Mass Media colt tops second OBS session at $50,000

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A $50,000 Mass Media colt, half-brother to 2010 stakes winner Awesome Son, set the standard Wednesday at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s August yearling sale in Ocala, Fla.

The session - the second of three and the first open session, following Tuesday’s select session - sold 243 yearlings for $2,328,500, an increase of 65 percent over last year’s significantly smaller session, which sold 190 yearlings for $1,410,300. Average price also increased, by 29 percent, from $7,423 to $9,582, and median nearly doubled, from last year’s figure of $3,500 to $6,500. The buy-back rate also improved, from 34 percent last year to 26 percent.

Sarah McCord purchased the session-topping Mass Media colt from Sharon Biamonte, agent. The dark bay or brown colt sold as Hip No. 300. He is out of the Defrere mare Defrills, a winner. His Pure Precision half-brother, Awesome Son, won Penn National’s East Hanover Township Stakes by five lengths on July 31.

The auction was reformatted from last year, selling a smaller catalog over three days instead of four. Its final session at the auction was slated to begin Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at the OBS sales complex in Ocala, Fla.