Yoshida Buys Arrogate Colt for $1.05M at OBS March

Not surprisingly, the full brother to exciting grade 1 winner Cave Rock  got tongues wagging on Day 2 of the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Northern Farm's Shingo Hashimoto sat patiently in the sales pavilion and kept raising his bid to acquire the colt at $1.05 million from consignor Tom McCrocklin, agent.

"I thought he was the best horse in the sale, he's a full brother to Cave Rock, the last crop by Arrogate, and it's very exciting," said Hashimoto, agent for Katsumi Yoshida. "We're going to take him back to Japan."

The colt, consigned as Hip 489, is out of the grade 3-winning Bellamy Road mare Georgie's Angel , and full sibling to the Del Mar Futurity (G1), American Pharoah Stakes (G1) winner, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) second Cave Rock.

McCrocklin sent the colt out during the under tack show, where he went a quarter-mile in :21 1/5.

"The time itself wasn't so fast, but he was able to breeze so well, with good balance continuously," Hashimoto said. "He was very attractive, and when I saw him in the barn, he walked very nicely, which I like a lot."

Kathleen Schweizer bred the dark bay or brown colt in New York and sent him through the ring during the Fasig-Tipton New York Bred Yearling Sale, selling to Champion Equine for $700,000.

"I didn't have expectations," McCrocklin said. "It was just pressure. I'm not supposed to feel the pressure when you're selling a $700,000 pinhook, I'm supposed to be cold as ice, but I'm not.

"It's exhilarating, and I kind of thought in the beginning that he might go to Japan, and it appears the Japanese have bought him; lovely, lovely horse. Unfortunately, here quarter-mile speed is king, and I got the impression people think he underwhelmed them, but he is a lovely horse, he really is; he's never ever had a bad day. I'm real proud."

The colt is from the final crop of the late Arrogate, 2016 U.S. champion 3-Year-Old Colt, a winner of four grade 1 events who earned $17,422,600.

Regarding the price paid to take the colt home to Japan, Hashimoto said he was not surprised. "We were trying hard yesterday with some of the good ones, but we are happy we got a good colt."

The colt is the third seven-figure juvenile sold this week at OBS.

Northern Farm purchased one other horse Tuesday, a colt by Mastery  , for $100,000. Six K's Training and Sales, agent, consigned the colt, who worked an eighth in :10 last week. Out of Changing Plans , the colt is half sibling to the stakes-placed Bodemeister   filly Assemble .

Just after McCrocklin sent the seven-figure colt through the ring, he saw his filly by the same sire, Hip 526, through the ring. She jumped up to $950,000, with CRK Stables' Lee Searing signing the sales slip as Parks Investments.

The gray or roan filly breezed a quarter in :20 4/5 during the under tack show.

Bred in Kentucky by Fred Hertrich and John Fielding, the February-born filly is out of the More Than Ready mare Heart of Paradise , runner-up in the Sorrento Stakes (G2). She initially sold to Champion Equine at the Keeneland September Sale last year for $250,000.

"We came here to look at four or five horses, and I believe Arrogate is a top sire, and it's a shame he died," Searing said. "We loved this horse from when she breezed to when we bought her. She didn't turn a hair.

"I knew she would be that expensive, but she was the horse. It's always fun, I have bought expensive horses before, but when I can get John Shirreffs a really nice horse, it's really nice to be able to do it."

Searing purchased two juveniles Monday, a $325,000 Curlin   filly consigned as Hip 136 from King's Equine, agent. The half sibling to grade 2 winner Bravazo   breezed an eighth in :10 flat. The second is a Union Rags   filly consigned as Hip 200 by Dark Star Thoroughbreds (Stori Atchison) for $375,000. The bay filly is out of grade 3 winner Winding Way , and half sibling to grade 1-placed Skinner .