By Jessica Martini
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, with 1208 catalogued offerings, begins its four-day run Tuesday morning. Bidding begins at noon during the auction's first session.
“I anticipate it being a good sale,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “We've got a lot of people here. The under-tack show was well-attended and the interest that we are getting is high. Certainly, the April sale is the go-to sale of the year.”
The size of the Spring sale's catalogue helps attract a diverse buying bench, Wojciechowski agreed.
“The great thing about 1200 horses is there is something for everyone,” he said. “So you'll have people shopping at all price brackets. One thing that continues to grow is the international market. I think we have some Japanese groups here that honestly haven't been here before. They typically would only shop March and not shop April that much. This year they are coming to April.”
For the second year in a row, the 2023 Spring sale set records for gross and average, with 698 horses selling through the ring for a total of $90,805,000 and an average of $129,907. The median was a record-tying $65,000.
The auction continues to build its reputation as a go-to spot to acquire graded winners. Last year's Spring sale produced GI Summer S. winner Carson's Run (Cupid), multiple graded winner Dreamfyre (Flameaway), GIII Holy Bull S. winner Hades (Awesome Slew), GII Santa Anita Oaks winner Nothing Like You (Malibu Moon), G3 UAE Oaks winner Manama Gold (Star Guitar), multiple graded winner Nysos (Nyquist), GII Los Alamitos Futurity winner Wynstock (Solomini), GII Golden Rod S. winner Intricate (Gun Runner), and GIII Honeybee S. winner Lemon Muffin (Collected).
“Most importantly, the reason this sale keeps getting better and better is because of the quality of the horses that our consignors are bringing,” Wojciechowski said. “They continually up the game when it comes to the quality of horses and what they are bringing to market. That makes it easy for us.”
During last week's under-tack preview for the Spring sale, four juveniles shared the fastest furlong time of :9 3/5: hip 308, a filly by Omaha Beach consigned by Omar Ramirez Bloodstock; hip 335, a filly by Mitole consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds; hip 787, a colt by Bolt d'Oro consigned by Top Line Sales; and hip 1187, a filly by Practical Joke also consigned by Top Line Sales.
A pair of fillies by first-crop sires shared the fastest quarter-mile breeze of :20 1/5: hip 365, a daughter of Tiz the Law consigned by Tom McCrocklin; and hip 1143, a daughter of McKinzie consigned by Eddie Woods.
The Spring sale comes a month after OBS opened the juvenile auction season with a strong renewal of the three-day March sale.
“March, I thought, was a good sale myself,” said Woods. “The good horses sold really well.”
Still, Woods saw a weakening under the top level and expects that trend will continue this week in Ocala.
“There was a little bit of lack of depth for the handy horses down the other end,” he said. “I don't see a whole lot of difference here. I expect it will be very much the same thing. You see the way racing is going at the moment. It's not exactly expanding. It will be like always. The top end is always good and you just hope for the best for the rest of them.”
The start of Tuesday's opening session has been pushed back to noon, and the Spring Sale continues through Friday beginning each day at 10:30 a.m.
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