Supplemental Entries to OBS Sale Present Opportunity

Like any Thoroughbred auction consignor with a large supply of stock remaining to be sold during the final month of the yearling sale season, Stuart Morris welcomes any opportunity to present his offerings to the public.

Morris is among the largest consignors to embrace the addition of supplemental entries to the Ocala Breeders' Sales' October Yearling Sale, held Oct. 8-9 at the OBS sale pavilion and headquarters near Ocala, Fla.

OBS' sale is actually two sales in one, with the sale company offering 225 yearlings during the Selected Yearling Sale that begins at noon Tuesday. There are 422 head cataloged in the Open Yearling Sale, set to begin at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Included in the selected sale are 21 supplemental entries, with 29 added to the open sale.

Having the ability to enter yearlings late offers a viable market for horses bought at summer auctions and are being pinhooked into the OBS sale, were entered but withdrawn from previous yearling sales, or were bought back as a result of being overlooked by buyers or having an issue that precluded them from being at their best

"The opportunity to have another venue to market a horse, particularly in Ocala where the market is very valid and very strong, adds a dynamic to the sale," said Morris, who is represented by 17 of the supplements. "The Keeneland September sale was a good sale but it was a very big sale and a lot of times horses can get missed. A nice horse can have a bad day or get sick on the one day of showing and get missed and they come here. The marketplace accepts these addendum horses as if it was their first time through the ring; there doesn't seem to be a stigma. Plus the ability to sell a horse on such short notice is a great opportunity for us."

"We were delighted with the response to the supplemental entry program a year ago, in both the quality of the offerings and their reception in the marketplace," said OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski. "We have again cataloged a number of horses perhaps not shown at their best advantage earlier in the season, but the additional time to mature should enhance their appeal."

Considering it is a reliably solid venue, Morris said most of his horses in the regular catalog were bought specifically to be sold at OBS' fall sale or were late foals that needed additional time to develop.

"My main catalog consignment is a mixture of horses that were planned to come here and some that had illness or injury and came here as a secondary market," he said. "But the market down here is very reliable and good. The bulk of these are in a sale for the first time."

Topped by a Cairo Prince  colt sold by Morris for $340,000, last year's select sale saw 138 yearlings sell for a $5,658,000 gross, an average of $41,000, and a $28,000 median. The two 2018 open sessions were topped by a Kantharos  colt sold by Summerfield for $190,000 as 296 head averaged $13,090 on total receipts of $3,874,750, with a $7,000 median price.

Morris said pre-sale inspections have been steady and he expects the market to be similar to previous yearling sales this year.

The consignment includes two yearlings with major updates to their female families since the catalog was printed. Hip 58 is a Kitten's Joy  half brother to Catch a Bid, winner of the Riskaverse Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Chance It, the 7 1/4-length winner of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes In Reality Division at Gulfstream Park, is a half brother to Hip 199, a colt by Prospective . 

"There has been good traffic at the barn and what we feel like is a good reception to what we're offering," Morris said. "So far, for us, it feels like it's par for the course here in Ocala. There is probably a little more diversification in sires (of yearlings) than you get in some other sales, but the quality of horses and buyer base is similar to other October sales. It feels like a regular sale and I think it will be as strong and consistent as it has been in past years. There are plenty of nice horses here and there is a lot of money left in the markets."

According to OBS, 98 yearling sale graduates (either sold or bought back after going through the ring) have won or placed in 212 stakes since the beginning of 2018, with 49 posting 76 stakes victories, winning or placing in 39 graded stakes.

Included among the 27 sale graduates that have surpassed the $1 million mark in earnings is Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, and Bethlehem Stables' World of Trouble , who is featured on the sale catalog's front cover. The 4-year-old Florida-bred colt by Kantharos , who went unsold on a final bid of $10,000 when consigned by Darsan to the 2016 yearling sale when it was held in August, has won five straight consecutive stakes, including the Jaipur Invitational Stakes (G1T) and Carter Handicap (G1). He has compiled a 9-2-1 career record from 13 starts and earned $1,263,300 to date.

Featured on the back cover is Rockingham Ranch and Gelfenstein Farm's X Y Jet, winner of the $2.5 million Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News (G1) at Meydan in March. The 7-year-old Florida-bred son of Kantharos, trained by Jorge Navarro, has a record of 12-7-2 in 25 starts and earnings of $3,095,513. He was consigned to the 2013 August yearling sale by Two Sharp Hats and sold for $56,000.