Ocala Breeders' Sales Company | Horse Racing Free Tips

OBS Fireworks for Gun Runner Colt

The big sales results from the first crop of juveniles by champion Gun Runner (hip 118) continued Tuesday at OBS when a son of the Three Chimneys stallion sold for $850,000 to the bid of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. The gray juvenile will join the $1.7-million son of Gun Runner purchased by Amr Zedan at last month's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale in the Southern California barn of trainer Bob Baffert.
“He's a beautiful horse,” Lanni said. “Just a cool horse. He did everything he was asked to do and came out of in really good shape. We are just happy, happy, happy to get him. He was the horse we wanted to go home with.”
Of the colt's final price tag, Lanni said, “It's the same thing every year. We all land on the same horses. There is no stealing. It's tough to buy them.”
The colt, who worked a furlong in :10 flat at last week's under-tack show, is out of graded placed Salamera (Successful Appeal) and was consigned by Barry and Shari Eisaman's Eisaman Equine and was bred by the couple's Eico Ventures.
“Barry does a great job,” Lanni said. “He's a good horseman and I'm happy they bred a nice horse.”
The sale was a highwater mark for an Eisaman homebred.
“He is a wonderful horse and we thought he was going to sell well,” Shari Eisaman said as the couple received congratulations out back. “I was going to be thrilled with $500,000. This is the most I've ever sold a homebred for–the homebreds have paid for the farm, they've paid for everything. Thank the Lord.”
The Eisamans purchased Salamera for $300,000 at the 2016 Keeneland November sale. The 11-year-old mare, who was second in the 2012 GII Adirondack S., has an Uncle Mo yearling and she was bred back to Malibu Moon last year.
“Absolutely,” Eisaman said when asked if the result was extra gratifying with a homebred. “When you own the factory, your mares are working when you're sleeping.”

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OBS Spring Sale Returns Tuesday

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, which was delayed until June in 2020 due to the pandemic, returns to its traditional spot on the calendar when it begins its four-day run in Central Florida Tuesday.

“It feels good to have April back in its normal slot,” agreed OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski.

OBS opened the 2021 juvenile sales season with a competitive renewal of its March sale last month which featured frenetic bidding through a wide swath of the market.

“We certainly would like to capitalize on the momentum from the March sale,” Wojciechowski said. “There were a lot of people on the grounds and a lot of people hungry for horses in March. We hope that trend continues. And there seems to be a good feel on the grounds so far.”

The March sale included a strong middle market. If that trend is to continue at the Spring sale, it will have to do so with the ongoing absence of Korean buyers, who have helped drive the middle market in recent years. South Korea currently has an embargo on importing foreign racehorses as a way to counteract the economic impact of the pandemic on the country's breeding industry.

“I see promise [for the middle market],” Wojciechowski said. “If the demand that we saw in March continues, that will certainly help things. We are going to miss the Korean buyers, but I think we have the capability to pick up that slack.”

OBS hosted a rain-shortened six-session under-tack show last week. The company was forced to cancel the first day of the show due to stormy weather, but added horses each day of the remaining days to compensate. The start of Saturday's final session was delayed over an hour by rain.

“It's April and it sometimes rains in April in Florida, as we all know,” Wojciechowski said. “But fortunately, we had built in a little extra time. The initial plan was to breeze over seven days, but we had that opportunity that if we were presented with a situation like we had on Sunday we could adjust and overcome it. And we got very lucky Saturday, there was rain all around us and rain early in the morning, but we were able to pull it off.”

During the under-tack show, a pair of fillies by first-crop sires earned the quarter-mile bullet of :20 2/5; a daughter of Classic Empire (hip 317, video) and a daughter of Cupid (hip 576, video). Twenty juveniles shared the week's fastest furlong time of :9 4/5.

With 1,217 horses catalogued for the four-day auction, buyers were spread out over the entire OBS backstretch during a busy day of showing around the raindrops Sunday.

“We are dealing with some rain, but in between the rain you see a lot of horses out around the barns and a lot of people looking,” Wojciechowski said. “We have 1200 horses on the grounds and there are horses in all 29 barns. The horses aren't as concentrated in one area, so sometimes it may not look like there are that many people. But there sure are a lot of people out here looking.”

A Top Line Sales-consigned filly by Not This Time topped the 2020 Spring sale when selling for $1.35 million to bloodstock agent Gary Young on behalf of Zedan Racing. Named Princess Noor, she won last year's GI Del Mar Debutante S. The filly was one of two to bring seven figures at the auction. In all, 634 head sold for $57,715,000 for an average of $91,033 and a median of $50,000.

The OBS Spring sale will be held Tuesday through Friday, with bidding beginning each day at 10:30 a.m.

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Lucan Bloodstock Springs into Action

Karl Keegan, who has spent the last 15 years building his resume in Ocala, decided it was time to strike out on his own last fall when he officially launched Lucan Bloodstock. Following a successful sales debut in March, the operation will offer its second consignment at the upcoming Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Keegan, the son of a jockey, first found his love of horses in his hometown of Lucan, just south of Dublin. After serving as a work rider for trainers like John Gosden, Stanley House and Henry Cecil, the Irishman relocated to the U.S. in the early 1990s to work with Buckram Oak.

