Race Day Colt Attracts Attention at OBS March Sale

March 10 was the first full day of showing horses consigned to the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, and one individual was already generating buzz throughout the barn area.

The horse attracting so much attention is a 2-year-old from the first crop of Race Day , a multiple grade 2-winning son of Tapit  who stands at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington where his 2019 fee is $6,000.

Consigned by Jimbo and Torie Gladwell's Top Line Sales, the colt foaled on Feb. 9, 2017, is among a group of pinhook prospects owned solely or in partnership by Omar Ramirez, who manages Top Line's Florida farm and training operations.

The colt, produced from the stakes-placed Ile St. Louis mare Ile St Jaycee, is a half brother to stakes-placed Rockport Street. Bred in Kentucky by Jay Goodwin and Brian Foret, he was bought as a yearling for $50,000 under the name M. R. Vargas at The July Sale, Fasig-Tipton's Kentucky yearling sale.

Consigned as Hip 232, the colt first registered on buyers' radar when he breezed an eighth-mile in :09 4/5, co-second-fastest during the under tack show.

"He's been brilliant all winter," Jimbo Gladwell said. "He breezed like a really good horse, and people like him at the end of a shank. He's been very straightforward."

Gladwell said the colt could be another pinhooking success for Ramirez, who last year made a tidy profit on two 2-year-olds sold for $150,000 and $140,000 that had been purchased for $45,000 and $10,000, respectively.

"He does pretty well for himself," Gladwell said of his farm manager. "He owns bits and pieces of 15 horses. He's one of our biggest clients."

Another Top Line client who has a solid group of pinhook prospects entered at OBS is Carlo Vaccarezza, the prominent Florida horse owner, breeder, and trainer of Little Mike fame. Topping Vaccarezza's previously purchased OBS entrants are Hip 346, an Uncle Mo  filly named Wisely to Fair from the family of multiple grade 1 winner Wekiva Springs purchased for $410,000, and Hip 440, a daughter of Into Mischief  out of a half sister to grade 2 winner Miss Mischief, also by Into Mischief, purchased for $375,000.

"When you start out with a good product, it makes my life easier, and Carlo bought some nice horses," Gladwell said. "He bought all of them. He bought yearlings by the 'right' sires. All I've done is take it from there and try to do my best to get them to this point."

By midafternoon Sunday, Gladwell said the first day of showing sale horses had been nonstop at the Top Line Sales barns, a good sign leading up to the sale Tuesday and Wednesday.

"The traffic has been great. Obviously, the time change didn't slow anybody down," the consignor said of the first day of Daylight Savings Time. "And the weather has been great, so hopefully that correlates to a good sale.

"We've got 12 head still in the sale (after withdrawals) that are nice horses that breezed well and have shown well, and most will pass the X-rays for most buyers. I think we have a good shot at having a good sale."