American Lion Gelding, Overdriven Filly Top OBS Works

An American Lion   gelding who was a late addition to the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s January winter mixed sale and an Overdriven   filly topped the Jan. 23 pre-sale workouts at the Ocala, Fla., sales facility.

About 100 agents, trainers, owners, and consignors listened as announcer John Henderson described each horse on the track for the under tack show, conducted over a fast all-weather track some 12 hours after a half-inch of rain fell in the north central Florida area.

With a strong headwind facing the workers as they galloped strongly or breezed through the stretch in either three-eighths or half-mile workouts under intermittent clouds and sun, the under tack show went off without a hitch, thanks in part to OBS' all-weather track.

Fastest time of :33 4/5 for three furlongs was turned in by Hill Croome, an unraced 3-year-old American Lion gelding consigned by Niall Brennan Stables as Hip 297, one of the last horses entered in the supplemental catalog.

Bred in Kentucky by Brian Russell Cleveland, Hill Croome has been trained and prepped by Gayle Woods. He previously went through sale rings at 2015 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale and 2016 OBS April 2-year-olds in training sale, going unsold at final bids of $10,000 and $20,000, respectively.

"He's a nice, honest horse," Woods said of Hill Croome, who is out of the stakes-placed Gold Legend are Sauternes. "He's very athletic, with good, average size."

Dubai Princess, an unraced Overdriven filly consigned by Corona Leaders Corp. as Hip 253, worked a half-mile in :47 2/5, fastest at the distance.

Bred in Florida by Dr. Rick Erwin and Janet Erwin, Dubai Princess was produced from an unraced Gulch mare and is a half sister to stakes-placed Raise the Bridle and from the female family of grade 2 winner and grade 1-placed Strike a Deal. She went through sales rings three times previously, having been bought back for $5,700 as weanling before being purchased by Marcos Arenas for $14,000 out of the 2015 OBS fall sale. She was a $17,000 RNA at last year's OBS June sale.

During the under tack show, 41 horses—recently turned 2-year-olds or 3-year-olds in training—went to the track, with 20 galloping rather than breeze. None of the 2-year-olds breezed.

"That was typical under tack show," said Tod Wojciechowski, OBS sales director. "We would like not have had the headwind but I thought everyone contended well with the conditions at hand. It was smooth and safe. With the amount of rain we got last night, our track is built to handle that kind of weather."

The horses that worked Monday are consigned in the horses of racing age portion of the sale that begins following the consignor preferred session Wednesday, Jan. 25. That session, and the following day's open session, both begin at 10:30 a.m.