Ocala sale rebounds, but average price declines overall

Results from the second day of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's two-day mixed sale rebounded strongly from a poor performance on Tuesday, according to sales figures provided by the company.

The average price for the 185 horses sold on Wednesday was $6,114, a 27.9 percent increase over the average posted during last year's second session, when 182 horses sold. Gross receipts for the Wednesday session were $1,131,000, compared with $870,200 last year.

On Tuesday, the average price for 80 horses sold during the sale's preferred session dropped 17.1 percent compared with the average for 166 horses sold during the opening session last year.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company had sharply pared this year's catalog for the first mixed sale of the year, in an attempt to buttress the sale's results at a time of economic uncertainty and declining foal crops. Last year, 667 horses were cataloged, compared with 441 horses this year.

The stronger results for the second session this year were not enough to rescue the sale overall, however. In total for the sale this year, 269 horses sold for average price of $8,381. Last year, 348 horses sold for average price of $9,972, for a difference of 16 percent.