Monday OBS 2-year-old session up 45 percent in average, $400K topper

A flurry of prices above $200,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s opening 2-year-old session Monday helped the four-day sale’s opening day improve on last year’s results.

Topped by a $400,000 Medaglia d’Oro filly, Monday’s opener grossed $7,403,000 from the sales of 179 juveniles. The total was up 31 percent from last year’s gross for 199 horses. This year’s average price of$41,358 was up 45 percent, and the $25,000 median increased 25 percent over last year’s figure. The buyback rate was 23 percent this year, down from 27 percent for the equivalent session in 2011.

The session in Ocala, Fla., was the first of four days’ selling at the OBS spring juvenile auction. Six juveniles brought $200,000 or more. That session-topper, a bay daughter of the Capote stakes winner Bashful Charmer, sold to Southland Stables. Niall Brennan, agent, consigned the half-sister to stakes winner Saturday’s Child and to the stakes producers Wednesday’s Child and Unbridled Charmer. The filly had breezed a quarter-mile in 21 seconds at the auction’s under-tack preview.

The top colt in early selling was a $285,000 Harlan’s Holiday colt that sold to Virginia-based agent Debbie Easter on behalf of Jon and Sarah Kelly. The dark bay or brown colt is out of the unraced Indian Charlie mare West Indian and is a half-brother to stakes-winner Golden Dreamer and to stakes-placed Western Flyer.

Ciaran Dunne’s Wavertree sales agency consigned the Harlan’s Holiday colt, who sold as Hip No. 50 in the catalog.
Also bringing $200,000 or more were Hip No. 233, a $225,000 Henny Hughes-Cape Discovery filly that Oh Jong Hwan purchased from Best A Luck Farm, agent; Hip No. 92, a $220,000 daughter of first-crop sire Street Boss out of Airizon that Tommy Hutton’s Dream Stable purchased from Brennan; Hip No. 267, a $220,000 Harlan’s Holiday-Cita My Dear colt that Jim and Susan Hill bought from Hoppel’s Horse and cattle Company, agent; and Hip No. 105, a $210,000 Unbridled’s Song colt out of 2005 Pennsylvania Oaks winner Amazing Buy, by High Yield, that Bloom Racing Stable bought from Crupi’s New Castle Farm, agent.

The OBS April sale was to continue through Thursday with sessions starting daily at 10:30 a.m. All sessions take place at the OBS sale complex in Ocala, Fla.