Six juveniles shared the fastest furlong time of :9 4/5 during the fifth session of the under-tack show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in Central Florida Thursday.
Among the sextet was a filly by Enticed (hip 710, video) who is among the first crop of homebreds at Mario Bencomo and Alejandro Esis's New Horizon Farm in Ocala.
Asked if expected a bullet work from the filly, who is the farm's lone entrant in the sale, Bencomo said, “Yes. At the farm she worked really nice and she was always sound. So I expected what I saw today.”
Bencomo, who is involved in e-commerce, grew up around racing in his native Venezuela and returned to the sport when he moved to the U.S. almost 10 years ago.
“My family in Venezuela was always involved in the racehorse industry,” he explained. “I always saw the industry as a hobby, but when I moved to the United States in 2014, I started to do research and try to figure how the industry works here in the U.S.”
Bencomo acquired the 80-acre Morriston, Farm that was formerly Eddie Coletti's Sunrise Stable South in 2021 and has been busy refurbishing the property.
“I bought the farm just 2 1/2 years ago and I've been trying to rebuild it,” he said. “I bought it in pretty bad condition and I've been improving all the buildings, the fences, and the racetrack. And I built a swimming pool.”
New Horizon made its debut at OBS with a pair of pinhooking prospects in March 2021.
“Originally, we started with pinhooking yearlings to 2-year-olds,” Bencomo said. “Now we are moving to homebreds. For the next year, we are going to have 14 or 15 homebreds, by Kentucky and Florida stallions.”
Hip 710 is out of Mooji's Empire (Empire), a mare New Horizon acquired privately. The juvenile is co-bred with CESA Farm.
While only its third year of operation, New Horizon Farm was celebrating its second bullet worker at OBS. The consignment was represented by a filly by Good Magic (hip 984) who worked a quarter in :20 4/5 before selling for $200,000 to trainer Peter Miller on behalf of Kaleem Shah at the 2022 OBS June sale. She had been a $35,000 Keeneland September purchase by New Horizon.
Following next week's auction, New Horizon Farm heads north with a four-horse consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale.
“I am going with four to the Maryland sale,” Bencomo said. “I have two homebreds there and then I am going to keep some for racing.”
Bencomo remains active in the e-commerce industry, but he sees a day when his racing operation will take up much of his time.
“It's still a hobby,” he said of the farm. “But in the near future, I think it will be a profitable business.”
Miles Doubles Up on Bullets Thursday
Randy Miles sent out a pair of fillies to share the bullet furlong Thursday and, at the end of the day, the consignor admitted he was pleasantly surprised by the results.
“We knew they were quick, but most of the time at the 2-year-old sale, you just want them to stay out of trouble and try their hardest and do the best they can possibly do,” Miles said. “They did it today. But sometimes 2-year-olds don't cooperate.”
A daughter of Race Day (hip 719, video) out of the unraced Morning Memo (Morning Line), who is a daughter of graded winner Memorette (Memo {Chi}), worked shortly before 10 a.m. The bay filly was purchased by Miles's Cool Hill Farm for $27,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
“She's a lovely filly and she had a beautiful breeze,” Miles said of the youngster. “She's so easy and classy in the barn. She's really what you want in a horse. Race Day may not be the flavor of the month, but as we all know, he can get you a good race horse. We didn't pay a whole lot for her, but when we saw her, we loved her build and her athleticism.”
A filly from the first crop of Maximus Mischief (hip 728, video) worked just short of noon Thursday. Out of My Rolex (Proud Accolade), the juvenile is a half-sister to stakes-winner It's High Time (Gone Astray) and from the family of Grade I winner Black Seventeen. The Florida-bred RNA'd for $55,000 at last year's OBS October sale and Miles is consigning her on behalf of breeder Tracy Pinchin.
“I have three of them and they are all here at the sale,” Miles said of offspring of graded-winner Maximus Mischief. “They all act like they want to run. They all act precocious. This filly is about 15.3 and I have a colt who is 16.2. And I have one in the middle. So I am getting all shapes and sizes, but I do like their desire to try and to work hard and their mental attitude.”
The pair of Thursday bullets made three on the week for Miles, who sent out a son of Solomini (hip 692) to work in :9 4/5 Wednesday.
“He's just beautiful,” Miles said of the colt. “I generally just let him do his own talking. Everybody who has been by has been impressed with him. We knew he was talented. My partner, Bo Hunt is an excellent trainer and a lot of times when these young horses show that they have speed, we don't breeze them that often. It was about every two weeks to 20 days that we breezed him and he showed it every time.”
Victor Centeno's Two Oaks Equine sent out a filly by Bolt d'Oro (hip 785) to work in :9 4/5 during Thursday's first set of workers. The filly is out of the unraced Petunia (Into Mischief) and was purchased by Centeno for $20,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
A colt by Into Mischief (hip 793) worked in :9 4/5 for Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, which purchased him as a weanling for $350,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale. The bay is out of Pisa No Tiffany (Fusaichi Pegasus), a half-sister to Tapit.
A colt by Army Mule (hip 845) worked in :9 4/5 for Pick View, LLC. The youngster, who sold for $40,000 at the 2022 Keeneland January sale, sold again for $110,000 to Gracie Bloodstock on behalf of Anthony Tate at the Keeneland September sale. The chestnut is out of Raging Atlantic (Stormy Atlantic), a half-sister to Grade I-placed Seven Trumpets (Morning Line).
Four horses shared Thursday's fastest quarter-mile breeze of :21 flat: a colt by Blame (hip 786, video); a filly by Hard Spun (hip 814, video); a colt by Cable Bay (Ire) (hip 847, video); and a colt by No Nay Never (hip 868, video).
“I think those guys have done a great job with the track,” Miles said when asked to assess conditions from session-to-session at the under-tack show this week. “We got a little wind push this afternoon and I think another day they had a good wind push. But overall, trying to keep it consistent from the first set to the last set, I think it's been pretty consistent. And that's hard. This thing is kind of a monster to tame. And they've done a pretty good job with it.”
The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning daily at 8 a.m. The Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday with bidding beginning each day at 10:30 a.m.
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