by Jessica Martini and Christie DeBernardis
OCALA, Florida – The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April Sale of 2-Year-Olds kicked off its four-day run with figures up across the board during a strong opening session in Ocala Tuesday. For the session, 154 head grossed $11,180,500. The average of $72,61 was up 26.9% from last year's opening session, while the median rose 17.5%.
“While it's always hard to compare day-to-day results, we are very pleased with today's results,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “It seemed like there was a level of strength all the way through the market. I think this bodes well and is a good start for the sale. All in all, a great start to the four days.”
A colt by Into Mischief (hip 289) topped the day's session when selling for $335,000 to B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm. Consigned by Leslie and John Malone's Bridlewood Farm, the youngster was one of six to top the $300,000 mark Tuesday, while 11 topped the $200,000 plateau. The top price during last year's opening session was $280,000, with seven juveniles topping $200,000.
With a total of 304 head catalogued for Tuesday's session, 214 went through the sales ring and 60 horses failed to meet their reserves for a buy-back rate of 28%. Last year's opening-session buy-back rate, with the inclusion of post-sale transactions, was 20.3%.
The OBS April sale continues through Friday, with sessions beginning daily at 10:30 a.m.
Into Mischief Colt on Top at April Opener
B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farms secured a colt by its stallion Into Mischief for a session-topping $335,000 during Tuesday's opening session of the OBS April sale. Hip 289, consigned by Bridlewood Farm, is out of graded stakes placed Summer Song (Sunday Break {Jpn}), a half-sister to graded stakes winner Don't Tell Sophia (Congaree). He worked a furlong during last week's under-tack show in :10 flat.
“He was very much what you'd expect from Into Mischief,” Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey said. “Into Mischief stamps them pretty much and he's very much what you'd be looking for in an Into Mischief. It was a great breeze and it was a really good organization that was selling him. We're thrilled to have him.”
Of future plans for the colt, Toffey added, “We're not sure where he'll go yet. He'll go back to Spendthrift and get about
30 days off and then we'll sort things out with various trainers.”
The session-topper was Spendthrift's second purchase of the day. The farm, in partnership with Town & Country Racing went to $100,000 to acquire hip 79. The juvenile is another son of Into Mischief, who stands at Spendthrift for $45,000.
Bridlewood Back on Pinhooking Scene
Bridlewood Farm, now owned by Leslie and John Malone, has made headlines as a leading buyer at recent bloodstock sales, but Tuesday's session topper at OBS April marked a successful return to the pinhooking arena for the historic Ocala-based farm.
“We did pinhooking for years under the old Bridlewood and it was one of my goals when the Malones bought Bridlewood that we would get back into pinhooking on a very limited, quality, basis,” explained longtime Bridlewood general manager George Isaacs.
On behalf of Bridlewood, Isaacs signed the ticket on the Into Mischief colt at $100,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The youngster was one of seven Isaacs purchased to pinhook last fall.
“He is by a very good stallion and out of a stakes-winning mare,” Isaacs said of the colt's appeal. “When I bought him at Keeneland September, I thought I bought him at good value. And everything went right. I want to give Jonathan Thomas credit for the job he did preparing the horse at the farm–he made my job easy.”
Bridlewood will continue to be a part of the pinhooking scene on a limited basis going forward, according to Isaacs.
“I want it to be strictly boutique,” he said. “I want people to know that we're offering quality horses. That they vet and that we are representing quality.” –@JessMartiniTDN
Midnight Strikes Twice for Miles
When hip 33 brought a final bid of $310,000 from Ruis Racing early in Tuesday's opening session of the OBS April sale, it marked a major pinhooking score for Virginia-based consignor Randy Miles. Miles purchased the youngster for $28,000 out of last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
“We were a little surprised to get him for that, but we were delighted to get him,” Miles said. “He had the same look [as a yearling]–he was big and strong and we just thought and hoped he would turn into what he turned into. Sometimes those things work and sometimes they don't and this one did.”
The juvenile, who worked a furlong in :10 flat at the sale's under-tack preview, is out of Platinum Preferred (Vindication), a half-sister to Canadian champion A Bit o'Gold (Gold Fever).
Miles knew early on the colt would be a popular offering in Ocala.
“We knew right away he had some quality and some class,” Miles recalled. “Early in 2016 when we started breezing him a little bit, he showed that he had the talent to go with the class. And everything just worked. And then we had a lot of interest [at the sale] and several vettings.”
Miles, who estimated his operation would pinhook about a dozen head a year, had more success with Midnight Lute later in Tuesday's session of the sale when hip 172 sold for $150,000. Miles had purchased the youngster for $42,000 at the Keeneland September sale.
“It just happened that we really liked those two horses at the yearling sales and they happened to be by Midnight Lute,” Miles explained. “I've had good luck with the Midnight Lutes in previous years–he's just a good, solid sire. Both horses were sound and healthy and hopefully they'll go on and win some races.” –@JessMartiniTDN
Shackleford Filly to Japan
Riki Takahashi has bought his share of Japanese champions at OBS through the years, such as Moanin (Henny Hughes), Asia Express (Henny Hughes) and Best Warrior (Majestic Warrior). The Japanese bloodstock agent hopes that he has found his latest star in Hip 128, a Shackleford filly he purchased for $310,000 during Tuesday's session of OBS April.
“I like Shackleford,” Takahashi said of the :20.4 breezer's appeal. “The breeze was so beautiful and she has a very nice face. I like her very much. She will be sent to Japan for my clients.”
