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Record Median As Steady OBS June Sale Concludes Sales Season

OCALA, FL – With a significantly larger catalogue this year, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds always figured to eclipse the record gross it set last year, but the three-day auction ended Thursday with, not just that new highwater mark, but also with a sale record median figure.

“A lot of horses got sold at a lot of different levels,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said. “That's always a good thing, particularly for the last sale of the year.”

A total of 653 juveniles sold at the June sale for a gross of $26,986,500–eclipsing the record of $24,626,450 set when 567 horses sold for $24,626,450 at the 2021 auction. The average was $41,327–down just 4.8% from last year's record mark of $43,433.

The median held steady at $25,000 for each of the sale's three sessions to top the previous record of $20,000.

“I think the median is a better tell-tale sign of the strength of the sale than the gross,” Wojciechowski. “As that median creeps up, we are still getting plenty of horses traded at the lower price levels, but covering all of our bases. Averages can get skewed, but the median seems to be a truer figure in a lot of these cases.”

The buy-back rate for the sale was 19%. It was 18.2% at the conclusion of the 2021 sale before falling to 17.2% with the inclusion of post-sale transactions.

“I think June continues to show that it is a stand alone sale. It has its own legs,” Wojciechowski said. “Plenty of quality horses come out of this sale.”

Peter Miller was busying makes the rounds on the OBS sales grounds all week and the trainer finally got on the board with three purchases Thursday, led by a $200,000 daughter of Good Magic (hip 984).

“It's tough. The market is tough for the good ones,” Miller said. “We are all on the same horses and you have to pay a lot more for them. It's been that way at pretty much every sale this year.”

The June sale brought the curtain down on a record-setting juvenile sales season.

“It was a great season for us,” Wojciechowski said. “And a lot of that was predicated on the quality of the horses that the consignors brought us. Without them, we wouldn't have a sale.”

De Meric Sales was the leading consignor at the June sale, with 28 juveniles sold for $1,889,000.

“It has been a great season for all of us,” said Tristan de Meric. “The market has been strong all the way up to this sale. This sale took a little bit of time to warm up, but it felt better yesterday and today.”

Asked to assess the quality of the season for his Wavertree Stables consignment, Ciaran Dunne said, “Overall, it was a good year. It doesn't get any easier, but it's not supposed to. We had enough bright spots to paint over the spots. When the dust settles and we look back on it, it will be a good year.”

Asked if he had seen a stronger middle market in 2021, Dunne said, “If there was one, I didn't see it. It's the same thing. We need two or three horses to carry the weight for the rest of them. And then it's a question of trading horses to stop paying bills. I think overall, we did a good job of that. Our clearance rate has been very strong. We took our lumps where we needed to take them.”

Looking ahead to restocking with the start of the yearling sales season next month, de Meric said, “I think it will be more of the same. You've got to be careful when you're buying. Hopefully we can find more of the right ones.”

 

Curlin Colt a Late Star

Trainer Ron Moquett struck late to secure a colt by Curlin

(hip 1087) for $370,000 as the final session of the OBS June sale wound down Thursday afternoon. Moquett, who did his bidding out back, saw off bloodstock agent Chad Schumer, bidding at the pack of the pavilion, to secure the chestnut colt on behalf of Alabama businessman Gus King.

“His pedigree is very good,” Moquett said of the colt's appeal. “He's a very strong, athletic-looking horse. We know he comes from good people, from the breeder all the way up. Hopefully we can just carry on the care that they gave him.”

Of King, Moquett added, “He sells a lot and now he's finally letting us keep a couple and buy a couple. He likes the sport, so I want him to do well.”

The session topper was consigned by Eddie Woods on behalf of his breeder, Hill 'n' Dale Holdings and Stretch Run Ventures. He is out of stakes-placed Distracting (Distorted Humor), a daughter of Teeming (Storm Cat) and half-sister to Grade I winner Streaming (Smart Strike). The colt RNA'd for $135,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale and was supplemented to the June sale after being scratched from the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale following an :11 flat work. He worked a quarter-mile last week in :21 3/5.

