Top-Tier Offerings at OBS Launch 2023 Juvenile Sales

The first sale to kick off this year's juvenile season gets underway March 20 at the Ocala Breeders Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The three-day sale will see 833 precocious juveniles cataloged for consideration.

"The first sale of the season is always exciting, and this year in particular, our catalog is a little larger; we have 833 horses," Tod Wojciechowski, director of sales at OBS, said. "There has been a lot of activity in the barns, vibrancy on the grounds, and juice in the air."

During the four days of under tack shows, March 14-17, two horses breezed the co-fastest eighth-mile in :9 3/5: Hip 546, a colt by Good Magic   consigned by Top Line Sales, agent; and Hip 64, a colt by Not This Time   consigned by GOP Racing Stable. Thirty-seven individuals breezed the second fastest time at the distance in :9 4/5.

"We had four days of under tack shows, and the horses did very well on the track. The second day the track during the first set was a little slower than the others, and on the last day, the horses battled a strong headwind in the second and third set," said Wojciechowski. "Fortunately, our buyers are pretty sharp and can wade through all the information they have and find the good horses on the grounds."

Two juveniles breezed the fastest quarter-mile in :20 3/5: Hip 406, a colt by Bucchero  , consigned by Tom McCrocklin, agent; and Hip 631, the Enticed   filly consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock, agent. Six horses breezed a quarter-mile in :20 4/5, the second fastest time at that distance.

"I am impressed by the Enticed juveniles. I didn't think they would be early, but there was a yearling from last year I liked that's here," agent Mike McMahon said. "Flameaway has three or four individuals here that I like. I'm thinking about the value sires, the obvious sires like Omaha Beach, Audible, and Mitole, but when you look at the others and the lower-end stuff, those two sires (Enticed and Flameaway) stick out to me."

The catalog offers 12 siblings to grade 1 winners, including a full sibling to 2022 Del Mar Futurity (G1) and American Pharoah Stakes (G1) winner Cave Rock .

"He is a classy horse, out of a Bellamy Road mare," McCrocklin said about the colt consigned as Hip 489. "We feel like he's a class individual and have been very happy with him here. He breezed a quarter-mile in :21 1/5 and galloped out three-eighths in :32 4/5."

Freshman sire offerings account for 263 horses in this year's catalog, giving buyers a taste of what's to come from these up-and-coming juveniles.

Those sires include: Audible   (21), Catalina Cruiser   (20), Catholic Boy   (14), Coal Front   (1), Copper Bullet   (4), Demarchelier   (4), Enticed (13), Flameaway   (19), Great Success  (1), Leofric   (5), Lost Treasure   (1), Maximus Mischief   (24), Mitole   (23), Omaha Beach   (12), Pavel  (2), Preservationist   (7), Qurbaan   (1), Rogueish   (2), Solomini   (5), St Patrick's Day   (9), Vino Rosso   (19), World of Trouble   (13), and Yoshida   (7).

"We have a lot of nice horses here; as far as new sires, Audible and Omaha Beach have been two I am high on," leading consignor Eddie Woods commented. "In this group, we have a beautiful Twirling Candy (Hip 433) and Medaglia d'Oro (Hip 536). Just an overall good group, our Justify filly (Hip 295) and the Munnings colt (Hip 598) are very nice and did well at the under tack show. There has been lots of traffic, and it's looking pretty good."

During last year's two-day sale, 375 horses changed hands of the 431 offered, accounting for gross receipts of $49,656,000. The average price was $132,416 and the median was $75,000. Fifty-six horses failed to attain their reserve price to represent an RNA rate of 13.0%.

Four horses sold for seven figures, with a colt by More Than Ready (Hip 318) out of Broad Spectrum  topping the sale at $1.2 million, selling to K S I. Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables consigned the colt who fired a furlong bullet during the under tack show.

A staple at major American sales, Japanese trainer Hideyuki Mori purchased six individuals for $3,550,000 and an average price of $507,143 to be the leading buyer last year.

Stalwart leading consignor Eddie Woods sold 24 from his 25-horse draft to the tune of $6,393,000, averaging $266,375 per head, to be the leading consignor at the conclusion of the two-day sale.

"This year's catalog is larger and came that way organically; it wasn't intentional. The feedback I am getting from our international buyers, in particular, is they are pleased with the selection and quality of horses," Wojciechowski said. "I think we have seen that the boutique sales don't work because there isn't enough critical mass in front of the buyers. It doesn't give buyers enough room to spread out or enough options. I'm excited to see how the next few days go; I feel good about it. The number of people we see on the grounds and credit requests coming in make you feel pretty good about it."

With the way the juvenile calendar falls in Japan at the various JRA racecourses, the early March Sale works out for foreign buyers to make purchases, export, and proceed with training in time to make the fall conditions.

The first session of horses to head through the ring Monday includes Hips 1-278, beginning at 11 a.m., followed by Hips 279-556 Tuesday, and the final day Wednesday consisting of Hips 557-833. As of Sunday evening, 147 horses have been withdrawn from the sale.