Ocala sale session led by $90K yearling

A $90,000 yearling Congrats colt led selling Wednesday afternoon at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s winter mixed auction. Wednesday’s session was for open yearlings and was the last of two sale days.

Bortolazzo Stable picked up the session-leading yearling, an April 24 foal out of the Royal Academy mare Summer School. The chestnut colt hails from the family of graded winner Mud Route and stakes-winner Nursery Rhyme. He is a half-brother to the winner Astute.

Stroud’s Lane Farm sold the colt.

A High Cotton filly that Norman Handry bought for $32,000 was the day’s highest-priced yearling filly at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Currently named Hot Dixie Storm, the April 16 foal is out of the unraced Stormy Atlantic mare Breaking Storm. She’s a half-sister to two winners. Barbara and Francis Vanlangendonck’s Summerfield agency consigned the dark bay or brown yearling.

The auction’s opening session on Tuesday combined 110 consignor-preferred horses and a new 153-horse racing-age section.

The consignor-preferred session sold 64 horses for $1,159,000, resulting in an average price of $18,109 and a $15,000 median. Buy-backs were 36 percent.

The racing-age section sold 71 horses for an aggregate $997,200, for a $14,045 average and $6,500 median. Buy-backs were 28 percent.

The reformatting to include a racing-age segment made year-to-year comparisons difficult. Last year’s consignor-preferred session sold 117 horses for $1,458,400, an average price of $12,465, and a median price of $9,000. Buy backs were 28 percent in 2011.

Hard Spun’s 3-year-old daughter Lady Clara, third in the Jan. 7 Busanda Stakes at Aqueduct, brought $240,000 from Hard Acre Farm as the session-topper. The dark bay or brown filly is out of stakes-winner Victorica and is a half-sister to group-placed stakes-winner King Hesperus. Gayle Woods, agent, was the consignor.