Ocala sale's preferred session sees drop in average price
Beset by withdrawn horses and a high buy-back rate, the average price for horses sold during the preferred session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's two-day mixed sale on Tuesday dropped 17.1 percent, from $15,664 to $12,976, according to sales figures provided by the company.
Thirty-two of the 152 horses cataloged for the preferred session were withdrawn before selling, and another 40 horses did not meet the reserves set by their consignors, for a buy-back rate of 33 percent. Gross receipts were $1,038,100, a drop of 60 percent from the preferred session last year, when 166 horses sold for $2,600,200, according to the figures.
The session topper was Great Venue, a 3-year-old unraced Unbridled's Song mare in foal to Scat Daddy who sold for $95,000 to Rustlewood Farm. The mare's dam, Rose Colored Lady, a stakes winner herself, has produced four stakes winners.
The highest-priced weanling to sell was a colt by Pomeroy out of the Not For Love mare Clever Me. Machmer Hall paid $48,000 for the colt.
The sale continues on Wednesday with a day-long open session.