With the country on edge, OBS March sale finds tough going

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s March sale of 2-year-olds in training concluded its two-day run on Wednesday evening with understandable declines in economic indicators, as it opened a juvenile sale season with an uncertain landscape.

The market was expected to show restraint during OBS March due to the evolving coronavirus pandemic, which has affected the business world and caused the stock market to drop sharply, and has forced the cancellation or postponement of other early-season juvenile auctions. The OBS March auction, which was already in the midst of its pre-sale under-tack show as cancellations began rolling in last week, elected to proceed, with the company increasing sanitation measures around the auction pavilion and increasing its phone bid capacity for buyers unable or unwilling to attend.

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OBS reported 291 horses sold during the two-day sale for gross receipts of $27,902,500, a 37 percent drop from last year. The 2019 renewal had 306 horses reported sold for $44,248,500. That renewal was led by Chestertown, who sold for a sale-record $2 million, meaning this year’s sale was already fighting an uphill battle in terms of figures.

The sale's cumulative average price was $95,885, dropping 34 percent from $144,603 last year. The median checked in at $50,000, declining 38 percent from $80,000 a year ago. The buyback rate was 40 percent, compared to 24 percent last year.

Six juveniles sold for $500,000 or more at this week's sale and two sold for $600,000 or more, compared to 14 sold for at least $500,000 and nine at $600,000 or more last year. Two topped $1 million last year; none at this year’s sale.

The sale topper was a $650,000 filly from the second crop of Triple Crown winner and leading freshman sire American Pharoah, with Katsumi Yoshida purchasing the filly from the consignment of Wavertree Stables, as agent, during Tuesday's opening session.

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The filly breezed a quarter mile on the Ocala Training Center's all-weather Safetrack surface in 20 2/5 seconds during the under-tack preview show for the sale, standing alone with the fastest time at that distance. The filly is out of the winning Songandaprayer mare Megalicious, dam of stakes-placed My Sweet Stella, and the second dam of Iowa-bred stakes winner Snapy Gal. Megalicious is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Abbondanza.

A colt from the first crop of multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Upstart sold for $600,000 to bloodstock agent Mike Ryan during Wednesday's second session. The colt, who was consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, as agent, breezed a quarter mile in 21 seconds during the preview show.

The colt is out of the winning Bernstein mare Blue Beryl, a half-sister to Grade 2-placed stakes winner Brigand and to New York-bred stakes winner Sky Music. Both of those runners are bred on the same A.P. Indy-line cross as this colt, and Brigand is by Flatter, the sire of Upstart.

Where the juvenile auction season continues next is unclear. As of Wednesday evening, OBS had not yet announced whether it might cancel or postpone its spring sale, scheduled for April 21 to 24. However, the two auctions conducted by the country’s other major sale companies in April, the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale and the Keeneland April sale, have been canceled. If the OBS April sale follows suit, that would make the next sale on the juvenile auction calendar the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale, which has already been pushed back to May 26-27.