With a $2 million Nyquist filly leading the way, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s March sale of 2-year-olds in training finished with year-over-year gains, including a record gross, as it opened the breeze-up season in North America. OBS reported 443 juveniles sold at this three-day auction for a gross of $72,050,000, compared to 432 horses sold for $65,660,500 last year. The prior record gross was $71,473,500, generated from 464 sold established in 2023. The cumulative average price over three days finished at $162,641, up 7 percent from the 2025 figure of $151,992. The gain in average is noteworthy because last year, the OBS March sale was led by eventual Grade 1 winner Brant, who established a record price for any OBS auction when selling for $3 million. He was one of seven seven-figure lots traded at the 2025 sale, establishing a record; this year’s edition matched that mark. The median, considered an important figure for market health because it samples a wide swath of the activity, rather than being influenced by outlying prices the way average figures can be, spiked 21 percent, to $85,000 from $70,000. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The buyback rate finished at a decent 22 percent, compared to 18 percent last year. Buyback rates under 20 percent are considered stellar in a selective Thoroughbred marketplace across the board. “Very gratified and pleased and happy for the consignors,” OBS director of sales Tod Wojciechowski said. “As I say all the time, they bring the horses and it’s the quality of the horses they bring is what brings those prices. Very pleased with the amount of trade that took place all three days, both domestically and internationally. We had involvement from a lot of different buyers, so we were very happy with that.” As Wojciechowski referenced, there was diversity of the buying bench at the top end, with the seven top prices going to seven different buyers. A major new player at auction over the past year has been the growing Boyd Racing, and that operation struck for the top lot. Hannah Jennings of Killora Stud signed the ticket as agent for the stable on the sale-topping $2 million Nyquist filly during the Thursday session. She had distinguished herself during last week's under-tack preview show as one of six juveniles who shared the bullet furlong, in 9 3/5 seconds, on the Ocala Training Center's all-weather Safetrack. That helped tie for the top price ever at OBS March. Behind the record-priced Brant, Muth (2023), and Chestertown (2019) each sold for $2 million at this sale. “[Buying] has been so tough, we knew we’d have to stretch for her,” Jennings said. “We never thought we’d have to stretch that far but when the horse is the right one, everyone is on them.” The filly became a home run pinhook after her $300,000 purchase, in the name of Forest Bloodstock, at the Keeneland September yearling sale. She was consigned at OBS March by Wavertree Stables, as agent. “She’s a beautiful physical, she put in an unbelievable work,” Wavertree’s Ciaran Dunne said. “She vetted clean and you know, if you can’t sell her, you just need to quit selling.” Champion Nyquist is the sire of 11 Grade 1 winners to date, including Eclipse Award champions Immersive and Vequist. His representatives on the track this year include Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Nysos, most recently second to Forever Young in the Saudi Cup; the exciting multiple graded stakes winner Knightsbridge; and Grade 3 Gotham winner Iron Honor. His sale-topping filly is out of the Lucky Pulpit mare Smooth and Savvy, whose lone starter to date is a winner. Smooth and Savvy is a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Smooth Like Strait. Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan appears on the catalog page, as do Grade 1 winners Laragh and Siphonic. “She was just an absolute queen,” Jennings said. "The whole week she was so professional. Obviously her stride was fantastic on the track. And physically she’s everything we could ever want. Nyquist is one of our favorites.” Among the seven seven-figure lots at OBS March, Nyquist was the only sire represented by two horses, as he also had a colt purchased for $1.2 million by MorPlay Racing and Marquee Bloodstock, also from the Wavertree consignment. The five other stallions represented included several leading sires, and a pair of this year’s freshman sires. A colt by reigning leading sire Into Mischief was purchased by Frank Fletcher Racing for $1.85 million to rank as the sale’s second-highest price. The colt, who was consigned by SBM Training and Sales, as agent, had breezed a furlong in 9 4/5 seconds at the under-tack preview. The third-highest price went to freshman sire Corniche, with a $1.35 million colt purchased by representatives of Legion Bloodstock from the consignment of Pick View LLC as agent. Corniche, a seven-figure OBS April purchase himself, won all three of his starts as a 2-year-old, capped by the Breeders' Cup Juvenile to lock up a divisional Eclipse Award. “I have two [by the stallion] and they’re both awesome," Pick View's Joe Pickerrell said. "They love to train, they’re sound, and they seem to thrive off the work. Everything we’ve thrown at [this colt], he’s taken it in stride. He’s never had a bad day. I feel like he’s a horse who is going to have some big things coming.” The colt, a May foal, breezed a quarter-mile in 21 seconds flat during the under-tack show. He is out of the Grand Slam mare Leigh Court, a champion in Canada. The four-time graded stakes winner is the dam of four winners from five starters to date. The $1.2 million Nyquist colt was the fourth-highest price of the sale, and was followed by a $1.1 million Drain the Clock colt to Pedro Lanz, as agent for KAS Stables; a $1.05 million Mo Town colt to Donato Lanni, as agent for Baoma Corp; and a $1 million colt by 2025 leading freshman sire Yaupon, purchased by the Three Amigos. Drain the Clock, a Grade 1-winning sprinter, joined Corniche as a member of this year's freshman class with a breakout result.   For complete hip-by-hip results from the sale, click here. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.