“He was a horse that was a really good individual,” Hill 'n' Dale's John Sikura said of the colt as a yearling. “He kind of slapped his feet when he walked. We thought people would overlook that and it wouldn't bother them, but as a yearling, they didn't overcome it.”

Of the colt's experience in Timonium last month, Sikura said, “We brought him to Maryland and Eddie said he didn't like the track, didn't work great. The horse had really trained well and he worked well here. And it's a world-class pedigree. He's the kind of horse that, being by Curlin with that family, if he has success on the racetrack, he has unlimited value.”

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Uncle Mo Filly Leads the Way As Action Picks Up at OBS

OCALA, FL – After a slow and steady opening session, the action picked up throughout the day at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Old Sale Wednesday, with the auction's second session concluding with a continuing strong median and an average just off last year's record-setting pace. Wednesday's session produced the sale's top three prices so far, with a filly by Uncle Mo leading the way when selling for $725,000.

In all, 216 horses sold Wednesday for a total of $9,314,000. The session average was $43,120 and the median was $25,000.

Through two sessions, 420 juveniles have sold for $16,783,500. The average of $39,961 dipped 1.3% from the corresponding figure a year ago, while the median of $25,000 was up 38.9%.

At the same point of the 2021 sale, 401 horses had grossed $16,229,000 for an average of $40,471 and a median of $18,000.

From a larger catalogue, the gross is ahead of the 2021 record pace, while the median remains ahead of 2021's record-tying figure of $20,000.

With 125 horses reported not sold over the two days, the buy-back rate stood at 22.9% at the close of business Wednesday. A year ago, that figure was 21.8% before falling to 17.5% with the inclusion of post-sale transactions.

Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who kept busy throughout the session buying for various clients, made the day's two highest-priced bids. Lanni purchased the filly by Uncle Mo for $725,000 from the Omar Ramirez Bloodstock consignment and acquired a filly by Flatter from Julie Davies for $625,000.

“It was so hard to buy in April,” Lanni said. “Every sale has been tough to buy. We got outbid a lot. We came here prepared to find them and buy them.”

Bryan Rice's Woodside Ranch had a pair of standout pinhooks on the day and the Ocala horseman said there were plenty of buyers for the right horses.

“I think for a good horse, they are finding them and they are paying for them,” Rice said. “We have other horses who don't meet the desired level, so we are going to have to be humble and sell them. You've got to just play your hand.”

The OBS June sale concludes with a final session beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Fireworks for Uncle Mo Filly

After a trio of high-priced buy-backs, the June sale finally had a breakout horse when bloodstock agent Donato Lanni purchased a filly by Uncle Mo (hip 525) for $725,000 from the consignment of Omar Ramirez Bloodstock Wednesday in Ocala. Lanni had to see off a determined on-line bidder to secure the youngster on behalf of an undisclosed client.

Asked what he liked about the filly, Lanni said, “Did you see her?” Before adding, “She's by Uncle Mo–I love the sire. We've been lucky with the sire. And she was all class. And smart. She's been that way since she's been here.”

The filly, who worked a furlong last week in :10 flat, is out of Ultralight Beam (Giant's Causeway), a half-sister to multiple graded winner His Race to Win (Stormy Atlantic). Her second dam, Fleet of Foot (Gone West), is a half-sister to champion Hello Seattle. She will be trained by Bob Baffert.

Ramirez purchased the filly for $117,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale.

“She was a beautiful filly–a beautiful top line and I liked the way she walked,” Ramirez said of the filly's appeal last fall. “It's hard not to like her. She's by Uncle Mo and she has a nice pedigree.”

Ramirez, who partnered up with Solana Beach Sales to purchase the filly, admitted he was surprised to get the youngster last year.

“I never thought I could afford her,” he said. “But I was lucky. I was on a flight when she sold and I had somebody buy her for me. When I got home, I had a message that we had gotten her. We didn't have much money left, but the guy was looking for me and we got her.”

Ramirez, a longtime member of the Top Line Sales team, is consigning under his own name for just the second year this season and celebrated his biggest result Wednesday.

