OBS 2-year-old sale sets records for average, gross, median

The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s spring 2-year-old auction ended a bullish four-day run Thursday with a $650,000 First Samurai filly during its final session.

Donato Lanni, agent, bought the sale-topper for The Three Amigos at a session that cemented record gains across the board for the Ocala, Fla., auction.

Combined, the four sessions sold 760 juveniles for $33,706,400, or 30 percent more than last year’s gross for 830 horses. Gross, average price, and median price all set records. The average spiked sharply, rising 42 percent from $31,301 last year to $44,351, and median also jumped by 35 percent, from $20,000 last year to $27,000. Seventy-three juveniles brought prices of $100,000 or higher, up from 52 last season.

The buyback percentage dropped from 2011’s figure of 23 percent to 18 percent.

The sale-topping First Samurai filly is out of Grade 2-placed Refugee, who also is the dam of stakes-placed Profit, by Not For Love. She is from the family of Davona Dale. Eddie Woods, agent, consigned the sale-topper; she last went through the auction ring for $23,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale, where Hubert Guy, agent, was the buyer.

Offered as Hip No. 929, the First Samurai filly breezed a quarter-mile in 21 seconds at the sale’s under-tack preview.
Trainer Mark Casse paid $475,000 for the auction’s highest-priced colt, also sold Thursday. That was Hip No. 967, a Broken Vow colt out of stakes-placed Runaway in Love from the Halcyon Hammock consignment. He’s from the family of Sir Shackleton and had the under-tack show’s co-fastest eighth-mile time of 9.8 seconds.