OBS March Sale concludes to notable gains

The final session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company March Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded on Wednesday, boasting solid results. Early in the day a filly by Munnings stepped into the sales ring, and rapid-fire bidding commenced, stopping at $1 million with a final bid signalled by Donato Lanni, agent for Frank Fletcher Racing Operations.

Out of the winning Smart Strike mare In Full Compliance , the bay filly, consigned as Hip 558 by Tom McCrocklin, agent, breezed a quarter-mile during the under tack show, stopping the clock in :20 4/5. Bred in Kentucky by Springhouse Farm, this was the second trip through the sales ring for the filly who sold during the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale for $450,000 to McCrocklin, agent for Champion Equine.

"Solid all the way through; we had quality horses each day," Tod Wojciechowski, OBS director of sales said. "We sold five horses for over $1 million, and the gross is up substantially. Which you would expect with more horses, but still, there were a lot of good horses. Consignors continue to bring quality horses to the sale, and they get rewarded for it."

The final session saw 150 horses trade hands of the 186 through the ring for gross receipts of $23,945,000, good for an average price of $159,633 and a median of $80,000. Thirty-six horses failed to meet their reserve to represent an RNA rate of 19.4 per cent.

"The median held to exactly what it was last year at $75,000," said Wojciechowski about the three-day sale overall. "We saw some middle market here, and there always seems to be a flight to quality, the upper end of the market. There was strength all the way through."

Session three leaders include consignor Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, which sold seven horses for gross receipts of $3,517,000. Japanese trainer Hideyuki Mori made three purchases on the final day for $1,320,000 to be the session's leading buyer by gross.

Last year's sale consisted of two sessions and 200 fewer horses. During Wednesday's final session, 11 horses sold for $500,000 or more, each with a distinct buyer.

Over the past three days of selling, OBS reports 460 horses sold of the 585 through the ring for gross figures of $71,110,500. An average price of $154,588 and a median of $75,000. The overall buy-back rate of 21.4 per cent represented 125 juveniles that failed to meet their reserves.

"The number of outs was down slightly in percentage from last year, 29 per cent this year to 31 per cent last year," Wojciechowski said. "The RNA rate was up a little bit from last year, the RNA rates from last year were pretty amazing, but we ended this year at 21.4 per cent, not an unhealthy number."

During last year's two sessions, OBS recorded 374 horses changed hands of the 431 offered for gross receipts of $49,271,000. The average was $131,741 and the median $75,000. Fifty-seven horses failed to attain their reserves, which produced an RNA rate of 13.2 per cent.

Over the past three days, de Meric Sales sold 39 head for gross receipts of $6,267,000 to be the leading consignor by gross. Lanni purchased two horses to be the sale's leading buyer by gross, spending $3,000,000.

"It's been tough; I have been outbid mostly," agent Lauren Carlisle said. "I got one on day two, but it's been tough on the colts. The one I got yesterday was a filly, and that's the only reason I was able to get her. People are focusing on the boys. If people don't think they are the top [horses], it looks like they are dropping off [in price]. Maybe the middle market will return in April with more middle buyers."

The first two days started slowly, but we saw fireworks with seven-figure horses daily. Day one produced a $1.2 million Justify colt sold to Maverick Racing and Siena Farm. During day two, Lanni took the bidding to $2 million to acquire a son by Good Magic for Zedan Racing Stable; Katsumi Yoshida spent $1.05 million for the full brother to Grade 1 winner Cave Rock by Arrogate; and, Sean Flanagan paid $1 million for a colt by Twirling Candy. In total, 25 horses sold at or above $500,000.

"People continue to coalesce around the same horses," Off the Hook's Joe Appelbaum commented. "Because of the prices at the top of the market, you see people less willing to take risks."

This year the OBS March Sale expanded from two sessions to three with the addition of 200 horses, leaving speculation as to where these additional horses came from. Fasig-Tipton cancelled The Gulfstream Sale, it's select sale of two-year-olds in training held on the dirt at Gulfstream Park in March, so some horses have been shuffled to one of the OBS sales in March, April, or June, or the Fasig-Tipton sales in May and June.

"I think there are different factors," Wojciechowski said. "Yes, we might have picked up some horses that would have gone to Miami in years past. The success of the runners from this sale, winning worldwide, is what's driven the international market. You see those guys participating at the upper levels every day of the sale. I think most of the growth is organic for the March sale, as the horses being sold here are going on and winning at the racetrack. Ultimately if these horses don't go win, people won't be interested in shopping here."

"The bigger thing is reorienting the two-year-old sales calendar," Appelbaum said. "This used to be the third sale in the sequence. Now, it's the first, and we will have most of the two-year-olds sold in May and June. What does that say? What are the implications for the rest of the racing schedule and the pinhooking schedule? That's a bigger carry to carry the horses to June. Instead of carrying them to March, now it will be an additional 30 per cent. There are a lot of questions but not a lot of answers." 

"I can only speak for myself because we've all had different experiences here," consignor Cary Frommer said. "My experience showed that the market is all or nothing; there is not much in the middle market. The first day was very tough to get through. It got better each day, but it was all or nothing, it seems."

Frommer added: "There have been a lot of changes going into this sale. I don't know how much of the changes to the sale schedule, maybe the economy or the banking issues, but it was tougher than usual."

The next sale for the Central Florida sales house will be the Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training held on April 25-28, with an under tack preview on April 16-22.

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