“My family all works with me, we founded the business,” Ramirez said. “So we are all happy and celebrating together. I knew she was going to be big, but I didn't know she'd be that good.”

Solana Beach Sales, the pinhooking division of Little Red Feather Racing, has already had a sale-topper this juvenile sales season. The group sold the $1.2-million Bolt d'Oro filly (hip 48) at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale.

“This filly was my personal favorite this year and I'm so happy for the team,” Solana Beach's Gary Fenton said. “Omar is a hidden talent no more. And big thanks to Carrie Brogden, as well, for her guidance.”

Flatter Filly for Zedan

A filly by Flatter (hip 560) will be joining the Southern California barn of trainer Bob Baffert after selling for $625,000 to the bid of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni. Lanni did not disclose his client for the filly, but later in the afternoon Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing tweeted it had purchased the filly. Consigned by Julie Davies, the gray filly is out of the unraced Wicked Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}), a half-sister to Grade I winner Wickedly Perfect (Congrats). She was one of two juveniles to work the furlong bullet of :9 4/5 during last week's under-tack show.

“She breezed good and came back good,” Lanni said of the filly. “She handled everything well. She went out and did it and came back good. She kept her weight and her mind was really good. It didn't phase her. She'll probably go on and be a good summer horse.”

Davies purchased the filly for $95,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

“She was always the model student,” Davies said. “She was always perfect and she never did anything wrong. She took everything in stride.”

Of the filly's bullet work, Davies said, “We knew when we were coming in here that she was fast and we just had to hope that all the stars aligned. And we got lucky. She went :9 4/5 when not many horses were doing that.”

A Munnings for Gase

Trainer Keith Desormeaux has been busy buying for Ben Gase this spring and got into the action Wednesday in Ocala, going to $300,000 to acquire a colt by Munnings (hip 544) from Stori Atchison's Dark Star Thoroughbreds consignment on behalf of the new owner.

Desormeaux said he was impressed with the colt's :10 1/5 work during last week's under-tack preview.

“The horse really had some different action,” Desormeaux said. “He had a really high action which I thought would throw a lot of people off, but I loved the way he moved–high knee action, pushed strong off of his hind end. And of course, you couple that with Munnings, who is as hot as they come right now. That's why we had to give what we gave.”

The colt, out of the unraced Voyage (Rahy), is a half-brother to graded winner Great Island (Scat Daddy) and is from the family of Point of Entry and Pine Island. Atchison purchased the chestnut for $50,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. He RNA'd for $190,000 following a :10 2/5 work at the OBS Spring sale.

Gase, founder and CEO of the shipping tecnhology company R2 Logisticis, had success with his very first horse when Call Me Midnight (Midnight Lute), an $80,000 purchase at last year's OBS March sale, won the GIII Lecomte S. in January.

Desormeaux purchased three horses for Gase at the OBS Spring sale, including a filly by Bolt d'Oro (hip 1017) for $650,000 and a filly by Twirling Candy (hip 641) for $400,000.

“Ben Gase was very involved in the April sale,” Desormeaux said. “He had fun with that, so we came back for more. He's getting heavily involved in the business and hopefully I am getting him in on some nice horses.”

Smith Carrying on Crystal Eclipse Tradition

When Hannah Smith led hip 655, a son of Ride On Curlin, up to the ring at OBS Wednesday, the 14-year-old admitted to having some nerves. The colt, bred by her father Casey Seaman and the lone horse in the family's Crystal Eclipse Stable consignment, rewarded her hard work when selling for $230,000 to Big Sky Racing.

“We knew he was a really great colt and we knew he was going to be big right from the start,” Smith said of the colt who worked a flashy furlong in :10 flat last week. “He was a homebred and when we were breaking him, he just did everything right–everything above and beyond. So we were expecting this result.”

That didn't mean that the experience was without some nervous moments.

“I had to walk him up there,” Smith said. “And that was the scariest part. I was very nervous. That was my first time showing and walking a horse in the sale. It was very nerve-wracking. But it went perfectly.”

