Ocala Breeders' Sales Company | Horse Racing Free Tips

James, Longoria Back for More at OBS

Hotelier Greg James, who has over two decades of pinhooking under his belt, will be looking to follow up on a career year in the sales arena when the 2-year-old auction season opens next week with the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale. James, with consignor Jesse Longoria, will offer six juveniles at the three-day auction, led off by a New York-bred son of Laoban (hip 79) who is scheduled to work during Tuesday's first session of the sale's under-tack show.

“So far, Jesse is very optimistic,” James said of expectations for his March sextet. “We've got a nice New York-bred Laoban that he likes and we have a couple other horses that he calls push button. That's always a good word to hear around Jesse, that they are push button.”

A native of Louisville, James's interests in racing are multi-faceted. He purchased Benny the Bull (Lucky Lionel) for $38,000 at the 2004 Keeneland September sale. He sold a controlling interest in the future Eclipse Award winner to IEAH Stables and the speedy dark bay went on to win over $2.3 million. James also campaigned multiple graded stakes winner Victor Avenue (Avenue of Flags).

“I was involved in many facets of the game back in the '90s,” James said. “And I was attracted to some returns that I saw pinhookers getting. So I began to invest in different operations in Ocala. I have, off and on, been pinhooking probably about 25 years. My first venture, I think, with Jesse was all the way back in the late '90s. And we've been off and on doing business together since.”

The partnership scored a pair of pinhooking home runs last year when a filly by Shackleford, purchased as a yearling for $40,000, sold for $300,000 at the OBS March sale and a colt by Race Day, purchased for $42,000 as a yearling sold for $475,000 at the OBS April sale.

“It was probably my best year,” James said of the 2022 results. “My highest horse that I ever sold before was $300,000, so the Shackleford replicated that and then the Race Day was certainly my biggest hit ever.”

Asked if his success at the juvenile sales last year made him change his approach at the yearling auctions, James said, “Well, obviously it gives you optimism that success is out there if you partner with the right people and do the right thing. So for me, that's Jesse Longoria. Jesse has always been brutally honest and I think he has an impeccable eye for a horse. So I am quite comfortable letting him spend my money to fund this venture.”

On behalf of James, Longoria purchased 10 yearlings last fall. Following the six scheduled to sell at OBS March, four will be catalogued at the company's April sale.

Working on a budget, the partners focus on the individual over pedigree.

“Jesse and I, we are looking for athletes,” James said. “It's hard for us to buy the pedigreed horses that we want. But we buy athletes and we have had success doing it.”

The colt by Race Day who sold for $475,000 last April is a case in point. Now named Tshiebwe, he was a close-up third in a Feb. 26 Gulfstream Park maiden special weight for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“He just ran third in a maiden special weight going long,” James said of the colt. “So I think there is some future for that horse. He was a little slow getting started, but it looks like they've got him going now.”

The Shackleford filly was purchased by Hideyuki Mori last March and, named Ecoro Ai, she is stakes-placed in Japan.

The highest-priced yearlings in James's March contingent were purchased for $35,000; Hip 79 brought that price at the Fasig-Tipton October sale and at that same price from the same auction were a colt by Mor Spirit (hip 252) and a filly by Take Charge Indy (hip 782). The group also includes a colt by World of Trouble (hip 617) purchased for $30,000 at Fasig-Tipton October; a colt by Frosted (hip 569) purchased for $25,000 at October; and a colt by Anchor Down (hip 608) acquired for $8,000 at Keeneland September.

“I think the most we paid for any yearling was $50,000,” James said. “We have a nice Bolt d'Oro that we were able to get for $50,000 [who will sell at OBS April]. So we are looking for athletes, for racehorses, more than pedigree. If there is some pedigree there, that's great, but we are going to buy the horse first.”

While he enjoyed top-level success in racing in the '90s, James currently has just one horse in training, but that could change soon.

“I only have one horse in training right now, but with the purse structure, racing is becoming more attractive again to me,” James said. “I cut my teeth in this business with claiming horses. And I have been thinking about putting something together and maybe claiming a few more and going back into racing a little heavier because the purse structure allows it now. Racing is tough. We all know that. But if ever there were good opportunities, I think it's now.”

