Ocala preferred sessions mixed

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company held the first of two open sessions Wednesday with a session-topping $52,000 Songanda-prayer colt that Murray Smith bought from Wesfield Sales (Robert and Saronda Smith), agent.

The yearling colt is out of Stemming, by Pentelicus. Overall, the Wednesday session sold 143 lots for $863,800. That was down slightly from last year's equivalent session, when 187 lots brought $870,700, but the 2005 average beat last year's figure, rising 30 percent to $6,041.

The four-day auction's two consignor-preferred sessions ended Tuesday evening with mixed results and a higher buy-back rate than last year.

A $200,000 colt by the hot young sire Yes It's True topped the two consignor-preferred sessions Tuesday. Athens Woods, LLC, purchased the colt from Dean and Peggy Johnson's Johnson Hollow Farm, agent. The colt is out of Hollow Design, by Colonial Affair.

Overall, the four-day auction's first two sessions sold 373 lots for $7,164,800, well up from last year's $5,778,200 for 290 horses. The average price dropped 3 percent, from last year's figure of $19,925 to $19,209. The median held steady at $12,000. Buy-backs were running ahead of last year at 32 percent, up from 26 percent after day two last season.