Seaman has been breeding racehorses in Florida since the 1990s and counts 2003 GI King's Bishop S. winner Valid Video among his graduates. So, getting into the business was a natural fit for his daughter.

“I've done this ever since I was little,” Smith said. “I was on a horse before I could walk. I love doing it.”

After a hiatus from breeding, Seaman is getting back into the business. The farm currently has three broodmares, including hip 655's dam Awesome Sunrize (Awesome Again).

“She was nothing and was given to us a couple of years ago,” Smith said of the mare. “We've had a couple of horses out of her and a couple of years after we got her, there were stakes winners everywhere. Her brother Stubbins (Morning Line) has made over $550,000.”

Smith continued, “We kind of veered away [from breeding] a little. Everything hit, the pandemic and life happens, but this is a nice turn of events.”

Asked if breeding and racing would be in her future, Smith said, “I have no clue yet. But I hope so.”

Woodside Ranch Hits with Filly

Bryan and Holley Rice's Woodside Ranch hit a pinhooking home run when selling a filly by Hit it a Bomb (hip 541) for $200,000 Wednesday at OBS. The Rices had purchased the bay for $8,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton February sale.

“Her physical,” Bryan Rice said when asked about the filly's appeal last February. “She had great muscle and a great mind and a beautiful walk. And that has stayed with her.”

Of the bargain purchase, Rice said, “I think the pedigree was a little cold at the time. And it was just one of those sales where she was there and I was seeing her in a long coat and pretty young. I felt like I saw things I liked and we did right by her and she's done right by us.”

Donato Lanni signed the ticket on the filly Wednesday on behalf of Sarah Kelly.

“I am thrilled,” Rice said of the result. “I know that she is going to go on and continue to do right by everybody. She is really special. She is legitimate.”

Woodside enjoyed another pinhooking success just a few hips later when selling a filly by Runhappy (hip 587) for $130,000 to Franklin Ave. Equine and bloodstock agent Nick Hines. The dark bay had been purchased for $10,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton February sale.

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Measured OBS June Sale Opens With a $290,000 Topper by Bolt d’Oro

OCALA, FL – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds opened with a workmanlike session Tuesday as four horses sold for over $200,000, led by a filly by Bolt d'Oro who attracted a final bid of $290,000 from bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Greg and Caroline Bentley.

In all, 184 sold Tuesday for a gross of $7,107,500. The average of $38,628 slipped 2.4% from last year's opening session, but the median of $25,500 was up 27.5% from the 2021 sales record-tying figure of $20,000.

With 90 horses reported not sold, Tuesday's buy-back rate was 33.1%. At the close of business after last year's first session, the buy-back rate was 26.7%. It fell to 18.3% with the inclusion of post-sale transactions.

“It's been competitive all year,” Lanni said of the juvenile market. “It's been a very, very tough year. I love coming to June–not for the weather–but this is a typical June sale. They are out there, you just have to try to find them. There is a horse here for everybody. A horse at every level. You just have to get through them all.”

Seven horses topped the $200,000 mark at the 2021 opening session, led by a $425,000 daughter of Practical Joke. During the session, 196 horses grossed $7,756,400 for an average of $39,573 and a median of $20,000.

Tuesday's opening session of the June sale missed a break-out horse when hip 112, a daughter of Into Mischief, RNA'd for $625,000.

The June sale continues through Thursday with bidding beginning each day at 10 a.m.

A Bolt for Runnymede

Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni had been shopping all season long for a filly to purchase for Gregory and Caroline Bentley's Runnymede Farm and the Pennyslvania-based operation finally got on the board Tuesday in Ocala, purchasing a filly by freshman sensation Bolt d'Oro (hip 191) for $290,000 from the Niall Brennan consignment.

“We have been trying really hard all year to buy fillies for them,” Lanni said. “Good fillies are hard to find and they bring a lot. We have struck out all year trying to buy a filly for them.”

The bay filly is out of stakes winner Over the Edge (Thunder Gulch) and is a half to graded placed Top of Mind (Curlin). She worked a furlong in :10 flat during last week's under-tack show.

