The Ocala Breeders' Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training concluded April 19 with new records for average price and median price and featured a $1.9 million sale topper by first-crop sire Tiz the Law.
The OBS sale of 2-year-olds in training brought the curtain down April 19 on its four-day run with an $850,000 daughter of Nyquist selling to Donato Lanni, agent for Charles and Susan Chu's Baoma Corp., to top the final session.
The dark bay or brown filly, who will be trained by Bob Baffert, is out of the unraced Tapit mare Amagansett. Consigned by Wavertree Stables, she hails from the family of group 1 winner and European champion Fasliyev and was bred in Kentucky by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds. A $200,000 yearling purchase by Allstar Bloodstock at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the filly breezed a furlong in :09 4/5 at the under tack preview.
Topping the sale overall was Hip 365, a first-crop daughter of Tiz the Law who sold in the April 17 second session for $1.9 million to Lanni, agent for Michael Lund Petersen. Consigned by Tom McCrocklin, the popular youngster turned heads during the under tack preview, zipping a quarter-mile in a track record-tying :20 1/5.
Acquired by McCrocklin for $170,000 out of the Highgate Sales consignment at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the filly is out of the stakes-placed Sky Mesa mare Moonlight Sky, a half sister to 2017 champion 3-year-old filly Abel Tasman and a full sister to graded stakes winner Sky Girl. CHC bred the Spring Sale topper in Kentucky, and she will be trained by Baffert.
"Once in a blue moon we get blessed with a special horse like her," shared McCrocklin. "She has everything I want in a horse. She has the physical conformation, pedigree, ability, and is a natural athlete. She stuck out here. It was hard for her to go unnoticed. Obviously, they found her."
Following a pedestrian third session April 18, a day that saw 114 outs from 302 horses cataloged, business picked up noticeably in the final session. All told for the final day, 141 head changed hands for gross receipts of $19,701,500, good for an average of $139,727. The median came in at $65,000, and 37 horses failed to meet their reserves. Outs again numbered more than 100 in Friday's session.
For the entire sale, 633 juveniles sold for a total amount of $82,086,500, compared with $90,405,000 last year. The average price of $129,679 set a Spring Sale record, topping the 2022 standard of $129,577 and last year's average price of $129,335. This year's median price was $70,000, also a Spring Sale record; the median was $65,000 in 2023. A total of 149 horses did not sell this year, representing a buy-back rate of 19%.
Tod Wojciechowski, director of sales for OBS, said of the record results, "We felt like it really picked up here at the end of the four-day stretch. It felt good. Certainly, disappointed in the (number of) outs. There were certainly a lot of outs over the four days. Something we'll address in the future, but all in all it was a good sale. We were bumping up against a record gross, so we were within striking distance of it."
In addressing the large number of outs, Wojciechowski said, "There are multiple factors that go into that decision from sellers. Sometimes, they feel like they don't have any action or whatever, but sometimes there is just a disconnect."
At the conclusion of the final session, consignor Niall Brennan offered his observations of this week's market.
"I think the stats speak for themselves," Brennan said. "It's been very hit and miss. Same old story, really. It's been a tough market. You have to have the real goods, and they have to be very fast on the racetrack. There is a lot of controversy about this right now. But the reality is that the buyers buy what goes really fast. So, it's a boot camp.
"There are a lot less people around," Brennan added. "For OBS April (Spring Sale), this is usually a smorgasbord. It's always very well-attended and there are usually buyers all across the board. The reality is there are fewer people buying 2-year-olds. And listen, it's an election year, and people slow down on spending, historically, in an election year. That's probably a small factor, but we just don't have these conversations in the September sales or the yearling sales because there are people from all over the place buying horses. It just seems like the buying bench has narrowed.
"Then again, the horses that don't show up, in fairness, the buyers don't want them. They don't look like athletes if they don't breeze well. This week, the horses that people liked sold very well. There is a market for them and we're seeing that. It was a bit soft yesterday, but it was a little better today. Overall, the market has been a bit soft."
Agents John Kimmel and Nick Sallusto, who signed for a $725,000 McKinzie colt in Friday's session, offered their takes on the market during the Spring Sale.
"Spotty," Kimmel noted. "But it did seem like the ones we were interested in didn't have any trouble finding buyers."
Sallusto added of the market, "The quality was pursued heavily. And anything not perceived as top quality struggled. It's more of the same, maybe a little bit more than usual."
Topping the consignor rankings for the Spring Sale was de Meric Sales, which sold 45 horses to the tune of $8,950,000. Wavertree Stables followed, finding new homes for 36 head on sales of $6,359,500.
Next up on the OBS calendar is the June 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale slated for June 11-13. The under tack previews will take place June 3-8.
