Big sales have a way of sorting things out, and in terms of quantity and quality, there is no bigger 2-year-old auction on the calendar than the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Spring Sale.
The number of sires eligible for consideration in the Power Rankings has grown from 39 after the Texas 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale to a whopping 90 after we passed the season's midway point. We finished with 94 last year, and I expect we'll blow that number out of the water by the time the last horse goes through the ring in 2023.
With so many new names just now achieving eligibility status for the rankings, we've got some pretty significant movement from our last check-in, and some major names in the stud book who just didn't have enough horses go through the sale in earlier installments have finally entered the chat. There is still plenty of sale season left to go, but this is when we'll really get a look at who the true players are.
As a reminder, here are the requirements to qualify for the Power Rankings. If you notice a sire is missing from the list, it's almost definitely because they didn't hit one of these marks:
1) At least five horses sold during a major 2023 juvenile sale, regardless of distance breezed.
2) At least five horses that breezed an eighth of a mile, whether they sold or not (as much as I love a good quarter-mile breeze, there just aren't enough horses doing them to make a fair average).
Also important to note: For the sake of calculating averages, I stretched out each breeze time from fifths to tenths. If you see a :9.8 time somewhere, do not adjust your stopwatches.
Let's get a look at those rankings…
#1 Justify, Ashford Stud
After finishing first in last year's Power Rankings, Justify returned to the top of the mountain in the first installment where he met the eligibility requirements.
The Justifys have blazed over the track during this season's breeze shows, averaging an eighth-mile time of :10-flat. Seriously. I went back and checked just in case I crunched the numbers incorrectly. Of his 10 juveniles to work at that distance in 2023, four went in 9.8 seconds, which tied for the third-most among eligible sires. Another three worked in :10-flat, and none of his juveniles to go under the stopwatch to date have gone any slower than 10.4 seconds.
This continues a trend Justify established last year with his debut crop, which also finished atop the rankings by average breeze time, at 10.120 seconds.
Justify sits in fifth by median sale price, at $300,000, led by Tennessee, a colt who hammered to Maverick Racing and Siena Farms for $1.2 million at the OBS March sale; the auction's second-highest price.
The dark bay or brown colt, offered as Hip 215, is out of the Grade 3-placed Smart Strike mare Zinzay, whose foals of note includes Grade 1-placed stakes winner Moon Over Miami. He breezed an eighth in :10-flat during the under-tack show for consignor Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds.
#2 Speightstown, WinStar Farm
A top-10 sire in last year's Power Rankings, Speightstown enters this year's rankings even hotter.
Speightstown's under-tack horses carried the most weight to this position, with his average of :10.133 seconds ranking him sixth. Among them was a filly who went an eighth in 9.6 seconds at the OBS Spring sale to tie for the fastest time at the distance.
That filly, offered as Hip 1012 from the consignment of Scanlon Training and Sales, agent for Excel Bloodstock, is out of the Grade 3-placed Ghostzapper mare Spooky Woods, and she hails from the family of Arabian Knight. She sold to Bradley Thoroughbreds, agent, for $485,000.
That filly is also Speightstown's most expensive offering of the season so far, helping propel his median sale price to $250,000; ninth-best of the class so far.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.#3 – Omaha Beach, Spendthrift Farm
Omaha Beach is still waiting for his first starter to enter the gate, but in the meantime, his sale horses are providing a lot of excitement.
The son of War Front boasts the most sub-:10 second workers through the end of the OBS Spring Sale, with seven. Five of those came at the OBS Spring Sale, all going in 9.8 seconds. Those fast times propelled Omaha Beach to third by average breeze time, at :10.117 seconds.
His median sale price of $200,000 placed him 13th in that category, led by a $700,000 filly secured by Clay Scherer, agent, at the OBS Spring Sale. Offered as Hip 532 from the Wavertree Stables consignment, the filly is out of the winning Smart Strike mare Intelyhente, who is also the dam of stakes-placed Count Alexander. She was one of Omaha Beach's sub-:10 workers during this year's sale.
#4 – Into Mischief, Spendthrift Farm
The commercial paramount of today's Thoroughbred marketplace took a slight dip in the rankings, but it wasn't because his juveniles didn't sell well.
Into Mischief sits at the top of the rankings by median sale price, at $400,000, led by a $1.3-million dollar colt who sold to More Play at the OBS Spring Sale.
Offered as Hip 967, the colt is out of the Grade 3-placed stakes-winning Ministers Wild Cat mare Singing Kitty. He's one of six horses tied for the fastest time for an eighth this season, stopping the clock in 9.6 seconds. Wavertree Stables consigned the colt, as agent.
Into Mischief's average breeze time of :10.192 seconds ranked him 16th in that category. His seven-figure colt spearheaded a trio of sub-:10 workers, joined by six more that breezed in :10-flat.
This crop of 2-year-olds was conceived in 2020, on the heels of Into Mischief's first of what's become four straight years as leading general sire by earnings the previous year. He was getting top-shelf books of mares before this crop, but this was his first formal season of breeding the best to the best, in terms of sire list rankings. For as meteoric as Into Mischief's rise has been, it might be ready to enter warp-speed now that we're seeing the foals conceived at the top of the mountain.
#5 – Malibu Moon, Spendthrift Farm (Deceased)
The second-to-last crop from a pillar of the Spendthrift Farm stud barn is keeping their sire's name in the papers, especially during the breeze show.
Malibu Moon's 12 horses to go under the clock at an eighth of a mile this season have averaged a time of :10.092 seconds, trailing only leader Justify in that category. Two of those offerings went in :9.8 seconds – one each in both OBS March and April – while four more stopped the clock in :10-flat.
There is plenty of sale season to go, but this is a dramatic upswing from Malibu Moon's juveniles of 2022, which averaged a furlong in :10.387 seconds, which ranked the sire 42nd in that category.
Malibu Moon's median sale price of $135,000 ranked him 19th on that measurable, led by a colt that sold for $375,000 at the OBS March Sale. Purchased by Three Amigos and offered as Hip 648, the colt is out of the Grade 3-winning Machiavellian mare Marietta.
That colt breezed an eighth in :10-flat for consignor James Layden, agent.
We'll be back after the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale for the next check-in of the Power Rankings.
The post The 2023 2-Year-Old Sale Sire Power Rankings: Justify Has Arrived After Big OBS Spring Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
