Consignors are heading into North America's first juvenile sale of the year at the three-day Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale optimistic for positives returns from the 814 horses cataloged.
"I think the market's pretty strong," said Dean DeRenzo of Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds. "We've got the right buyers here, and horses that have come out of the sale in the past have made great horses and champions. We've got really good professional people out here looking at them."
The sale will be held March 11-13, with the start of the first session pushed back to 1 p.m. ET, due to a consolidation of the under tack show works caused by high winds last week. The delayed start gives buyers more time with their inspections. The sale's second and third sessions each begins at 11 a.m.
The three-day under tack show produced two eighth-mile performances in :09 3/5, the fastest time at the distance. The horses producing those times are Hip 654, a gray or roan colt by Gun Runner consigned by Eddie Woods, agent, and Hip 446, a filly by Caracaro , consigned by On The Run Stables.
Hip 654 is the first foal out of the Liam's Map mare Tynan, making her a half sister to graded stakes winners and sire Pappcap and Boppy O. He was bred in Kentucky by PTK.
Five horses breezed a quarter-mile in :20 2/5 to tie for the fastest time at the distance. These included Hip 325, a colt by Midshipman consigned by Caliente Thoroughbreds, agent; Hip 364, a colt by Mor Spirit consigned by Pick View, agent; Hip 505, a filly by Leinster consigned by Tom McCrocklin, agent; Hip 601, a filly by Charlatan out of the grade 1-placed mare Sweet Shirley Mae and consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, agent; and, Hip 619, a filly by Aurelius Maximus consigned by Halcyon Hammock Farm, agent.
First-crop sires are expected to be in demand. Charlatan and Yaupon have set themselves apart from the pack, with Charlatan having a colt and a filly breeze a furlong in :09 4/5, and Yaupon having four juveniles breeze an eighth in :09 4/5.
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"Obviously there is always excitement about the first 2-year-old sale of the year," said consignor Niall Brennan. "It's a new crop of horses and sires and people are anxious to get a look. I think there was a good crowd at the breeze show. I don't think we're going to see anything different. I think the horses that appear to have quality and who obviously worked fast on the racetrack, they're going to get looked at and they're going to sell very well.
"I think you have to take a lot of confidence (from the yearling results) because people want horses … and that is very healthy," Brennan continued. "We have a presence and people love it. There was a huge crowd for the (March 8) Tampa Bay Derby, people were animated and passionate. And I don’t think that changes."
The three-day sale starts with Hip 1-272 on March 11, followed by 273-544 Wednesday, and Hips 545-814 Thursday.
Last year's sale saw 454 head sell for $65,239,100, with an average of $143,698 and a $72,000 median. The buy-back rate was 19%, representing the 145 horses that failed to meet their reserves. Trainer Hideyuki Mori was the sale's leading buyer, with 10 purchases totaling $2,695,000. The leading consignor was De Meric Sales, with 42 sold from its draft for $6,880,100.
The top-priced horse was Nooni, a filly by Win Win Win , who is now a graded stakes winner and was bought by agent Donato Lanni for Zedan Racing for $1.8 million from the Ocala Stud consignment. Nooni was bred the O'Farrell family that owns Ocala Stud. Other notable graduates of last year's sale were Ferocious and Sandman, who are both multiple graded stakes-placed. Ferocious, a colt by Flatter, sold for $1.3 million to Marquee Bloodstock from Sequel Bloodstock's consignment, and Sandman, a colt by Tapit was a $1.2 million purchase by Lane's End Bloodstock on behalf of West Point Thoroughbreds, D.J. Stable, and CJ Stable from consignor Tom McCrocklin. Sandman recently ran third behind Coal Battle in the Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park Feb. 23.
Last year's March sale produced four graded stakes winners, and 62 stakes races were won by 2024 March OBS graduates, the most wins since 2017, when graduates from that sale produced 82 stakes wins, according to OBS records.
White Abarrio, a graduate of the 2021 March sale sold for $40,000 to Carlos L. Perez from the Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds consignment won the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and the 2025 Pegasus World Cup (G1), stamping himself as one of the top older horses in the country. He has career earnings of $6,879,850.
As of Monday evening, OBS has reported 64 outs for the first session.
