$225,000 Not This Time filly tops OBS selected yearling session

A filly by commercially-popular freshman sire Not This Time sold for $225,000 to lead the way as the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. opened its fall yearling sale with its selected yearling session.

The session continued the trends seen in the marketplace this year, particularly that of increased selectivity, but posted only minor changes in the average and median.

OBS reported that 80 horses sold during the sale's selected yearling section for gross receipts of $3,338,000, compared with 130 yearlings bringing $5,689,200 a year ago. The changes in the number sold and the gross were partially due to a spiking buyback rate, a trend that has been seen in this year's yearling sales as a marketplace that was already selective became even more so during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The section's buyback rate was 41 percent, compared to 30 percent in the 2019 selected session.

The average price was $41,725, a change of 5 percent compared with $43,763. The median price fell 3 percent, to $29,000 from $30,000.

The session-topping Not This Time filly was purchased by Tonja Terranova, acting as agent, from the consignment of Lisa McGreevy's Abbie Road Farm, as agent. The Florida-bred filly continued a solid commercial season for her sire, a Grade 3-winning juvenile who stands at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky. Not This Time currently leads all North American freshman sires by individual winners – with 13, including dual Grade 1 winner Princess Noor – and ranks second by earnings. The Giant's Causeway horse has found commercial success as a result. He has averaged $175,216 from 37 juveniles sold this year – against a $15,000 conception stud fee – led by $1.35 million Princess Noor, the most expensive horse of the season. He is currently averaging $126,617 from 39 second-crop yearlings sold this fall.

The session-topper is out of the unraced Midnight Lute mare Midnight Magic, whose only other registered foal is a winner. Midnight Magic is a half-sister to graded stakes winner Coalport and stakes winner Jolly Good Kitten, and Grade 1 winner Favorite Funtime appears on the catalog page.

The second highest-priced yearling of the session was a New York-bred filly by leading sire and classic sire Into Mischief, the only offspring of that stallion in the sale. She was purchased for $200,000 by bloodstock agent Colt Pike from the consignment of Stuart Morris, as agent. The filly is out of the stakes-placed Indian Charlie mare Indian Rush, dam of stakes winners March X Press and Harlan's Honor. The latter, by Into Mischief’s sire Harlan's Holiday, is the dam of stakes-placed Song River.

In addition to the selected yearling section, Tuesday's trade at OBS also included a selection of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age. OBS reported 29 horses sold, led by a $155,000 Empire Maker colt, for a total of $816,500, averaging $28,155, with a $16,000 median.

Zedan Racing Stables purchased the Empire Maker colt from the consignment of Top Line Sales, agent. The colt had breezed a quarter-mile in 21 1/5 seconds on the Ocala Training Center's all-weather Safetrack surface during Sunday's breeze show, tying for the fastest at the distance. The colt is out of the Grade 3-placed stakes-winning Alphabet Soup mare Tempus Fugit, dam of Grade 2 winner Majestic River and stakes-placed Tempus Temporis.

The OBS fall sale concludes with a second and final session, for open yearlings, on Wednesday.

For hip-by-hip results, click here.