OBS Spring Sale

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Backed as the 9-5 favorite in his six-furlong unveiling for John Sadler at Del Mar Nov. 28, Got Thunder (c, 2, Arrogate--Ask the Question, by Silver Deputy) stamped himself as one to watch with a very promising second-place finish. The gray flashed good early speed from the fence while three of them lined up through an opening quarter in :22. Beginning to give way--or at least appearing to...

   Princess Noor (Not This Time - Sheza Smoke Show, by Wilko) proved her status as racing royalty several times over through her accomplished juvenile campaign. Now a three-year-old, she prepares to go through the ring at the Fasig-Tipton 'Night of the Stars' Sale carrying a foal by leading sire Into Mischief. A product of the first book from this year's leading second-crop sire Not This Time, she quickly stamped her status as one to watch as the sales topper of the 2020 OBS Spring Sale after a dazzling breeze...

2nd-SAX, $61K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 4:31 p.m. Kaleem Shah's THALES (Quality Road) gets his start for Simon Callaghan Friday. The half to SW and MGISP Standard Deviation (Curlin), who sold for $240,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October sale, realized a $1.25 million final bid following a :20.3 quarter at the OBS Spring sale last season. The ridgling was the highest-priced colt and the second highest priced offspring by the Lane's End stallion last term. Pegram, Watson & Weitman's Essential Wager (Honor Code) also represents a sale's coup for his sire. One...

By Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis OCALA, FL - A pair of million-dollar juveniles punctuated a day of lively trade in Central Florida as the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds reached its midway point with a second session Wednesday. "We certainly picked up where we left off yesterday and the action was just as good, if not better, and we hope it continues to move forward into the next two days," said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. "We came into the sale with some expectations given...

By Christie DeBernardis & Jessica Martini The four-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale got off to a strong start Tuesday. A colt from the first crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner (Hip 118) was the day's hottest commodity, bringing $850,000 from Donato Lanni, acting on behalf of Michael Lund Petersen. Hip 118 was one of 181 juveniles to sell for a gross of $17,829,500. The average was $98,506 and the median was $50,000. Of the 304 catalogued, 225 were offered with 44 horses leaving the ring unsold...

A Liam's Map filly (Hip 1188) from the Flying Fish consignment looks to become the next star to come out of Art Fisher's training center after being one of eight juveniles to work a bullet in :9 4/5 during the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale under-tack show Saturday. The start of the sixth and final session was delayed until 9:30 a.m. due to storms in the forecast. "The third time I breezed her, I called the guy who owns her and said, 'This filly is diseased with speed.' So,...

The team at Three Chimneys could hardly have asked for a better start at stud for champion Gun Runner. The most expensive horse to retire to stud for the 2018 season, he filled a 171-mare book his first year, was the leading first-crop weanling sire the following year with an average exceeding $275,000, and again topped his class with his yearlings in 2020. By most accounts, the son of Candy Ride (Arg) has not done a thing wrong in his early stud career and yet, as his first crop was...

The catalog for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2021 Spring Sale of Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training is now available via the OBS website at www.obssales.com. A total of 1,214 juveniles have been cataloged for the four-day sale, set for Tuesday through Friday, Apr. 20 - Apr. 23. All sessions will begin at 10:30 a.m. The online catalog's main page allows access to a sortable master index providing searchable pedigree, consignor information and updated pedigrees. Advanced search and filter capability has been added to allow shortlist creation. A link to...

3rd-Del Mar, $55,000, Msw, 8-30, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:11.67, ft. VARDA (f, 2, Distorted Humor--She'll Be Right, by Sky Mesa), sent off at 5-1 in this debut, battled with I'm the Boss of Me (Midshipman) just in front to her inside for the first quarter mile and soon led by a half-length. After a half in :46.36, she jetted away from her foes to win going away by 3 1/4 lengths. Heels Up (Twirling Candy) ran second, 7 1/2 lengths in front of I'm the Boss of Me. The $700,000...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Vittorio (c, 2, Ghostzapper-Roberta Turner, by Smart Strike), a $750,000 OBS Spring purchase by Kaleem Shah, has every right to build off a better-than-it-looked debut fifth going five furlongs at Del Mar Aug. 1 (video). Off to a tardy beginning after breaking inward at the start, the 4-1 chance, equipped with blinkers, was slow into stride and trailed the field in ninth through an opening quarter in :23.28....

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution) was a Grade l winner at two, won the Grade l Florida Derby this year, and goes for the first Classic of the season as the favorite in the Gl Belmont S. on Saturday. His breeding rights have been tied up for months, and if he does nothing from here on in--highly unlikely as that is--he'll still have a place at stud at a prominent farm. Tiz the Law's racetrack future is bright. After the Belmont, he'll likely contest the Gl Travers at Saratoga...

These, as we all recognize, are unprecedented times. Only the foolhardy would forecast the duration, or future direction, of the tempest we suddenly find ourselves trying to navigate. Even so, one thing seems nearly guaranteed. There are people out there, whose most critical resources are not merely financial but sooner measured in intrepidity and acuity, who will turn out to have sown a great harvest during these times of famine. Because that's the other side of the same coin that made the current crisis as inevitable as it was impossible...