“This was a good filly,” Lanni said. “Bolt d'Oro made it easy for me to sell it to them. And she's got pedigree. But more importantly, she worked extremely well and she galloped out very well. She came back well. Typically when you do all of those things, it's going to cost a lot.”

The Bentleys, who have been involved in racing since the mid-1990s, won the 2014 GI Arlington Million with Hardest Core (Hard Spun) and were represented in the 2019 GI Preakness S. by multiple stakes winner Alwaysmining (Stay Thirsty). Greg Bentley is CEO of his family's software company, Bentley Systems.

Hip 191 was purchased by Ryston Stables for $75,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

Candy Ride Filly Heads West

A filly by Candy Ride (Arg) (hip 331) will be joining the Southern California barn of trainer Peter Eurton after selling for $240,000 to Exline-Border Racing.

“Some things just speak for themselves–the page, obviously, and how she breezed,” Justin Border, who did his bidding sitting alongside bloodstock agent Marette Farrell, said of the filly's appeal. “But, really, it's about her mind and how she comported herself all throughout the process. It seems like she was brought up right from the farm and from an excellent breeder. We can tell she's been brought up the right way. We're excited to take her out to California where she can do big things for us.”

The filly, who worked a furlong in :10 1/5, is out of Seaside Escape (Bernardini), a full-sister to multiple Grade I winner Cavorting who is the dam of Grade I winner Clairiere (Curlin).

“Her breeze was very flashy, but at the same time, you could tell she was doing it well within herself, which is something we always look for,” Border said. “A lot of horses have flashy breezes on a surface they'll never run on again the rest of their lives. We're much more interested in how they do it, and she did it the right way. She checked all the boxes for us.”

Bred by Paul Pompa, Jr., the bay sold for $12,000 as part of the late owner/breeder's dispersal at the 2021 Keeneland January sale. She sold to Joseph Klausa's Thoro Ventures for $75,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton October sale and was consigned Tuesday by Juan Centeno's All Dreams Equine.

“She has a very good mind,” Centeno said. “She is lovely and has an excellent pedigree. Everything came together and she performed well. And she was well-received at the barn. You are always nervous and excited at the same time at these sales. But I am very happy for the owner.”

Adios Charlie Filly for FSS Series

A speedy filly by Adios Charlie (hip 116) topped early returns at the OBS June sale when selling for $235,000 to the bid of Michael Sucher's Champion Equine. Consigned by Ocala Stud and bred by the O'Farrells, the bay 2-year-old worked a quarter-mile in a bullet :21 flat. She is out of stakes-placed Miss Melinda (Malibu Moon), a daughter of group-placed Black Escort (Southern Halo).

“She had all the metrics: breeze time, gallop out, vetted perfectly, and she is a beautiful physical horse,” Sucher's advisor Tom McCrocklin said. “Kind of all the things you hear all the time.”

The filly will join the South Florida barn of trainer David Braddy and will have a specific target this summer.

“He is kind of obsessed with winning the Florida Stallion Stakes and she is eligible for that series,” McCrocklin said of Sucher's plans for the filly. “He bought a really nice colt in April. He lives in South Florida and he's very bullish on trying to win those races.”

Sucher purchased a colt by Girvin (hip 112), also from Ocala Stud, for $300,000 at the OBS Spring Sale in April. Now named Commandant, the colt is working steadily at Gulfstream Park.

In addition to his Florida racing stable, Sucher is also an active pinhooker and breeding.

“Pinhooking, racing and breeding,” McCrocklin said of Sucher's Thoroughbred interests. “He owns a lot of mares, too, mostly in Kentucky. He keeps his mares with Martha Jane Mulholland in Kentucky and he bought a lot of broodmares over the last couple of years. So he's evenly distributed between breeding, he will sell some, he will pinhook, and he races as well. He's a great guy, loves the game and I am glad we have him in it.”

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Trio of Juveniles Share Bullet Work at OBS

A trio of juvenile fillies worked a bullet quarter mile in :20 4/5 during the final session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale Saturday. Those fillies were:

Nine 2-year-olds shared the fastest furlong time of :10 flat. They were

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