OBS March Faces New Challenges Amidst COVID-19 Fears

On a balmy morning the day before the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, the action on the grounds had picked up as buyers spread out to take their last looks before horses head through the ring March 17. 

With markedly less bystanders milling about than in past years, those looking had plenty of room Monday morning to examine horses without having to be overly conscious of practicing "social distancing." Many of the faces making the rounds included the most recognizable agents and trainers in the game, shopping what some worry could be the only 2-year-old in training sale open to the public until mid-April. 

"It's been very light, but everyone's doing the best they can here," said Becky Thomas of Sequel Bloodstock, whose consignment saw a steady stream of buyers Monday morning. "Frankly, the COVID-19 concerns, obviously, have translated into our financial market. I'd say there's more people that have financial concerns secondary to this year's panic that we're seeing because of COVID-19. We're all hoping to get back on track soon. I think it's a great buying opportunity for a lot of people that are here and hopefully the agents will get on the phone because it is certainly a much less attended event."

But while the threat of COVID-19—which continues to force the closure of venues across the world—may be alive and well in Central Florida, consignors remain hopeful headed into Tuesday's auction that the presence of so many essential players will help stave off the panic just a few more days to make sure the season's first juveniles land in the right hands. 

"I find it's actually been very typical. We were very busy yesterday with the popular horses," said Tom McCrocklin, who has seven juveniles entered in the OBS sale. "The less popular horses weren't out very much, but I did not perceive a significant difference. Now the one thing I will say is that most of our activity was by agents. So my question is when these agents get on the phone tonight and they call their prospective clients, how are they going to respond? Are you wanting to play the game right now?  Are you wanting to buy a horse? Agents are certainly motivated because they're trying to make a living. The question is the end user that's writing the check. Is he going to show up and play ball? I cannot answer that."

Returning to Ocala for the first time in several years is veteran horseman Al Pike, who is hoping the agents will be enough to turn a profit on this three-horse consignment entered in the March 18 second session. Pike, who trains primarily in Louisiana, said he and his partners targeted the OBS sale because of the high propensity of expert horsemen who heavily shop the grounds each year.

"I don't really have a feel for what is going to happen tomorrow," said Pike. "I haven't been down here in Ocala in several years so I didn't know what to expect but there are plenty of guys here that want good horses. I'm hoping for good things. We're worried to death about the economy, particularly the stock market, but what can I do? I can't do anything about it but bring a good horse and hope that someone wants him." 

Among Pike's horses being offered during the two-day sale is Hip 358, an Outwork  colt who impressed during the under tack show when he breezed a quarter-mile in :10 flat. Bred in Kentucky by Vincent Colbert, Hip 358 is out of the Speightstown  mare Riding Point. His third dam is Meghan's Joy, who produced graded stakes winners Ironicus , On Leave, Norumbega, and Quiet Harbor. 

"He's been very popular because he worked so fast in the fourth set. There wasn't a :10 flat all day after the first set so he's been very popular and he's a very nice horse. We're very proud, we handpicked this bunch to comeback to Ocala with and we're very happy with them," said Pike. "We want to try and sell here in Ocala because I know how good the horsemen are here." 

Hoping to persuade buyers to spend big in the coming days is Crystal Ryan, who operates Mason Springs consignment with her husband Marcus. The March sale is the first foray into the Ocala market for the couple, who have previously only sold horses in the Midlantic region. 

"With it being our first time at OBS, I wasn't sure what to expect especially with people not traveling as much," said Ryan. "But we have so many good agents here. I don't see why people who aren't traveling or who are under the travel ban can't send someone good to help them out." 

Mason Springs has entered two horses to the OBS sale. Their pair include a Not This Time  filly (Hip 486), who hit the buyer's radar with a quarter-mile work in :10 1/5. Bred in Kentucky out of the Offlee Wild mare Tremendamente Loca, the bay filly is from the female family of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Monarchos. 

"I feel very optimistic," said Ryan, pointed out that racing, while it may currently being running spectator-less, is well-suited to survive the closures that have plagued almost every professional indoor sporting event. "Racing has also been picking up. Why wouldn't people want to buy racehorses right now? With all the racing we have and people upping the purses to try and beat each other out it seems like a good time." 

During last year's sale OBS reported 306 horses sold from 577 cataloged for gross receipts of $44,248,500. The gross was up 5% over the 2018 gross of $42,275,000 for 257 horses sold. while the $144,603 average represented a decline of 12.1% from the $164,494 figure achieved in 2018. 

As the first 2-year-old sale of the year, the OBS March sale often serves as an important indicator for the state of the market. With the stock market in constant fluctuation as the threat of COVID-19 begins to disrupt the world's economies, this year's sale could instead be an outlier in a market working to mitigate the anxiety of the unknown. 

As of the end of day on Monday, 149 horses had been withdrawn from the March sale. The auction is slated to begin Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. EST. 

"To try and predict what is going to happen is difficult," said OBS president Tom Ventura. "We don't have any track record or any past performances selling in this kind of environment. There has certainly been a lot of activity on the grounds, and we have seen many prominent buyers down here. But we are also in a different world today than we were in two weeks ago. We feel the best thing to do at this stage of the game is to let the horses have the opportunity to work out on the track and for the buyers to come here as long as we're here to give everyone an opportunity to do business. I expect it will be challenging and there will be horses that will sell well, but there are things out of our control that make it very difficult to predict.

"The one good thing, especially with 2-year-old sales, is that the workouts are streamed live and distributed on our website, on YouTube and elsewhere so people get to at least see the horses if they can't be here physically. We'd much rather have the principles rather than just the agents here to buy but a lot of homework can get done on these sales, which I think that has been happening. I have concerns, like everyone else does, that what is happening around us will impact the sale. We are cognizant of the situation and working with the consignors so that if they run the horse through the ring and doesn't get sold, there will be other opportunities down the road, and we will try and help minimize their expenses along the way." 

Christine Oser contributed to this report.