He eventually settled in New York where he would ride for trainers like Neil Drysdale, Bobby Frankel and Scott Lake in the morning before working as a valet in the afternoons.

“I've worked in many different areas within the horse racing industry throughout my lifetime,” Keegan said. “A very important 15 years of that time was spent on New York's major racetracks like Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga. It was there that I gained a ton of experience working alongside some

great horsemen.”

Keegan eventually made his way down to Ocala where he spent nine years as assistant trainer and manager at GoldMark Farm, followed by a five-year stint as trainer and manager at All in Line Stables.

“In 2006, my family and I moved to Ocala and I began my journey into the farm and training of young horses,” Keegan recalled. “Within that time I was also involved in pinhooking with some friends and went on to manage a consignment under All In Line Stables. After a couple of years of doing that and gaining the respect and support of my peers in the industry, in

September of 2020, I decided to launch Lucan Bloodstock.”

The name of the operation is obviously an homage to Keegan's hometown.

“Lucan was where I first discovered my love for horses, so I thought the name was fitting,” he said.

While he was kept busy this past week with six sessions of the under-tack show at OBS, Keegan is intent on offering his clients a full range of services.

“Our primary focus is to provide the highest quality of care and horsemanship for all horses that pass through our gates,” Keegan said. “We are a full-service facility which prides itself on meeting the specific needs of each individual horse; be it training, rehab or sales. We are able to do all of these things

because of hard work and dedication with a reliable staff and a top-notch facility.”

Lucan Bloodstock is based at Oak Ridge Training Center in Morriston.

“Oak Ridge has a one-mile dirt track, a seven-eighths turf course and plenty of paddock turnout,” Keegan said. “We also have our own swimming pool and cold water spa and there are plans for a new seven-eighths of a mile Celebration Bermuda turf course as well.”

Lucan Bloodstock made its debut as a consignor at last month's OBS March sale. The operation sold four juveniles in March, led by a $290,000 son of Twirling Candy (hip 30).

“We were very happy with the outcome of the March sale and we are working extremely hard to have a successful April sale also,” Keegan said.

Lucan Bloodstock brings a 19-horse consignment to the April sale. Among the group, a filly by Nyquist (hip 566) shared the :10 flat bullet during Wednesday's under-tack session. A colt by Speightster (hip 1196) worked a furlong in :10 flat Saturday.

A trio of juveniles from the consignment worked in :21 flat: a colt by Classic Empire (hip 208, video); a filly by Dark Angel (Ire) (hip 215, video); and a filly by More Than Ready (hip 414, video). “We have a solid group of horses with a few standouts that

have breezed very well over the past few days of the breeze show,” Keegan said of his April consignment. “We feel that we will be able to meet many of the buyers needs. We would love to add to our existing client base and continue to offer the best service possible.”

The OBS Spring sale will be held Tuesday through Friday with sessions beginning daily at 10:30 a.m.

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Violence Colt Swiftest at OBS Thursday

A colt by Violence (hip 641) became the seventh horse of the week to work in under :10 seconds when he secured the furlong bullet time of :9 4/5 during Thursday's fourth session of the under-tack show ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The bay colt is consigned to the Spring sale by Raul Reyes's King's Equine as agent for his breeder, Aaron and Marie Jones LLC.

The colt will be making his second trip through the sales ring next week in Ocala after RNA'ing for $27,000 at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

“We weren't getting enough for him as a yearling, we didn't think,” explained the Jones's longtime advisor Frank Taylor. “So Mrs. Jones decided to take him to the 2-year-old sale.”

Taylor continued, “Mrs. Jones usually has about 10 foals a year and usually there is one or two that we don't get enough for and we'll send to Raul to get ready for the 2-year-old sales.”

The colt is out of C'Mon Sister (Successful Appeal), who is a half-sister to multiple Grade I winner Iotapa (Afleet Alex).

“He's a very scopey, two-turn looking horse,” Taylor said. “He's from a heck of a family, there are a lot of good horses in that family.”

Of the colt's bullet breeze, Taylor said, “He's been training great all winter and Raul thought he was going to do really good. So we weren't overly surprised, but :9 4/5 is awful good. He had an amazing breeze. We are obviously very happy it and now we're hoping to have some luck in the ring. Hopefully he'll continue on to be a top horse.”

A colt by Pioneerof the Nile (hip 786) turned in Thursday's fastest quarter-mile breeze, covering the distance in :20 4/5 for consignor Eddie Woods. The dark bay colt is out of Fancy Day (Ire) (Shamardal), who is a daughter of graded winner Tizdubai (Cee's Tizzy). Tizdubai is a full-sister to champion Tiznow.

Bred by WinStar Farm, the juvenile RNA'd for $145,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

The under-tack show continues through Saturday, with each session beginning at 8 a.m. The Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday and bidding begins each day at 10:30 a.m.

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