Stormello colt leads Ocala session

A colt by ill-fated first-crop sire Stormello led selling Wednesday afternoon on day two of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s June 2-year-old and racing-age auction.

Trainer Bob Baffert paid $300,000, equal to the highest price at Tuesday’s opening session, for the dark bay or brown colt at the Ocala, Fla., sale. That was the final session’s highest price as of 3:30 p.m. Offered as Hip No. 453, the colt is out of the Red Ransom mare Puff the Magic and had recorded the under-tack show’s fastest quarter-mile time, 20.8 seconds. Blue River Bloodstock consigned the Stormello colt.

Stormello, a Grade 1 winner, was euthanized April 26 because of colic complications.

The second-highest price at the auction was $200,000 for Hip No. 317, a Proud Accolade filly who was the only juvenile to work an eighth-mile in less than 10 seconds at the under-tack preview. She did it in 9.8 seconds. A half-sister to Grade 3-placed stakes-winner, the May 2 filly is out of Lake Victoria.

Patrice Miller and Jeff Seder of the EQB agency bought the $200,000 filly from Lynn Boutte, agent.

EQB also purchased Tuesday’s session-topping $300,000 Bernstein-Within colt from Robert Brewer’s consignment. The colt’s eighth-mile time of 10 seconds at Saturday’s under-tack show was the co-fastest for the day and second-fastest overall.

Tuesday’s opening session sold 159 horses for $3,484,000. The session’s average and median were $21,912 and $10,000, respectively, and buy-backs were 34 percent. The 2011 auction has been expanded from one day to two this year.