Mother Nature May Have Shown OBS a Better Way

When Mother Nature threw Ocala Breeders' Sales a curve ball last week that resulted in a two-day interruption of the marathon pre-sale under tack show workouts for the Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, it inconvenienced buyers, sellers, and sales company personnel.

But at the end of the day, everyone adapted and the cancellation of the April 19-20 workouts and addition of a lengthy Sunday under tack session, may have unintended positive consequences.

The National Weather Service's forecast of thunderstorms and heavy rain for Friday and strong winds Saturday proved accurate. With no rain and only winds Saturday, many buyers were able to carry out inspections that would have been delayed until after the sixth under tack session.

Based on observations from the crowded OBS barn area Monday, a day prior to sale's noon start Tuesday, there is support for consideration of a break during under tack shows going forward.

"It wasn't the way we scripted it, but we've heard a lot of favorable comments on the way it turned out," said OBS president Tom Ventura, seated in his office in the newly renovated sale pavilion.

In addition to forcing buyers and their agents to scramble Monday and Tuesday to get caught up with inspections of horses that worked Sunday, the lengthy Thursday under tack session—which included about half of the scheduled Friday workers—and Sunday's equally long session meant that a popular continuous stream of workout videos was delayed from being posted online, although individual workouts still could be viewed.

"It caused a little delay in being able to put the continuous stream online, but everybody has adapted well," Ventura said of the schedule changes.

Based on the initial positive response, Ventura said OBS would consider incorporating a break in under tack shows going forward.

'It's something we aren't going to jump into, but we'll evaluate after the sale and give serious consideration to," Ventura said.

Consignor David O'Farrell of Ocala Stud said the break enabled buyers to look at horses that had worked during the first under tack show while the image of the workout and information about them was still fresh in their minds.

"I thought (the break) was fantastic," O'Farrell said. "We ended up with four great days of workouts—on the first day there was some headwind—and I think OBS handled it beautifully. Under the current format, people would have to wait six days before they could get to the barn to see a horse that maybe caught their eye on day one. If they get to the barn in a more timely manner when that horse's breeze is still fresh in their mind, it builds familiarity."

Ventura said the April sale continues to attract more sellers and buyers, but the bar has been set particularly high for the 2019 edition following last year's second consecutive year of record-setting results.

Topped by a $1.1 million Medaglia d'Oro  filly, now named Italia, that was purchased by agent Steve Young on behalf of an unnamed client, the 2018 sale saw 707 horses sell for a record $69,429,500, with record average and median prices of $98,203 and $55,000, respectively. There were 66 horses sold for $250,000 or more.

Those numbers show the auction has come a long way in a short period of time, considering that as recently as 2009 the 799 horses that changed hands grossed $19,879,800, with an average price of $24,881 and a $15,000 median.

The sale begins on the heels of two April graduates (either sold or bought back after going through the sale ring) being voted Sovereign Award winners for their achievements in Canada last year. 

Gary Barber's Wonder Gadot was honored as Canada's Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old female after winning the Queens Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of Canada's Triple Crown, against males. Blue Heaven Farm's Starship Jubilee is Canada's champion female turf horse after winning three of eight starts including the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Stakes and the Canadian Stakes (G2T).

"This sale has really made great strides and has become a focal point of buyers and sellers," Ventura said, adding the large number entered in the sale has tested OBS personnel in deciding which horses get cataloged. "It has been challenging to filter the horses and put the best horses before the buyers."

Ventura said he hopes this year's venue will hold steady or improve off last year's record numbers.

"We set a pretty high bar last year and the catalog keeps getting better and better," Ventura said. "The sale has made such strides in the last 10 years, it's really hard to sustain that growth. If we can match or bump up a little over last year we will be thrilled. We have a good representation of high-end sires and there is a strong depth of first-crop sires."

The sale begins at noon Tuesday, with 10:30 a.m. start times for the April 24-26 sessions.

Ventura said he expects the April sale to draw a deep buying bench, with strong international representation from South Korean, Japanese, and Saudi Arabian buyers at the upper end.

Some horses at the lower end of the spectrum will attract attention from buyers from Central and South America, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.