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The Keeneland April horses of racing age sale is set for Friday night. What is not quite set is the final catalog – and alongside it, the makeup of the buying bench. Keeneland released an initial catalog of 111 entries earlier this month for the sale, which follows the closing-day card of the spring race meet.
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, considered a bellwether for the national marketplace, wrapped up a four-day run on Friday evening with cumulative average and median figures that narrowly bested the records established last year.
After a buoyant Wednesday session at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, things came back down to earth Thursday, with a $550,000 Nyquist colt leading the penultimate day of the sale.
The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training began heating up Wednesday, with a bullet-working filly by freshman sire Tiz the Law fetching $1.9 million to lead a session that posted big year-to-year gains.
A $775,000 filly by freshman sire Caracaro led the session as the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training began on Tuesday.
Juveniles by young sires Bolt d'Oro, Mitole, and Omaha Beach finished tied for the fastest furlong at 9 3/5 seconds as the under-tack preview show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training concluded with its seventh and final session on Sunday evening.
Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training offers the widest swath of juveniles of any auction in North America – there are 1,208 hips cataloged for this year's sale, set for Tuesday through Friday. There are solid horses to be found at all price points, for all manner of operations.
A filly from the first crop of Tiz the Law worked a quarter-mile in 20 1/5 seconds to lead that section of the work tab as the under-tack preview show for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training continued on Tuesday.
John Stewart emerged last fall as a major new player in the Thoroughbred marketplace, purchasing everything from weanlings to broodmares with the goal of developing a full-scale breed-to-race operation in Kentucky. He will now also likely have several juveniles active this year as he was again among the leading buyers at a major-market auction, with acquisitions for his Resolute Racing string at OBS March led by a $1 million Authentic colt.
Last year's yearling marketplace was strong, leading to questions about how pinhookers might make a profit as many had to pay more on their initial investment. The team of Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo has proved time and again that it can be done, and the savvy pinhook partnership hit home runs with two seven-figure sales as the juvenile sales season opened at OBS March.
