OBS Numbers Plummet During Open Session

There were no surprises at the first open session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s August yearling sale, as the free-fall in prices and large percentage of buybacks seen the previous day during the select sale continued during the Aug. 24 session.

In fact, considering that the open horses have lesser sire power and overall lighter pedigrees, and are at a price point below that of the select horses, the surprise would have been a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for breeders and pinhookers.

With 385 horses cataloged for the session that lasted nearly nine hours, OBS reported 207 head sold for $1,770,300, which was down 43.6% from the same session a year ago when only three more sold for gross receipts of $3,141,200. The average plummeted 42.8% to $8,552 compared to $14,958 a year ago, and the $4,700 session median represented a decline of 53% from $10,000 in 2015. With 75 yearlings unsold, the RNA rate was 35.2%.

Those results fit the pattern seen during Tuesday’s select sale in which the average fell by 9.9% from a year earlier, the median was off 28.6%, and the one-day session buyback rate of 38.1% was well above the 22% figure in 2015.

OBS sales director Tod Wojciechowski said the numbers reflect the market and continue trends seen over the last two years.

“(The final numbers) are disappointing, but it underscores the state of the market right now,” Wojciechowski said. “Buyers are pretty discerning and any horse they perceive as being below the upper echelon is hard to move.”

Select session leading buyer de Meric Stables was again active Wednesday, going to $80,000 to acquire a striking chestnut Kantharos   colt from the Summerfield consignment of Francis and Barbara Vanlangendonck. The colt, Hip 412, was bred in Florida by Philip M. Matthews and Karen Matthews.

The session second-highest price of $65,000 was paid by Southern Chase Farm for a Majesticperfection   colt whose second dam Primaly was a champion in Canada who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I).

Offered as Hip 344 by Potrero Stables, the colt bred in Kentucky by Brian Kahn and Bedouin Bloodstock was purchased by the consignor for $20,000 at last year’s Keeneland November sale.

Earlier in the session, de Meric went to $55,000 to pick up a gray Mission Impazible   colt from the Sequel New York offerings. Hip 329, the New York-bred colt is a half brother to grade III winner Vinceremos and is from the female family of champion sprinter Safely Kept.

The colt was bred in New York by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Twin Creeks Farm; the latter campained Mission Impazible, whose first foals are 2-year-olds this year.

Also selling for $55,000 to Groupo 7C Racing Stable was another Kantharos colt, this one Hip 602 from the consignment of Big C Farm, which bred the colt in Florida.

The sale in Ocala, Fla., concludes Aug. 25 with the second open session that begins at 10:30 a.m. EDT.