OBS yearling sale features two by Battalion Runner

Former Florida sire Battalion Runner has gotten some extra attention this year thanks to his son Rated by Merit, who has emerged as a leading Florida-bred juvenile of this season. But breeders in the Sunshine State can’t respond to that success by sending mares to the sire of the moment.

“Before Rated by Merit won, we had some interest from a farm in South America, and they sold the horse to a farm in Uruguay,” Ocala Stud’s David O’Farrell told Gulfstream Park. “He actually has been exported to Uruguay.”

So, one of the last chances for Florida breeders to get in on the horse comes with two Battalion Runner yearlings cataloged at this week’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. October yearling sale. The two-session auction, which has 583 lots cataloged including announced supplemental entries, now takes place Monday, Oct. 7 and Tuesday, Oct. 8. It was originally scheduled to begin two days later, but was moved forward due to pending weather concerns in the area.

Battalion Runner, by Unbridled’s Song and out of a full sister to Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tapizar, won two of six starts for Vinnie and Teresa Viola. He also finished second in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial, and third in the Grade 3 Dwyer. Vinnie Viola approached Ocala Stud about standing the horse in 2018 – but after breeding season had already started.

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“He knew it was going to be an uphill battle,” O’Farrell said. “I didn’t sugarcoat anything. I told him it was tough to market a stallion that late in the season. It really began as a passion project for Vinnie. Battalion Runner had a tremendous amount of talent as a racehorse, and he really believed in his prospects as a stallion.… Vinnie bred 10 mares to him, nine of which got in foal on really late covers. It’s tough in the second year, because the horse only bred 10 mares the first year, so it’s hard to breed to a horse who doesn’t have a whole lot of crop before then. It was more of a thing where Vinnie really believed in the horse, and it was more of a passion project.”

Viola’s passion project has paid off with at least one strong runner. Rated by Merit is a homebred for his St. Elias Stable, and one of two stakes winners from nine winners overall for Battalion Runner, who has just 16 starters total. Rated by Merit won his debut in July at Gulfstream Park by 9 3/4 lengths, and then won the Dr. Fager division of the FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes by 6 1/4 lengths last month. He earned Beyer Speed Figures of 92 and 93 in those efforts – the fourth- and fifth-highest figures for 2-year-olds this year.

Battalion Runner’s yearlings in the OBS October catalog are a Florida-bred filly out of the winning Graeme Hall mare Dominant Dolly, consigned by Colin Brennan Bloodstock, as agent, and a Florida-bred colt from the family of Grade 1 winner In Summation, consigned by Bobby Jones Equine, as agent.

Plenty of Florida’s resident sires are also on offer before their home market. The two-day catalog includes five yearlings by Khozan, who has led the Florida general sire list four straight years and is atop the list by a wide margin this season, and 10 yearlings by Win Win Win, Florida’s current leading freshman sire with two stakes winners, including Grade 3 winner Nooni, who was to run in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes Saturday.

Other stallions represented in the catalog who stood in Florida in 2024 are Adios Charlie, Awesome Slew, Brethren, Cajun Breeze, Chance It, Curlin’s Honor, First Dude, Gone Astray, Gunnevera, Leinster, Neolithic, Noble Bird, Rogueish, Rushie, Seeking the Soul, St Patrick’s Day, Sweetontheladies, The Big Beast, Tunwoo, and Valiant Minister; the late Uncle Chuck, who was a promising addition to the state, is also well represented.

At last year’s renewal of the OBS October sale, a $250,000 Mitole colt led 386 horses sold over two days for gross receipts of $7,692,100. One year prior, 394 yearlings sold in two sessions for $10,560,900. True session-to-session and year-to-year comparisons came with a caveat: In 2022, OBS conducted the October yearling sale with both a designated selected session and an open session, and at the time, reported the figures for each as a separate sale. Both sessions of the 2023 renewal were designated as open sessions. The average for the 2023 sale was $19,928, compared to a cumulative $26,804 in 2022. The median was $12,500, compared to $17,000.

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