Charlie O’Connor, director of sales for Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, was standing in the winner’s circle at Keeneland when the phone began ringing. Suspicions, the first starter for the farm’s sire Corniche, had just won the first race on opening day, and breeders were already angling to get into the stallion for the ongoing breeding season. “The phone’s ringing already,” O’Connor said. “We couldn’t be happier.” Corniche, Ashford stablemate Golden Pal, and multiple Grade 1 winner Life Is Good already are off the mark with winners as the Keeneland spring meet kicks off 2-year-old racing in North America. The winners could boost the stock for the sires at this week’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training. There are 1,224 hips cataloged for the sale, which runs over four sessions from April 14-17. Suspicions won on April 3 for Corniche. Life Is Good’s first starter, Waggley, won on April 8, and Skara Brae, by Golden Pal, won on April 9. All three won their debuts at 4 1/2 furlongs for trainer Wesley Ward, who is known for his prowess with juveniles. :: Keeneland Spring Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, picks, news, and more. “This is what everyone looks for, is the early 2-year-olds coming out and winning,” O’Connor said. “Look out, here at the next 2-year-old sale, they’ll be hot cookies.” Corniche was a $1.5 million purchase at the 2021 OBS spring sale. He went on to be that season’s Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old male, capping the year with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Corniche’s progeny are expected to be precocious, and the market has responded accordingly. Last year, he had 80 first-crop yearlings sell at public auction for an average of $162,196, more than five times his introductory stud fee of $30,000 at Ashford. He has already had a $1.35 million colt sell at the OBS March sale. He has 33 hips cataloged at the spring sale. “We love them. As you can see, they’re very early,” O’Connor said of Corniche’s progeny. “He was very well received at the [March] sale, as well. A lot of chat in Ocala about them. They’re beautiful horses – beautifully balanced, well-made horses.” Corniche, whose Suspicions ran the fastest time of the three early Keeneland maiden winners, is part of a strong quartet of freshman sires in this class for Ashford, which includes another Eclipse Award champion, Epicenter, the outstanding 3-year-old male of 2022. Golden Pal was also an outstanding 2-year-old, winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and later adding the BC Turf Sprint. Multiple Grade 1 winner Jack Christopher rounds out the group. “We have a lot of excitement at the farm,” O’Connor said. Life Is Good, who stands at WinStar Farm, was a multiple Grade 1 winner, whose victories include the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. He was represented by multiple seven-figure lots in his first crop of yearlings last year. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  While Corniche, Golden Pal, and Life Is Good have found early success at the races, other freshman sires are showing up with some speedy offspring at the under-tack preview show for the OBS spring sale. Through the first four of six sessions on the Ocala Training Center’s all-weather Safetrack, a trio of juveniles were tied for the fastest furlong at 9 3/5 seconds. Those include a filly from the first crop of Eclipse champion sprinter Jackie’s Warrior (Spendthrift Farm), a colt from the first crop of multiple Grade 1 winner Mind Control (Rockridge Stud), and a filly from the third crop of McKinzie. The filly by Jackie’s Warrior, an 11-time graded stakes winner, was the first to hit the mark. “She’s the easiest horse in the world to train,” Randy Hartley of consignor Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds, said of the filly. “She just does her business, she’s super smart, she carries weight. She did that and just acted like, ‘Okay, whatever.’ ” Nine-time graded stakes winner Mind Control stands in New York for a large partnership. “He’s an athletic, nice-moving horse,” David McKathan of consignor Grassroots Training and Sales told OBS. “[Mind Control] gets a decent-bodied horse and this guy is a New York-bred. We like the New York-breds, but this colt is really going to do well for somebody anywhere.” A quintet of juveniles were tied for the fastest quarter-mile breeze in 20 3/5 seconds, including two by freshman sires: a colt by Roadster (Ocala Stud) and a filly by Nashville (WinStar). The other bullet quarter-mile workers were a colt by American Pharoah and fillies by Omaha Beach and Uncle Mo. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.