Gun Runner colt in training fetches record-setting $3 million at Ocala Breeders' Sale auction
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A $3 million Gun Runner colt, purchased by agent Donato Lanni on behalf of Zedan Racing, set a record for an Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. auction on Thursday.
The OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training concluded with an improved average, as the company kicked off both its 50th anniversary juvenile sales season and the traditional breeze-up season in North America.
OBS reported that during the three-day sale, 432 juveniles sold for gross receipts of $65,815,500. Last year, $65,239,100 was generated by 454 horses sold.
At OBS's 2024 March sale, four juveniles, three of them now graded-stakes performers, sold for seven figures at a particularly successful renewal of the auction: Grade 2 winner Nooni ($1.8 million sale price), Grade 1-placed Ferocious ($1.3 million), Grade 2-placed Sandman ($1.2 million), and Verifire ($1 million), who debuts this weekend at Colonial Downs. This year, seven horses fetched seven figures. After a $1 million Maxfield colt led the opening session and a $1.1 million Good Magic filly and $1 million Independence Hall colt topped the second session, four juveniles crossed the threshold in a powerful Thursday session: the $3 million Gun Runner colt, a $1.25 million Maxfield filly, a $1.05 million Quality Road filly, and a $1 million Nyquist colt.
Bolstered by the top of the market, the cumulative average price finished at $152,351, up 6 percent from $143,698 last year. The median dropped just 3 percent, to $70,000 from $72,000, while the cumulative buyback rate in a highly selective marketplace improved to 18 percent from 24 percent.
“I thought it was a great sale. It was a fun three days,” said OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski. “The quality of horses showed through in the prices. Really from the day after the under-tack show, when most of the people were getting here to look at horses, there was a ton of activity on the grounds. You could really feel the juice in the air."
The $3 million Gun Runner colt, out of Tynan, eclipsed the previous OBS record of $2.45 million paid by agent John Moynihan on behalf of Coolmore interests for a Tiznow colt at the April 2017 2-year-olds-in-training sale.
Horse of the Year and standout young sire Gun Runner is expected to have a strong year with his 2-year-olds, as this is the crop conceived after his record-setting freshman season of 2021. His record-setting colt, who was consigned by agent Eddie Woods, distinguished himself by working a furlong in 9 3/5 seconds during last week's under-tack preview show on the Ocala Training Center's all-weather Safetrack. He was one of two tied for the fastest time at that distance.
“I mean, he wasn’t a secret. He’s a pretty cool horse and everyone loved him,” Lanni said after signing the ticket. “Just very lucky to get him for Amr Zedan. We always come here to look for nice horses and he was a nice horse. [Zedan] is pretty excited, and Gun Runner is a tremendous stallion. This colt worked really well. He galloped out good. He did everything you’d want one to do. Just excited about him.”
This is the first foal out of the winning Liam’s Map mare Tynan, a half-sister to graded stakes winners Pappacap and Boppy O. Pappacap is by Gun Runner.
The Maxfield and Quality Road fillies each worked in 9 4/5 seconds, joining the logjam of juveniles tied for the second-best time at the distance. The Nyquist colt worked in 10 seconds flat.
The Maxfield filly, the second seven-figure lot of the week from the first crop of her sire, was purchased by Marquee Bloodstock from the consignment of agent de Meric Sales. She is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Hard Aces.
The New York-bred Quality Road filly was purchased by AMO Racing from the consignment of Wavertree Stables, as agent. She is out of the Grade 1-placed stakes winner Toasting.
The Nyquist colt, a half-brother to a pair of stakes winners who rounded out the day's seven-figure lots, was purchased by Epic Horses LLC, an entity that emerged during last year's fall yearling sales, from the consignment of Scanlon Training and Sales as agent.
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