Business Picks Up Where it Left Off at OBS Spring Sale

If it weren't the masked employees manning the doors, the plethora of hand-sanitizing stations, and the copious signage asking patrons to please respect social distance protocols, the June 9 opening session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training looked much the same as it always has. 

Delayed to June from its traditional April date on the juvenile sales calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the four-day sale did not want for foot traffic on Tuesday. Many of the biggest bloodstock agents, trainers, and horsemen based on this side of the Atlantic were on hand and shopping the auction for quality individuals and a few bargain buys. 

From 192 horses offered on Tuesday, 133 were sold through the ring for gross receipts of $12,166,500. The 59 that went unsold represented an RNA rate of 30.7%. The average came to $91,477 and the median was $50,000. 

In 2019, a total of 211 horses were offered of which 166 sold during the first session for receipts of $15,346,000. The average price was $92,446 and the median was $55,000. The 45 that went unsold during last year's renewal represented an RNA rate of 21.3%. 

"I didn't have expectations on what the numbers would be like," said OBS president Tom Ventura. "We had nothing to gauge it on, so I didn't have a good feel to where I could project with any kind of confidence. With what happened today, and I hope it continues the next three days, we will be very happy if we land in this spot where our average is close to what we did last year. 

"The object is to keep the cycle going, get the 2-year-olds sold, and get the horses to the racetrack to fill races. We have three Eclipse Award winners on the cover of our catalog, we have a tremendous catalog with every sire you can think of, and we are thrilled with the horses we have to offer. It all comes down to us having a sale and doing all we can to make it easy for people to buy and sell horses." 

Capping off the opening session was a $750,000 Ghostzapper  colt named Esqwire that was purchased by Ben McElroy, agent for Arman Shah, son of Kaleem Shah. Consigned as Hip 1250 by Sequel Bloodstock, agent, the colt was bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings. 

"We are delighted," said Becky Thomas of Sequel. "Kaleem Shah has been extremely active in our sport and to have someone of his caliber buying here is great. He's had a lot of grade 1 success and I hope that continues with this one. Simon (Callaghan) and Ben did a lot of work checking many, many times to see how the horse was but we're just absolutely delighted." 

Out of the Smart Strike mare Roberta Turner, Hip 1250 is from the female family of grade 3 winners Ever So Clever and In Conference. The colt breezed an eighth-mile in a speedy :09 4/5 during the under tack show. 

"Ben McElroy selected the horse and he loved the horse every step of the way," said Kaleem Shah. "We hope he lives up to his breeding as well as the breeze show performance. I was told Bob Baffert was the under bidder so he pushed me. We have a few others at this sale in mind so we will see what happens." 

Adding another layer to the buying structure on Tuesday was the addition of online bidding. Introduced through the OBS website ahead of the start of the sale, patrons who were unable or unwilling to attend the auction could create credentials through the auction website, establish credit, and buy remotely. While it took the auctioneers a few rounds of bidding to work out the kinks, the process proved successful with several six-figure horses purchased digitally from the ring. 

Two of the top-performing online bids went to Hip 179 and Hip 282, which were purchased for $350,00 and $300,000, respectively. 

Consigned by Mayberry Farm, agent, Hip 179 is a Munnings  filly out of the Sky Mesa  mare Mylitta. Purchased by Live Oak Plantation, the filly was bred in Kentucky by Edward Seltzer. 

Hip 282, an Into Mischief  filly consigned by Gene Recio, agent, fell the way of D. J. Stable. Out of the Tapit  mare Prancing, the filly—named Speeding—was bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds. 

Ventura said the sales company was pleased that they could offer online bidding to patrons and was more than happy with the opening day's results for those who opted to use the system. 

"Initially I think we had to get the auctioneer, the internet bidding, and the operator of the internet bidding in sync," said Ventura. "I think from the user's perspective that went very smoothly. We sold several horses on the internet at different price ranges and we couldn't be happier based on where we were from the time the March sale ended to this sale. 

"We've put a lot of time and effort into getting this up and running. The company that we use is Xcira Auction Technologies. They're based in Tampa but they're an international company. We were the first sale here to have the online live auction for horses and we're very happy with it. The most important thing in the world in our business is our business, but they jumped in with us and put in a lot of time and effort to get this up and running in a short period of time." 

Ventura said the bidding attracted over 100 registered users but was open to only those who had established a line of credit with the office. In time, the team hopes to continue to open up the platform. 

For their part, consignors seemed relieved that business had resumed without thought of any further interruptions. Many remained hopeful that trade would continue to improve throughout the week now that buyers had a better first impression of the market's current direction. 

"I think it will take a little time for people to get back to business again," said Randy Hartley of Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds. "I think people will feel more comfortable, it will just take them a while to warm up. People haven't spent money in awhile and now all of a sudden they're spending money and they want to see how it's going and how much they'll have to spend. If we get rolling again and the market starts doing good, I think by Friday they'll be scrambling for horses." 

"I think a lot of people were just happy to have the sale get started," said OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski. "I think it took awhile for people to get their sea legs, to remember this is what we do and this is how we do business, but I think we will probably see that improve as the week goes on."