Big Day for Freshman Sires at OBS

Offspring of freshman sires Gemologist   and Overdriven   topped the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s April 2-year-olds in training sale April 20, during a session in which gross, average, and median prices declined from the comparable sale date a year ago.

The day’s top price and top price during the sale overall was the $550,000 paid by Lane’s End Bloodstock for a colt from the first crop of Gemologist, who stands at WinStar Farm for a $15,000 fee. Consigned as Hip 564 by Sequel Bloodstock, the colt is a half brother to stakes winners Glitter City and Here's Johnny, and to the dam of grade III winner Toews on Ice. He worked an eighth in :10 flat during the under tack show.

"He’s got a very good pedigree and had a standout breeze," said David Ingordo, who signed the sales receipt.

"He’s a classic type horse," said Sequel’s Becky Thomas. "He’s really a two-turn horse with so much quality he can carry his speed."

The colt bred in Florida by Rick Sutherland was purchased for $50,000 by Global Thoroughbreds as a weanling at the 2014 Keeneland November sale and was a $60,000 RNA at Keeneland’s 2015 September sale.

OBS reported 158 horses sold for a gross of $12,119,000, down 11% from the comparable session in 2015, when 160 horses grossed $13,580,700. The session average of $76,703 was down 10% from $84,879 and the median of $43,500 was off 13% from $50,000 a year ago. The buyback rate Wednesday was 13%.

Sales company officials caution against session-to-session comparisons, because the type of stock offered each year can vary since the sale catalog is organized alphabetically by the dam’s name.

For the first two days, 320 horses have been sold (341 in 2015) for $23,709,500 ($23,931,900), with an average price of $74,092 ($70,182) and the median unchanged at $45,000.

Some consignors and buyers said they have been disappointed at the lack of depth within the marketplace, as there was considerable pre-sale buzz about the sale’s growth in recent years, driven primarily by success of April sale graduates.

Although she sold one of the top-priced offerings, Thomas said the sale is "spotty" with the top "hugely strong."

Thomas said she thought there would be more demand in the middle market.

"I was hoping for more of a middle market, because this is a 'one-stop-shop market.' But we just haven’t had the buyers we needed other than at the top,” Thomas said.

"The market is polarized," Ingordo said. "Everybody says we need more of a middle market, but what we need are more buyers at a reasonable level, not just the high end."

The second-highest price Wednesday and for the sale overall was the $525,000 bid of Southern California trainer Peter Miller for Hip 517, a colt from the first crop of Overdriven, a son of Tale of the Cat   who stands at the O’Farrell family’s Ocala Stud for $3,000. Bred and owned by Ocala Stud, which only sells its horses at 2-year-olds in training sales, the colt was produced from Back to Basics and is a half brother to grade III winner Calculator and a 3-year-old filly Gust, both of whom are trained by Miller.

"His presence was fantastic," said Miller, who declined to reveal his client. "He had everything I look for in a racehorse. That is more than we wanted to spend, but we really wanted him."

Trainer Linda Rice went to $440,000 to acquire a Speightstown   filly from Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree Stables. The half sister to grade II winner Alpha Kitten and from the family of grade I winner Marylebone was bred in Kentucky by Denlea Park, Tony Holmes, and Watermark. She was a $190,000 RNA at last year’s Keeneland September yearling sale.

"She has a big long stride on her, had a great workout on the track, and great presentation at the barn,” said Rice, who declined to say who would own the filly.

The Overdriven colt was not the only home run for Ocala Stud, which also sold a filly by High Cotton  , who stands for $5,000, to agent Mike Ryan for $400,000.

Consigned as Hip 404, the filly was produced from the winning Gone West mare West Side Dancer and is a half sister to grade II winners Discreet Dancer and Travelin Man and to stakes winner Sweet N Discreet.

"She had the aura that elite horses have," said Ryan, who bought the filly for an undisclosed client, a newcomer to the horse business. "She was special."

Ryan said he saw the filly at Ocala Stud earlier in the year and "couldn’t believe how much she had changed in 60 days."

The sale in Ocala, Fla. continues through April 22, with daily sessions beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT.