Ocala sale to offer 160 juveniles in February

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has cataloged 160 horses to its select juvenile sale, set for Feb. 16 at the company's pavilion in Ocala, Fla.

The one-day auction starts the boutique 2-year-old sale season. Last year, according to results updated in May 2009, it sold 93 juveniles for $9,868,700 for an average price of $106,115 and a median of $90,000. Coming off a record-setting year in 2008, the gross fell 30 percent, average was down 33 percent, and the median declined 28 percent. But the 2009 sale has produced some nice advertisements for the auction in the form of last year's juvenile stakes-winners Negligee and Decelerator. Negligee, a Northern Afleet filly who races for Sovereign Stable, was a $37,000 buy-back at the 2009 auction. Decelerator, a daughter of Dehere, sold to Westrock Stables for $250,000.

On Feb. 15, the auction house will host its Day of Champions races with first post at 1:30 p.m. The auction will start on Feb. 16 at noon. The sale's under-tack preview will take place on Feb. 12 at 9 a.m.

Both the auction and the under-tack show will be streamed live at the OBS website, www.obssales.com.