$2.3M Uncle Mo Colt Tops First Day of OBS Spring Sale

A $2.3 million son of Uncle Mo   commanded top honors from Zedan Racing Stables April 19 as the first of four selling days kicked off at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The standout colt was consigned by Top Line Sales.

OBS reported 161 horses sold of the 212 on offer, for gross receipts of $22,149,000, an increase of 20% from 2021. A median price of $75,000 was achieved, and an average of $137,571 was established. There were 51 horses who failed to meet their reserve, for an RNA rate of 24.1%. These numbers may change due to post-sale reporting.

Last year on the first day of selling, 195 horses changed hands of the 225 on offer for total receipts of $18,427,900, at a median price of $50,000 and an average of $94,502. An RNA rate of 13% represented the 30 horses that failed to meet their reserve. These figures include post-sale prices.

The top filly of the day marked a pinhooking score for Eddie Woods, who sold a daughter of Violence   for $635,000 to Carolyn Wilson. Situated inside the pavilion alongside longtime trainer Larry Rivelli, Wilson was thrilled to take the striking youngster home. Consigned as Hip 199, the Kentucky-bred filly is out of the Dixie Union  mare Bold Union , a grade 3 winner and producer of Bold Quality , third in the 2015 Pocahontas Stakes (G2).

"I figured we would have to go this high; a couple of other guys jumped in late on her," trainer Larry Rivelli said. "She vetted perfect; she was flawless, which is hard to find."

Bidding on behalf of Zedan Racing Stables, agent Gary Young also picked up a colt (Hip 11) by Triple Crown winner Justify   earlier in the day for $600,000 from Hidden Brook. Both purchases will be headed to trainer Bob Baffert in California. Zedan was the day's leading buyer, spending $2.9 million.

"It's nice to be selling horses like this again," consignor Hal Hatch of Halcyon Hammock said of the overall market. "The market is strong. I've been here a long time and been through a lot of waves. It's nice to be back on the crest with the market the way it is now."

Four juveniles broke past $500,000 on the first day of selling, with only one breaking the seven-figure ceiling. This is the first time since 2017 that a horse sold for more than $2 million at this sale; that was the year the record was set with a $2.45 million Tiznow colt.

"(The) April (Sale) is a good sale," said pinhooker Scott Dilworth, who sourced the sale-topping colt. "I sold a filly here about 10 years ago; Her name was Tanda . We topped the session at $145,000, and here you have a horse that brings $2.3 million, and (you see) how much this sale has grown. It's a phenomenal sale."

Young called the market spotty.

"If they bring the right horse in, you're getting paid, but if the horse has any flaws, if his preview was just so-so, or any conformation issues, then they are having trouble selling them," he said. "I looked at the results earlier, and the buy-back rate was normal, about what you would expect… They aren't all going to be like the $2.3 million horse."

At the close of Day One, Top Line Sales was the leading consignor, with 10 horses sold for gross receipts of $2,953,000 at an average price of $295,300.

The sale continues April 20 with Hips 309-616 slated to go under the block, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET.