Florida First-Crop Sires in OBS June Spotlight

Prospective buyers with an eye to the future at this week's Ocala Breeders' June Sale of 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age are likely to take note of the initial 2-year-olds by a trio of Florida-based stallions in Girvin  , Awesome Slew  , and Bucchero  . Juveniles by the promising first-crop stallions have already commanded top dollar in the auction ring this year, and buyers will be afforded another opportunity to acquire race-ready youngsters by the accomplished racehorses during this week's sale, which runs from June 7-9 in Ocala, Fla.

Ocala Stud is home to Girvin and Awesome Slew, and both stallions rank among the leading freshman sires in the nation by sale average. Juveniles by Girvin have proved popular in the auction ring and are topped by a $725,000 filly bought by Donato Lanni, agent for Michael Lund Petersen, from consignor Paul Sharp at the recent Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Timonium in Maryland. Of Girvin's 26 juveniles offered this season, 24 have sold for $2,897,000, good for an average of $120,708.

Awesome Slew has had six of seven juveniles offered change hands in the ring for gross sales of $865,000, an impressive average of $144,167. Among his top sellers in the ring is a $400,000 colt now named Escalation Clause, who was purchased by Klaravich Stables from Ocala Stud at the OBS March Sale.

According to Ocala Stud's David O'Farrell, the early success of the farm's first-crop stallions is not surprising.

"Girvin was a tremendous racehorse," O'Farrell said. "He has a lot of pedigree; it's a live family. He was heavily supported by the ownership of Airdrie and Brad Grady, and we gave the horse huge support of our own right off the bat. We just believed in the horse. He was such a good racehorse and has a nice pedigree. He is everything you look for in a sire.

"Same with Awesome Slew," O'Farrell said. "He was also a tremendous racehorse in his own right. Very sound, very consistent, and he also has a very deep pedigree, and he was precocious. Both horses could run early and carry their speed a little bit. We felt that both horses were legitimate sire prospects. It's always rewarding when they perform well with their first crop at the 2-year-old sales. Their success is not a huge surprise to us."

Girvin, winner of the 2017 betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park, as well as the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) and the Risen Star Stakes (G2), earned $1,624,392 during his racing career. The son of Tale of Ekati   is a half brother to the late Classic-placed multimillionaire Midnight Bourbon , and Girvin won or placed in five of seven graded stakes while winning at distances from six to nine furlongs.

Girvin's first crop of runners has left the blocks running. His first winner is John Oxley's Devious Dame, a 5½-length winner of a $120,000 maiden special weight at Churchill Downs May 5 for trainer Norm Casse. A Florida-bred, Devious Dame was a $240,000 acquisition for One Up Bloodstock out of the Ocala Stud consignment at the OBS March Sale, and is slated to make her next start in the $150,000 Astoria Stakes at Belmont Park June 9.

Ocala Stud will kick things off early in the sale's opening session on Tuesday, leading over Hip 8, a daughter of Girvin out of the stakes-producing Boundary mare Lady Discreet. The bay filly, bred by Ocala Stud, Joseph O'Farrell III, David O'Farrell, et al, is a half sister to multiple-stakes winner Courtesan  and stakes winner Chary  and hails from the female family of grade 1 winners Discreet Cat  and Discreetly Mine . The filly breezed a quarter-mile in :21 4/5 at the under tack preview.



"She is a really good filly," O'Farrell said. "She was immature earlier in the season and needed a little time. She is good-minded and athletic, very typical of the Girvins that we have seen. She is a solid filly and comes from a running family that has been good to us. She sells early, so somebody who is ready will have an opportunity to buy a nice filly early on."

Bobby Dodd consigns a pair of Girvin 2-year-olds in Hips 867 and 1009, both bred in Florida by Brad and Misty Grady. Hip 867 is produced from the stakes-placed Half Ours  mare Fast City , and the colt breezed an eighth in :10 1/5 during the under tack preview. Hip 1009, a filly out of the unraced Into Mischief   mare Into Style, also breezed an eighth in :10 1/5. The filly is from the family of graded-stakes winner Sister Swank  and stakes winner Supah Jess .

"The Girvins are nice horses," Dodd said. "Girvin is the real deal. If you get back in his pedigree, you can see he was bred royally. They have really shown up at the 2-year-old sales with their early speed, and they are selling well. I think he is going to be a sire; I really do."

Awesome Slew, a Live Oak homebred son of Awesome Again, banked more than $1.2 million in a stellar career that saw him capture graded stakes sprinting and routing. He won the Smarty Jones Stakes (G3) as a 3-year-old in 2016, the Commonwealth Stakes (G3) and the Ack Ack Stakes (G3) in 2017, and was second in the Forego Stakes (G1) and the Carter Handicap (G1).

Awesome Slew has already been represented by his first winner when Awesome Strong crushed a maiden special weight field by six lengths in his career debut at Gulfstream Park May 6. Awesome Strong generated more headlines shortly after his facile win when he topped the Fasig-Tipton May Digital Sale, selling to Bill Childs for $500,000 last month.

Among the Awesome Slews on offer at OBS this week is Hip 195, a filly named Super Paisley, consigned by Bobby Dodd, agent. The chestnut filly breezed an eighth in :10 4/5 at the under tack preview. Bred in Florida by Chris Seale, Super Paisley was acquired by Mike Sterling for $13,500 out of the Bird In Hand Stables consignment at last year's OBS October Sale. Produced from the stakes-winning Notebook mare Paisley Park , Super Paisley is a half sister to four winners, including Barely Nothing, who owns 13 wins and has banked $321,845.

"Like the Girvins, the Awesome Slews are definitely showing up," Dodd said. "(Awesome Slew) is bred well, and I think he will be a fine sire, as well."

Hip 593 is a dark bay or brown colt by Awesome Slew consigned by S B M Training and Sales, agent. Produced from the West Acre mare Absolute Madness, the colt is a half brother to a pair of stakes-placed runners in Too Fast to Pass  and Martini Madness . This is also the family of stakes winner Marilyn's Madness (the colt's second dam) and stakes winners Unreal Madness, Sejm's Madness, and Touched by Madness .

Bred in the Sunshine State by Stonehedge Farm, the colt was a $32,000 RNA at the OBS Spring Sale and previously sold at last year's OBS October Sale, where he was bought for $22,000 by Super Partners out of the Summerfield consignment.

Bucchero, a back-to-back winner of the Woodford Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select (G2T) in 2017-18 and a near-millionaire earner of $947,936, stands at Pleasant Acres Stallions. The hard-knocking and versatile son of Kantharos   won 11 of 31 career stakes routing and sprinting on dirt and turf and has been represented this year with his first 2-year-olds selling for up to $145,000. Fourteen of the 15 Buccheros offered this year have sold for $686,000 and averaged $49,000.

Eddie Herrera's Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds has a pair of juveniles selling this week by Bucchero—Hips 217 and 441. Herrera, who has operated Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds for four years, is closely connected to a pair of top 3-year-olds this year. He was the exercise rider for Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winner Rich Strike  at Mayberry Farm, and he also broke, trained, and sold Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G1) winner White Abarrio  under his Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds banner for $40,000 at last year's OBS March Sale to Carlos L. Perez.

Herrera thinks highly of Hip 217, a chestnut filly named Picchero. She is out of the winning Double Honor mare Pick the Double and descends from the family of multiple-stakes winner Sing Me Back Home and grade 2 stakes winner Accredit . The fleet-footed filly, who was bred in Florida by Elaine and Lee Vinson, breezed an eighth in a snappy :10 flat last week at the under tack preview.



"I really like this filly," said Herrera, who gets aboard all the horses he trains. "She has great conformation. She has a nice body and long legs. She looks like a racehorse. She's beautiful."

Hip 441 is a colt out of the winning Posse mare Super Trooper. Bred in Florida by Pam Edel, the colt is a half brother to stakes winner Peter D , winner of the 2021 Journeyman Stud Juvenile Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds offered Peter D at last year's OBS June Sale, where the son of He's Had Enough  was a $17,000 RNA.

"I have trained four Buccheros this year, and they all have trained very well for me," Herrera said. "I think this horse (Hip 441) has a lot of heart and he has a really good mind. I think he will do very well. I like him."