Looking long-term, he did admit to one concern about racing's future.

“My only worries are, are we cultivating new horse racing fans? Slots are great, they have added such great purse money, but I do worry if we are cultivating horse racing fans or just relying on purse money,” James said. “So that's a decision I will have to make as I go forward.”

For James, who owns Radisson Hotel Louisville North, racing and pinhooking provide a pleasing counterpoint to his day job.

“I am in the hotel and shopping center business,” he said. “So this is quite apart for me from what I normally do, but I have always been able to mix the two together and enjoy them. I spend a lot of time at the sales. Jesse has taught me a lot. And I've learned a lot about what a good horse looks like through the years. Bernie Flint trained for me, and in my mind, there is no better judge of horse flesh than Bernie Flint was in his day. I love being around it. The pinhooking gives me a chance to be around it more.”

After their standout 2022 results, can James and Longoria strike again in 2023?

“I don't know,” James said. “You never know in this game what you can do. You have to be good and you have to be lucky. And anybody who says differently is wrong. Because that's what this game takes. It takes good fortune and good hard work.”

The under-tack show for the OBS March sale begins Tuesday morning with hips 1-208 scheduled to breeze. Hips 209-416 will work Wednesday, followed by hips 417-624 Thursday and hips 625-833 Friday. Each session of the show begins at 8 a.m.

The March sale will be held next Monday through Wednesday, with bidding beginning each day at 11 a.m.

The post James, Longoria Back for More at OBS appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Two Eagles River Helps Garrett Flow into Retirement

When Robert Garrett sold his power line company last year, he knew just how to fill up his free time. The Oklahoman headed to Ocala where, with the help of trainer Chris Hartman, he purchased a son of Cloud Computing for $220,000 at last year's OBS Spring Sale. Now named Two Eagles River, stakes-placed and fresh off a dominant allowance victory at Oaklawn Park, the 3-year-old has Garrett enjoying retirement.

“I've owned horses out here in Oklahoma and I owned a stallion and some broodmares, but that's the first one that we ever went and picked out and paid some serious money for,” Garrett said of the purchase. “We just got really fortunate here in the last year. We sold our company and I got the opportunity to retire. So that was actually the first 2-year-old in training sale I had ever went to.”

Garrett credits Hartman with picking Two Eagles River out at OBS following the gelding's :10 flat work.

“Chris Hartman is our trainer and he's got a really good eye for athletes,” Garrett said. “So most of it had to do with him. We paid quite a bit of money for him if you want to look at his stallion's stud fee. But when you go out there, you have to buy the athlete standing in front of you, not just the sales catalogue.”

Garrett owns the dark bay in partnership with another Oklahoman, Dr. Michael Robinson, a relative newcomer to the racing game.

“[Robinson] and I both graduated from Sayre High School in Oklahoma, which happens to be the Sayre Eagles,” Garrett said. “His wife came up with the name of Two Eagles. And all of my horses' names have a 'river' in them somewhere. So that's where the name came from.”

Two Eagles River, who had been gelded as a yearling, showed promise right from the start of his time with Hartman.

“We knew he was special from his first two or three breezes,” Garrett said. “There weren't many horses in the barn that could keep up with him. He was working with Tejano Twist who is a stakes horse, so we knew he was pretty nice. We had to hold off on him for a couple of months for some maturity issues with his knees. We had to give him the time to mature. And he did. He is really sound.”

Once Two Eagles River made it to the races, he quickly justified Garrett's faith in him with a stylish debut victory going five furlongs at Churchill Downs last October. He was second, beaten just a neck by subsequent Smarty Jones S. winner Victory Formation (Tapwrit) in a six-furlong allowance in his second start and was just a head short of Frosted Departure (Frosted) when second in the six-furlong Renaissance S. at Oaklawn last December. Stretched out to a mile, he was third behind Verifying (Justify) in his sophomore debut in January.

All of those foes have since gone on to graded stakes competition, while Two Eagles River returned to the winner's circle with a wire-to-wire four-length victory in a one-mile allowance at Oaklawn Feb. 19 (video).

“We thought he would like the stretch out and going two turns,” Garrett said. “The first race before that that he went two turns, two of the horses in the Rebel were in there with him and he ran third. And he had run second to another horse in the Rebel, which was Frosted Departure when he got beat in the Renaissance S. by a nose.”

Garrett continued, “It was a short turnaround. We just had two weeks in between the races, but we've known sprinting wasn't where his wheelhouse was going to be. He's got a really long stride. His stride was two feet longer than the average stride in that Ocala sale. So we've known he has a big stride and would be a two-turn horse. We've just been taking our time to get him there so that he is comfortable with it.”

Asked where Two Eagles River might make his next start, Garrett said, “Couldn't tell you that. We are going to wait a week or two and get a work into him and see how he comes out of that. He came out of his race really good, Chris said. But what's next? That's Chris's decision. He knows the best places to put horses–he does a really good job with that. I know he comes from Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, all the way across the country. He has some old stomping grounds there at Sunland Park and they have a $700,000 prep race [Mar. 25 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks] at Turfway Park nowadays. So there are lots of options.”

Garrett admitted he is hoping a return trip to Oaklawn Park will be in the cards.

“If had my druthers, it would be the [Apr. 1 GI] Arkansas Derby, of course,” he said. “I love Oaklawn Park, but that will depend on Chris and the horse.”

Garrett was in Hot Springs for Two Eagles River's victory a week ago and he returned on a reconnaissance mission this past weekend to watch the GIII Rebel S.

“We were over there for the last race and I've just come from there this last weekend,” Garrett said. “I wanted to watch the Rebel to get an eye on our competition.”

Garrett has a lifelong love of horse racing thanks to his father.

“I was born the son of a horse trainer,” he said succinctly when asked how he first became involved in horse racing, adding with a laugh, “It just takes a little time to make enough money to buy one. That's easier said than done.”

Garrett has some seven horses currently in training, but his retirement plan includes more than just racing. He will be making his first attempt at pinhooking this year and has three 2-year-olds entered in the OBS March sale, which runs from Mar. 20-22.

Garrett's OBS March trio includes a colt by Bernardini (hip 54), who was purchased by agent Rusty Roberts for $110,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale; a colt by Midshipman (hip 190), who was purchased by Roberts on behalf of Garrett's Scattered Acres for $55,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton July sale; and a filly by Maximus Mischief (hip 199), who was purchased for $75,000 at Fasig July.

“We bought some yearlings that are going to be selling in Ocala in March,” Garrett said. “We've started doing that. And I bought some weanlings that are going to sell as yearlings. We are going to hope like heck that the sales part of it can support the racing part of it.”

The post Two Eagles River Helps Garrett Flow into Retirement appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Registration Open for TOBA Clinic in Ocala

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association is hosting a Pedigree & Conformation Clinic Sunday and Monday, Mar. 19-20 in Ocala. The clinic will be held at the Ocala Breeders' Sales and Ocala Stud and will be held in conjunction with the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Speakers at the clinic include: Tammy Gantt and George Isaacs; Dr. Johnny Mac Smith, DVM; Marette Farrell (bloodstock agent); Tod Wojciechowski, director of sales for Ocala Breeders' Sales Company; David O'Farrell from Ocala Stud.

To register, visit toba.memberclicks.net/seminars-clinics.

The post Registration Open for TOBA Clinic in Ocala appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Global Campaign Colt Tops OBS Winter Mixed Open Session

A short yearling from the first crop of GI Woodward S. winner Global Campaign (Curlin) (hip 485) topped the open session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Winter Mixed Sale Wednesday when selling to Machmer Hall for $80,000. Bred in Florida by Dominque Damico and consigned by Fly By, the dark bay colt is out of Im a Dixie Diva (Henny Hughes), a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Mor Spirit (Eskendereya).

During Wednesday's open session of the two-day auction, 182 horses sold for $2,064,200. The average was $11,342 and the median was $7,500. With 22 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 10.8%.

Those figures were right on par with the 2022 open session when 186 horses grossed $2,075,600 for an average of $11,159 and a median of $7,000. The 2022 buy-back rate was 8.8%.

The post Global Campaign Colt Tops OBS Winter Mixed Open Session appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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