$400,000 Tiz the Law Filly Leads the Way at OBS June Opener

OCALA, FL – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened with a steady session and figures largely in line with the auction's opening session in 2023.

“It was a solid opening session with results on par with last year,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “We have two more days to go and there are lots of good horses left.”

From a catalogue of 350 juveniles, 259 horses were offered Wednesday with 173 selling for a gross of $6,825,500. The session average was $39,454 and the median was $21,000.

During last year's opening session, 192 horses grossed $7,110,400 for an average of $37,033 and a median of $20,000.

With 86 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 33.2% Wednesday. It was 27.8% a year ago.

A filly by Tiz the Law brought the top price of Wednesday's session, selling for $400,000 to Bill Childs. The juvenile was consigned by Tom McCrocklin, who topped the OBS Spring sale two months ago with another first-crop daughter of the GI Belmont S. victor who sold for $1.9 million to Michael Lund Petersen.

Tom McCrocklin | Photos by Z

The session topper was one of six to top the $200,000 mark Wednesday. There were three–including the $450,000 session topper–to hit that mark during last year's opening session.

Asked if he was satisfied by the number of buyers on the grounds, Wojciechowski said, “You always want to see more activity on the grounds. But we see a lot of online activity–that seems to be a thing of the future. And I think maybe people don't come onto the grounds as early as they used to because of the amount of data that we are giving them–under-tack previews, walking videos, pictures. A lot of people are becoming very comfortable using that as a good, at least, first start.”

The OBS June sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning each day at 10 a.m.

Childs Strikes for Tiz the Law Filly

Bill Childs, who has been an active buyer all spring, had one more filly to add to his stable before transitioning from the sales ring to the racetrack, purchasing a daughter of Tiz the Law (hip 187) for $400,000 Wednesday at OBS. The juvenile, consigned by Tom McCrocklin, was making her second trip through the ring this spring after RNA'ing for $190,000 at the OBS April sale.

Bill Childs | Photos by Z

“We loved her in the last sale,” Childs said. “She worked fast then, she worked fast this time. It's a good family. She just fits the mold of what we are trying to find.”

The dark bay filly worked a quarter-mile in a bullet :20 2/5 during last week's under-tack preview for the auction. Out of Southern Silence (Dixie Union), she is a half-sister to stakes winners Liberate (Gemologist) and Esplanade (Daredevil) and was purchased by Mustang Farms for $80,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.

McCrocklin has had success with fillies from Tiz the Law's first crop. The consignor, who said he purchased hip 187 after she RNA'd in April, sold the $1.9-million sale topper by the GI Belmont S. winner at that auction.

Childs said the filly was the last juvenile on his to-do list at the sale.

“I am done. I have had enough,” he said with a laugh. “We have more fillies than we planned on this year, but we like the ones we have.”

Childs will be heading west to watch his Midland Money (Shancelot), a $650,000 purchase at the OBS March sale, debut at Santa Anita with trainer Bob Baffert.

“We like him,” Childs said of the colt. “Bob has a Win Win Win filly [Zedan Racing's $1.8-million Nooni] who starts tomorrow. And then he has a Tiz the Law filly [$1.9-million OBS April topper] that he likes real well. We kind of like them.”

Also at OBS this spring, Childs purchased a filly by McKinzie (hip 1143) for $600,000 at the Spring sale and a colt by that Gainesway stallion (hip 89) for $$750,000 at the March sale.