreton Binn, Gerry Nielsen. Then they bought a first, 40-acre parcel, and expanded in gradual accretions until acquiring the 230 acres in 1997 that became the Eclipse Training Center.

“It had been let go, was a bit run down, but basically a really nice piece of land, with a really good track,” de Meric recalls. “So we spent time fixing it up, built two more barns, leased out some stalls. That allowed us enough cashflow to pay the mortgage, until I got rid of that about eight or nine years later, by selling some adjacent tracts with track rights.”

With Tristan at OBS | Photos By Z

They had started their own program even as the 2-year-old game was itself still in its infancy. In fact, de Meric reckons that Ocala Stud must be the only outfit then selling juveniles that's still doing so today. The changes in this sector, after all, have been wild.

“And I think that's why there's been quite a high attrition rate, among those of us playing that game,” de Meric says. “Because if you don't adapt to the changing mores of buyers, and the changing dynamics of the market, you're left behind. Yes, some aspects of the business have maybe evolved in a slightly unhealthy direction. But you either quit playing, or you play by the new rules in order to survive.

“We used to 'two-minute lick' them in pairs, on the bridle. Bow neck, nice strong gallop down the lane, eyeball-to-eyeball, make them look good. And we'd average somewhere between 30 and 70 percent on our money. Never hit one out of the park, but made a decent living. And then Luke McKathan started breezing his horses singly. He was a pioneer in his own way, and very good at what he did. He had this little quarter horse rider that could make them go fast, would whip them all the way down the lane. And then one could hear Luke in the barn saying, 'Yeah, did it real easy.' That was before videos, electronic timers, any of that!”

Nowadays, of course, time is money with these bullet breezers. But surely the old ways sufficed for the better horsemen, who didn't need the crutch of the stopwatch?

“Well, people were quite good at covering up a mediocre horse!” de Meric cautions with a smile. “But yes, the better horsemen could certainly identify the better horses, and plenty of good ones came out of those sales. But it gradually became apparent that you were putting a cap on your upside, doing it the way we were. So, little by little, I started out breezing in pairs and then singly.”

In the process Darrin Miller, who now operates a public stable, proved a real asset. “Riding a horse, he was a master at making it look like he had three more gears, when in fact he was all out,” de Meric says. “One isn't completely comfortable with every facet of the way it has evolved, with speed becoming more and more the thing. But my feeling is that there's a lot you can do to make it easier on your horses.”

And apart from anything else, that starts with selecting the right stock. “We're quite conservative, by comparison to some of our peers,” de Meric says. “But our horses usually show up when it's time to push the button. We aren't famous for bullet works. We don't complain if we get one, but we never demand them. We focus on good movers, and if they're a tick slower than some, that hasn't really hurt us that badly. We just shop carefully and, when we get them home, treat them the best we possibly can.”

A cornerstone of which philosophy is a “resistance-free” education. In fact, de Meric dislikes the very word “breaking,” with its connotations of confrontation. The celebrated Idaho horseman Martin Black worked with their program for three seasons, teaching his methods, and Jaqui has become especially adept at tutoring the young horses.

But while they duly prioritize mentality, physique remains central to their shortlisting.

“I think that's what we start with because, to be honest, everything else follows,” de Meric reasons. “We're looking for horses with a little more to come, but also for that element of precocity. And we like to see that in the pedigree also. But, yes: athletic, balanced, good-moving individuals. If they're athletes, first and foremost, then we'll handicap pedigree and value.”

And how hard is it to gauge competence for such a specific role, if you only get a fleeting glimpse of these yearlings glossed for the sale ring?

“Well, there's an element of guesswork, and also an element of judgment based on experience,” de Meric says. “You're watching for little clues. I got past the point where I look for what you might call 'projects,' or 'fixer-uppers.' Some people make a good living doing that. But I'm looking for horses that will appeal to higher-end buyers, if possible.”

Which is another reason why a horse needs to do more than merely flash precocity. It was this program, remember, that honed Knicks Go. In fact, de Meric says that it was at his urging that the KRA, who had five in the sale, changed their minds and retained the future Horse of the Year to race. He wasn't fashionably bred, of course, nor very big–but he had shown de Meric unusual grit.

Knicks Go at Taylor Made | Sarah Andrew

“We're asking them to do a lot,” de Meric remarks. “These days, as we've said, people want to see these horses work fast. But they also want horses that will possibly have Classic potential, train on as 3- and 4-year-olds. So they need to have it all, and to vet well at the end of it. When you actually stop and add it all up, you think, 'What the heck are we doing? This is madness.' Because the odds are stacked against you from the minute you set foot on the sales ground. But it's what we do. It's the bed we've made. And it's been good to us over the years.”

As you can read in tomorrow's TDN, in de Meric's contribution to our “Succession” series, he's as proud of the parallel program developed by his son Tristan (and daughter-in-law Valerie) as he is concerned by the kind of future that may await the next generation. The way things are going for our sport's reputation in Main Street, it must almost feel like watching that bow wave diminishing into the sunset, all those years ago. But maybe this boat can also turn round.

“There's a lot of momentum in the wrong direction right now,” de Meric acknowledges. “We keep running into these unexpected headwinds, into challenge after challenge. As a generation, I don't think we've done a spectacular job as stewards of our sport. At the same time, I feel we have to stay positive.

“There's enough of us, collectively, that are passionate about this game, that would almost die rather than see it go under. People talk about greyhounds, about harness racing. Ours is a different world. When it gets under your skin, there's no fighting it. That's why billionaires become millionaires playing this game. Because there's no feeling like it.

“It's all those lows that make the highs even more exciting. It doesn't matter if you're racing, pinhooking, breeding, selling: those highs, it's a euphoric feeling. I think all of us, by definition, tend not to be the kind who like the middle ground. Because this is not that kind of business. It's a rollercoaster. And it's not for the faint of heart. When it's good, it's great; and when it sucks, it really sucks. But at the end of the day, we're working with the animals we love. And in that we are truly blessed.”

The post De Meric’s Odyssey Brings Him ‘Home’ To Horses appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Thoroughbred Owner Conference Series ‘Buying at Public Auction’ Now Online

The seventh panel of the OwnerView Virtual Thoroughbred Owner Conference held Tuesday, Aug. 15, is now online, the organization said in a release early Thursday.

The session featured bloodstock agents Erin Birkenhauer, Marette Farrell and Mike Ryan, plus auctioneer Tom Biederman discussing horse selection and the bidding process at Thoroughbred auctions. The panel was moderated by OwnerView's project manager, Gary Falter.

Topics included yearling sales, buying 2-year-olds, buying horses in training, the importance of vet records and conformation.

“For people getting into the business for the first time, a great approach is to buy some fillies because you have some exit strategy, you've got resale/residual value,” Ryan said.

There are four more Thoroughbred Owner Conference virtual panels scheduled for 2023, with the next session, 'Claiming', to be held Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. (ET).

There is no fees for the series, but registration is required. Click here for more information.

The post Thoroughbred Owner Conference Series ‘Buying at Public Auction’ Now Online appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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