OBS June sale closes with record gross

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. closed its juvenile sales slate with an edition of the June 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age sale that not only posted major gains over the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition, but finished with record figures in some key economic categories.

Led by a $475,000 Practical Joke filly, OBS reported 560 juveniles sold during the three-day sale – figures for the small horses of racing age section were counted separately – for gross receipts of $24,492,950, surpassing the record gross of $23,608,500 established in 2015. The 2020 edition of this sale, which was pushed back to July due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions, finished with 519 juveniles sold for $15,864,300.

This week's cumulative average price was $43,737, soaring 43 percent from $30,567 in 2020, and also surpassing the previous high-water mark of $39,612, also from the 2015 sale. The median finished at a record-equaling $20,000, up 54 percent from $13,000 last year.

The buyback rate for this sale, in a highly-selective marketplace that has become even more so in the last year finished at 18 percent, a solid mark compared to 20 percent last year.

The rebounding figures for this sale were another welcome development in what has been a strong 2-year-old sales season. Last season's calendar was turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, with cancellations or postponements for all three major North American auction houses, and the surviving sales posting declining figures. This season has not only represented a return to a normal calendar, it has featured market enthusiasm and record-breaking figures. OBS’s March and April sales both posted double-digit year-to-year gains in the average price, and the April sale recorded a record gross. Meanwhile, the boutique Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale finished with strong figures, and that company’s Midlantic sale in May posted record figures across the board.

The OBS June sale is the last of the company's three juvenile auctions, and is the penultimate sale of this market segment's season, with the Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita sale on June 23 closing out the season.

The sale-topping filly was purchased by bloodstock agent and clocker Gary Young – who selected Medina Spirit out of this same auction last year – from the consignment of Top Line Sales, as agent, during Wednesday's opening session, and held on to her top spot throughout the auction. The filly, a May foal, had worked a quarter-mile in 21 1/5 seconds over the Ocala Training Center's all-weather Safetrack surface during last week's under-tack preview show.

This is the first crop for Practical Joke, a multiple Grade 1-winning son of leading sire and emerging sire of sires Into Mischief. Practical Joke, who stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud, is represented by two winners to date from his first crop, including Wit, a six-length debut winner on the Belmont Stakes undercard last Saturday.

Practical Joke's sale-topping filly is out of the stakes-placed Medaglia d'Oro mare Devious d'Oro, whose only starter thus far is a winner. Devious d'Oro is a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Devious Intent, stakes winner Pioneer Spirit, and stakes-placed Virgil Caine.

Rounding out the top three prices on the overall leaderboard were fillies by Nyquist and Frosted, both second-crop sires. Nyquist, who led the 2020 freshman sire earnings list, was represented by a $420,000 filly purchased by Sweetwater Trading Co., as agent for Rockingham Ranch. The filly, who topped Thursday's second session of the sale for consignment agent Eddie Woods, is out of the stakes-winning Midnight Lute mare Midnight Ballet, dam of two winners from as many starters. The mare is out of stakes winner Buzz Song, making her a half-sister to Mexican champion Jala Jala. This is the extended family of Kentucky Derby winner and classic sire Grindstone.

Topping Friday's third and final session of the sale was a $410,000 Frosted filly, purchased by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan out of the consignment of Silvestre Chavez Thoroughbreds, agent. Frosted's second crop has been precocious, with three winners to date emerging from the group. His high-ticket filly is out of the Smart Strike mare Saratoga Summer, dam of six winners from as many starters, including Grade 3 winner Summersault and stakes-placed Singular Sensation.

Among the horses of racing age, all offered on Friday evening, Prince Otto, an unraced 3-year-old colt, led the way, selling for $23,000 to Don Schnell. The Orb colt, who was consigned by Blazing Meadows Farm, as agent, is out of the Grade 3-winning Saint Liam mare Liam's Dream, dam of four winners from five starters, including Grade 2-placed Local Hero. It is the extended family of Grade 1 winner Danzig's Beauty, dam of prominent sire Distorted Humor.

OBS reported that seven older horses sold for a total of $55,200, averaging $7,886 with a $5,500 median price.

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