OBS winter sale rides momentum

A demand for young racing stock at an opportune time on the calendar has provided a spark to the marketplace for the mixed sale season, which began last November and continues this coming week with the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s winter mixed sale. That trend will look to continue as a pair of stakes-placed 3-year-olds are among the highlight offerings for the sale.

The OBS sale is set for Tuesday and Wednesday with a total of 566 horses in the catalog following supplemental entries. The sale begins Tuesday morning with 205 select horses designated as the preferred session, and continues that afternoon with 112 horses of racing age. The remaining 249 horses in the catalog will be offered in an open session on Wednesday.

An optional under-tack preview show for horses in training will be held Monday on the Ocala Training Center’s all-weather Safetrack.

The catalog supplements were highlighted by the 3-year-olds Winging It and Fifth Anniversary, both currently training in Florida.

Winging It, a Florida-bred son of leading sire Into Mischief, finished second in both his starts last year for owners Bella Inizio Farm and Fred Rosen and trainer Jena Antonucci. Beaten a neck in his debut at Gulfstream Park after setting a pressured pace from the rail draw, he finished second in the Proud Man last August going a mile on Gulfstream’s turf against open company. The Proud Man was the most recent start for Winging It. He resumed working at a training center in the fall, and has breezed this month at Gulfstream.

Fifth Anniversary, a Runhappy filly, won once from four outings last year, all at Woodbine. She was second in the Woodbine Cares in September.

Fifth Anniversary made an impressive 3-year-old debut for owner Span Investments and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., winning by 2 3/4 lengths under allowance conditions on Jan. 19. She ran the 5 1/2 furlongs in 55.90 seconds, establishing the track record for Gulfstream’s new Tapeta track.

The top two prices at the recently concluded Keeneland January horses of all ages sale were young horses. The $750,000 2-year-old filly Princesse Lele topped the sale, followed by the $700,000 colt Belgrade, a prospect for 3-year-old stakes following his debut victory. Horses of racing age have also become an increasingly important segment of the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, with the $825,000 juvenile Strava leading that session after a debut victory.

The OBS catalog also includes 257 yearlings by a diverse group of sires, including a Florida-bred filly from the third crop of Horse of the Year Gun Runner. That stallion, who set a record for earnings by a North American freshman sire in 2021 and who also led the overall 2-year-old sire list, sired the top-priced yearling at the Keeneland January sale, a $375,000 colt. Gun Runner’s other offering at OBS January is Efficiency, an unraced 3-year-old gelding who is breezing at Belmont Park.

First-crop sires with yearlings in the catalog include promising young Florida stallion St Patrick’s Day with 13 lots. The Group 3-placed runner is a full brother to Triple Crown winner and leading young sire American Pharoah.

Other first-crop sires represented include champions Mitole and Vino Rosso and Grade 1 winners Audible, Catholic Boy, Omaha Beach, World of Trouble, and Yoshida.

The sale also features mares in foal to first-year stallions, including Grade 1 winners Complexity, Echo Town, Gift Box, Global Campaign, Spun to Run, Vekoma, and War of Will.