Roden Scoops Up Medaglia d'Oro Colt for $480,000
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Photo: Joe DiOrio
The Medaglia d'Oro colt consigned as Hip 818 in the ring at the OBS Spring Sale
When bloodstock agent Alistair Roden shopped the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, he found a lot to like in a Medaglia d'Oro colt purchased for $480,000 during the April 25 session.
Consigned as Hip 818 by Tom McCrocklin, the colt was bred in Kentucky by Highland Yard and is out of Walk Close, a daughter of Tapit who won two stakes, including the Modesty Handicap (G3T). The second dam, Spring Awakening (by In Excess), was a multiple stakes winner in California who finished second in the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) and set a track record at Del Mar of 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04 3/5.
The colt breezed a quarter-mile in :21 1/5.
"He is a big, strong colt, a great mover who worked very fast," said Roden, who purchased the colt on behalf of a longtime unnamed client. "He has a good pedigree and is out of a Tapit mare."
Roden said the OBS market was fairly typical of most domestic sales, with strong demand for the offerings perceived to have the best potential for success.
"Nothing ever changes," he said. "The good ones always sell for more than you want to pay for them, and the ones you don't want, nobody wants to buy them. If you want racehorses, you have to pay for them."
McCrocklin said the colt was bought for $170,000—his RNA price after failing to sell at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale—on behalf of Solana Beach Sales, the pinhooking venture that is part of Little Red Feather Racing.
"He is a very well-bred colt who just got better," the consignor said. "He breezed well and galloped out well."
McCrocklin said he and the principals in Solana Beach thought the colt would bring seven figures, based on interest in the colt during the week leading up to the sale.
"For most of the week, he seemed like a seven-figure horse. But, not of his own fault, the buyers dropped off and the vets stopped coming around," McCrocklin said. "We modified our reserve and put him where we thought he would sell. I think the buyer will be very happy with him.
"My goal is not to just sell them one horse but to sell them horses over the next few years."