Complexity Filly on Top as OBS October Sale Beats the Storm

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's October Yearling Sale concluded with average and median in line with 2023 figures despite a frenzied rescheduling of the two-day auction as Hurricane Milton closed in on Central Florida Tuesday. Through two sessions, 289 yearlings sold for $5,779,100. The average of $19,997 was nearly identical to the 2023 figure of $19,928, while the median of $12,000 dipped slightly from last year's figure of $12,500. The buy-back rate was 38%. It was 34.2% a year ago.

Two small Florida breeders, with some 13 mares between them, were represented by the top filly and colt at the October sale. A filly by Complexity, consigned by Thoroughstock on behalf of breeders Norman Dellheim and Katie Liebe, brought top price of $150,000 from Top Line Sales, while a son of Win Win Win, consigned by Kaizen Sales on behalf of Ashley Godwin's Rivermont Farm, was the second-highest priced offering when selling for $135,000 to No Money No Honey, agent. The pair were two of seven yearlings to bring six figures at the auction, matching the number from a year ago.

Complexity Filly on Top for Dellheim, Liebe

A filly by Complexity (hip 459) rewarded her Ocala-based breeders, Norman Dellheim and his wife Katie Liebe, when selling for a sale-topping $150,000 to the bid of Top Line Sales Tuesday in Ocala. The yearling is out of Silver Lantana (Badge of Silver), a half-sister to multiple graded winner Lantana Mob (Posse) and the dam of stakes-placed Six the Hard Way (Creative Cause). Dellheim and Liebe purchased the mare, in foal to Preservationist, from Airdrie Stud for $8,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November sale.

“She's the kind of mare we like, but we were really looking at the stallion she was in foal to,” Dellheim said of the purchase. “My wife just really loved Preservationist at the time. That's how it all got started.”

While shopping at Airdrie, the couple found another stallion they liked in Complexity.

“We bought the mare from Airdrie and when we went and looked at stallions there, we liked Complexity so much and we said, 'We are just going to take that mare we bought from them and breed back with them.' We love the stallion,” Dellheim.

The move paid off when Complexity got off to a fast start with his first 2-year-olds on the track this year already including graded winners Mo Joy and Harlee Honey.

The mare's Preservationist colt sold for $10,000 at last year's OBS October sale and, reoffered this year, sold for $75,000 at the OBS March sale.

Of expectations for the mare's second foal Tuesday, Dellheim said, “We were expecting her to do good, but not as good as she did. We were hoping. Everybody liked her that came to see her. She's always been a little star for us.”

Dellheim admitted he was worried by the changes to the sale's schedule due to the incoming storm.

“We were a little worried going in because everything changed at the last minute, moving everything up a day,” he said. “And I was talking to some other people and some vets who were saying some of their clients did not come in. It was a little worrisome, but it worked out.”

Silver Lantana, one of six mares in the couple's broodmare band, produced a filly by Independence Hall this year and was bred back to Verifying.

Asked what it was like watching their yearling in the ring Tuesday, Dellheim said, “It was hard to tell because Katie was crying so hard.”

He added with a laugh, “It's two hours later and she's still a little teary-eyed over there.”

Liebe in the background explained, “She just left the barn, so I was crying now when she walked away.”

A Win for Godwin

Ashley Godwin checked a bucket-list item off her list Tuesday in Ocala when selling a son of Win Win Win (hip 385) for $135,000 to No Money No Honey, agent.

“My lifetime goal was to sell a six-figure horse,” Godwin said. “I've never done it. Before this sale, my record was $55,000. So when it hit $100,000, I was about to cry.”

Godwin moved her Rivermont Farm from Georgia to Central Florida in 2017.

“My background was more horse showing,” Godwin explained. “I'd take Thoroughbreds off the track and did hunter/jumpers. We had a farm up in north Georgia. My dream was to come to Ocala. So we moved here in 2017. I didn't know much about the industry, as far as selling babies and stuff, but that's when we started.”

Stakes-winning Prize Informant (Marciano) was among the mares she bought in her second year of operation, going to $9,500 to acquire the then 11-year-old mare in foal to Valiant Minister from the dispersal of longtime Florida breeders Jim and Sheila DiMare of JD Farms at the 2019 OBS January sale.

“Mr. DiMare's wife Sheila had passed away and when we bought the mare, he told me over and over again she was his wife's favorite mare,” Godwin said. “So I have always promised I would take the best care of her.”

Win Win Win is another stallion off to a fast start with his 2-year-olds on the track. So far, the Ocala Stud stallion has been represented by graded winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Nooni, who topped the OBS March sale at $1.8 million, and stakes winner Win N Your In.

Of how she decided to breed her mare to Win Win Win, Godwin said, “We were going through a selection of stallions and we were talking one night about who would Sheila DiMare pick. I opened up my iPad–this is a true story–and I opened up my “Wire to Wire” and there was an ad for Win Win Win and it said 'Breed to Win.' So I said, 'Well she's sending us a message, let's breed to Win Win Win.' That's how we did. I know it sounds crazy, but you know how it is, you just roll the dice and hope for the best.”

Of her seven years in the industry, Godwin admitted, “It's been a major learning process. But I have a great team of people. Richard Kent has been amazing. Dr. [Tanya] Thacker at Peterson Smith is my vet and she has just been fantastic getting these babies into the world and overseeing them as they grow. I think it takes a great team of people.”

Rivermont Farm, based on 20 acres in Ocala, is home to a broodmare band of seven.

“I try to breed five a year, because it's just me,” Godwin said. “I don't have a big staff–I don't have any staff–I had a helper this summer. We have seven mares and we have five weanlings who, God willing, will go to the sale next year.”

Godwin sold all five yearlings she brought to the October sale, but she admitted to some anxious moments with the rescheduled auction.

“It was nerve-wracking,” she said. “Yesterday, was a little scary because some horses were selling really cheap and we had a really nice filly that we thought would sell, but she RNA'd. We were able to sell her. The gross on all five of them was $247,000. And they are all Florida-breds with Florida dads, so I am just in shock. And I've got hay money for the winter.”