By Jessica Martini
A filly by Omaha Beach (hip 308), consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock, set the benchmark with a furlong work in :9 3/5 early in Monday's second session of the under-tack preview of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and the time was matched about a half-hour later by a filly by Mitole (hip 335) consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds.
Hip 308 is the first foal out of the unraced Marla (Frosted), a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Envoutante (Uncle Mo).
“I was expecting a good work from her,” said Omar Ramirez. “She prepped really well on the farm. My brother Jose and I were really excited with the way she prepped over there. We knew she would work well. And she did everything right.”
Eric Antonio Delvalle purchased the bay filly for $20,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
“She was on the small size when we bought her,” Ramirez, who worked with Delvalle to pick out the filly last fall, said. “But she had a beautiful walk and she had all the right parts. We thought about putting her in March, but we thought she was still a little too small for the March sale, so we decided to give her the extra month and that was the best decision.”
Also on behalf of Delvalle, Ramirez sent out a colt by Omaha Beach (hip 299) to work a quarter in :20 4/5 Monday. The chestnut is out of stakes-placed Malibu Party (Hard Spun), a daughter of Grade I winner Malibu Mint (Malibu Moon). He was purchased for $120,000 at Keeneland last September.
“[Delvalle] really loved the horse,” Ramirez said. “He wanted him for the March sale. But he was the opposite of the filly. He's a big, strong colt. I didn't think he belonged in March. I thought we would give him a little more time and take him to April to let him get stronger. And he worked great, too.”
Ramirez will offer a colt by Army Mule (hip 839) on behalf of Delvalle during next week's sale.
“We have big hopes for him,” Ramirez said of the juvenile who is slated to work Thursday.
Of Delvalle, Ramirez said, “This is only his second year with me. He had a couple of horses with me last year that he had bought with somebody else. So this is the first year I bought the horses for him.”
Just before the hour mark of Monday's under-tack session, Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo sent out hip 335 for her bullet breeze.
“She looks like a colt. She's a big two-turn looking filly. And she did it pretty easy,” Hartley said of the work. “I was impressed with her.”
The filly is out f Mischief Galore (Into Mischief). She was bred by Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt and, after selling for $100,000 as a weanling at the 2023 Keeneland January sale, was purchased by Hartley/DeRenzo for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton July sale.
“We paid pretty good money for her as a yearling,” Hartley said. “She was just as beautiful then. She's just gotten a little bit bigger. Brian Graves had bought her as a weanling, so you know he buys nothing but good-looking horses.”
Looking ahead to the filly's date in the sales ring next week, Hartley said, “The stallion is doing good enough and people are giving him enough respect. And I think the Into Mischief on the bottom is just going to help give people that much more confidence.”
A filly from the first crop of Grade I-placed Caracaro (hip 199) turned in Monday's fastest quarter-mile breeze when working in :20 2/5. Consigned by Global Thoroughbreds, the bay is out of Key d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro). She was bred by LLP Performance Horses.
Hartley said conditions during Monday's session of the under-tack show were fairly consistent with Sunday's opening session, but he is watching the weather forecast for the coming days in Central Florida.
“It was pretty good today,” he said. “We had a little bit of a tailwind today. It seemed like a pretty good track. It was very similar to yesterday. The only thing that really changes this track condition is the wind. That's what we are going to get into in the next few days because we are supposed to get a major headwind with a storm coming in on Thursday.”
The under-tack show continues through Saturday with sessions beginning each day at 8 a.m. The OBS Spring sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday with bidding starting each day at 10:30 a.m.
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