Distorted Humor Colt Closes OBS July on High Note

A son of Distorted Humor  that was the talk of the Ocala Breeders' Sales 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale lived up to expectations when he was purchased by agent Jacob West for $700,000 to become the sale topper as the auction drew to a close July 16.

Across the three-day sale, OBS reported 521 horses sold from 654 offered for gross receipts of $15,872,800. The average was $30,466 and the median was $13,000. The 133 horses that went unsold represented an RNA rate of 20.3%. Four of those 521 sold were horses of racing age. 

In 2019, OBS reported 615 horses sold for $21,349,300 at an average price of $34,714 and median of $17,000. Nine of the horses sold last year were horses of racing age. 

"Certainly, things were off comparatively, but it's hard to compare it to other years with so much that has gone on," OBS sales director Tod Wojciechowski said. "There were some bright spots and then there were some not-so-bright spots. I think we were fortunate to get the sales off and completed."

The sale topper came late Thursday. Entered in the supplemental catalog as Hip 1027 by the McKathan Brothers consignment, the colt was purchased on behalf of Robert and Lawana Low, West said.

Bred in Kentucky by Three Lyons Racing, HTH Enterprises, and the Distorted Humor Syndicate, the colt is out of the Tizway mare Tizacity. The colt's second dam, stakes winner Vindy City, is a half sister to stakes winner and graded-placed Lady Chace, a daughter of stakes winner Squall City. The female family also includes grade 2 winner and grade 1-placed Bahamian Squall  and grade 3 winner and grade 1-placed Apriority.

West said the colt had a lot going for him, but the under tack show breeze in :10 sealed the deal.

"There were 1,000 horses that breezed for this sale, and I thought he had the best breeze of them all," West said. "When you watched him coming down the lane, you thought he was doing it in :10 1/5 or :10 2/5, he was doing it so easily. He went in :10 and galloped out in :20 1/5 and :34 4/5 and ripped through a half-mile in :46 4/5. It was a 'wow' type of move. When all the stars align like that, the sellers tend to get paid. When you looked at him at the barn, he was as advertised on the track. He had the physique and conformation and obviously has some depth to his pedigree."

West purchased four horses at the OBS auction, ranging in price from $4,000 to $700,000, but declined to speculate on whether the sale topper would have cost more in a market year not disrupted by the coronavirus.

"I was playing in all markets, and there was a horse for everybody here," he said. "It's the old saying that he checked all the boxes and he justified a high price tag. That speaks volumes of the type of horse he was. I can't say that in a normal year he would have brought seven figures. … The price was the price, and that's how we ended up getting him."

Kevin McKathan bought the colt for $165,000 on behalf of Newday TC from Candy Meadows Sales at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale.

"It still shows you that the top end still has plenty of strength," Wojciechowski said. "So it was nice to have that towards the end of the day." 

Also breaching the six-figure mark late Thursday afternoon was Hip 983, a Laoban  colt purchased for $255,000 by Steve Young, agent. Consigned by Coastal Equine, agent, the colt was bred in New York by Spruce Lane, Built Wright, Lynn Farm, Will Robbins, and Copper Beach out of the Henny Hughes mare One Look.

The colt's extended family includes grade 3 winner Funny Duck and grade 1-placed King Guillermo, who ranks fifth on the 2020 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Hip 983 had been purchased by Luis Franco for $3,000 from the consignment of Hidden Brook to the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale. 

The colt was one of two juveniles to breeze an eighth-mile in :09 4/5 during the under tack show. 

While the results might not have shown much strength, Wojciechowski said he was proud that the buyers, consignors, and OBS were able to weather the continued challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and help set a hopeful tone as the industry prepares for the start of the yearling sales season. 

"We are dealing with a different environment even from June to July," Wojciechowski said. "That environment posed obstacles, but I think with our online bidding, we were able to help buyers that were unable to travel still participate in the sale. So that was one bright spot that we can look to."