Takahashi did his bidding alongside Narvick International's Emmanuel de Seroux and that pair was also responsible for the topper of the Barretts March Sale, a $460,000 colt by The Factor.
Hip 128 is the second foal out of Royal Affection (Vindication), a half-sister to GIII Pin Oak Valley View S. winner Tiger Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}) and MSW and GSP Ol Donyo (Curlin). She was purchased for $35,000 with this filly in utero by Kaz Hill Farm's Peter Kazamias, at the 2014 Keeneland January sale.
The dark bay filly went through the ring for the first time at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred sale last August, where she was snapped up for $125,000 by a pinhooking partnership known as The Team. Steve Venosa's SGV Thoroughbreds consigned her to this sale on their behalf.
“Anytime you lead a horse up there and are able to sell it, you are very pleased, so we were very happy with the price,” Venosa commented while basking in the sunshine outside of his Barn 3. “She is going to a great home. Given she is a New York-bred, you always want to see them perform at Saratoga, but I'm sure going over [to Japan], she will definitely show up and do well over there.”
The filly's good looks and nice movement, which caught Takahashi's eye, were also what attracted The Team to her as a yearling.
“She had a good overall frame and a very athletic walk,” Venosa recalled. “She looked like she had a very good disposition on her and just the way she conducted herself for the sale–she showed the same in the afternoon as she did in the morning, so we liked that about her. She just had a really elegant walk, the way it flowed.”
The April foal continued to impress Venosa as she developed over the winter.
“She was one that was always a late bloomer, but she was always just doing everything right,” he remarked. “So, we had felt being that she was an April foal, we would target her for this sale. She was peaking at the right time and it was evident by her performance here.”
As for his impressions of the 2-year-old market, Venosa said, “We've had a really solid year. We are kind of a small consignment. We only sell approximately 30 horses a year. We are kind of different from the next guy, so we like to come to market with what we feel are really good quality horses and we have been rewarded so far this year with them. For us, we are very pleased with the market. It seems like the top sells well, if they want them, and there really isn't a middle market. Sales like here where there are 1200 horses, there is a horse that appeals to all buyers.” –@CDeBernardisTDN
Street Cry Filly Finds a Home Overseas
After RNA'ing three previous times, Hip 95, a Street Cry (Ire) filly, has found a new home across the pond after selling to bloodstock agent Alessandro Marconi for $300,000 during the opening session of OBS April Tuesday. Consigned by Stephens Thoroughbreds LLC, Agent VIII, the filly breezed a furlong in :10.
“It's a client that is related to a good family in Dubai, but does not want to disclose his name,” Marconi offered after signing the ticket out back for Hip 95 and Hip 99, a Pioneerof the Nile filly who sold for just $19,000. “She will go to Newmarket and then eventually to Dubai, but first she is going to stay in Newmarket for a while.”
The bay went through the ring the first time as a weanling at the 2014 Keeneland November sale, where she RNA'd for $240,000. Back in the Keeneland ring just 10 months later for the September sale, she failed to sell again after a bid of $235,000 and she RNA'd once more at last term's Fasig-Tipton October sale for $175,000.
Bred by Brookdale, Ted Folkerth and Double K, Hip 95 is out of the Galileo (Ire) mare Real Sense (Ire), who is a half-sister to German Group 1 winner and French group stakes winner Saddex (Sadler's Wells {Ire}). This is also the family of English highweight Chimes of Freedom (Private Account).
“We like Street Cry and my client has been so keen for the dam line has Galileo,” Marconi commented as to what attracted him to the filly. “She looks like she will grow a bit.”
Bullet Worker Causes Late Sparks
A Shackleford colt, catalogued as Hip 242, inspired lively bidding late in the day Tuesday when selling for $280,000 after breezing in a bullet :20.3 during the second session of last week's breeze show. The winning bidder was Jay Kilgore of Data Track International, a company which analyzes stride length, biomechanics, conformation and cardio scores in horses.
“I never thought I'd be interviewed, but I also never thought that horse was going to go for that much,” Kilgore remarked. “I am surprised at the price, but he is that good of a horse. I was here for all the [breeze] videos. I shoot my own videos and do my own stride analysis and everything. Just coming around the turn, I thought this was a nice moving horse and he just continued to do it. He had good stride numbers, good biomechanics, good cardio score, so he passed everything that we do for my company. I bought him for some guys out West, so what they are going to do with him I don't know.”
Bred in Florida by Gary Smith's English Range Farm, the chestnut is a half-brother to GSP Pedaltothemedal (Medallist) and also hails from the family of GSW and GISP Concave (Colonel John).
He was consigned to the sale by Envision Equine, a company started by 23-year-old Brittany Dallaire and 31-year-old Jonathan Poole that is in just its second year of selling. Ridden by Dallaire during the breeze show, Hip 242 is the first bullet worker for Envision and their highest-priced horse sold to date. The operation's previous top seller was a Sidney's Candy colt that brought $125,000 during last year's OBS June sale.
Click here for a TDN feature on Envision Equine.
Dominus Filly in Demand at OBS
Consignor Cary Frommer admitted she wasn't sure what to expect when she sent hip 161, a first-crop daughter of multiple graded stakes winner Dominus (Smart Strike), through the sales ring Tuesday at OBS.
“She did everything perfectly, but I just didn't know what to expect with a first-year sire,” said Frommer, who was selling the filly on behalf of breeder Allen Poindexter.
Frommer need not have worried. The youngster, who RNA'd for $14,000 at last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale, attracted a final bid of $200,000 from Lollipop Farm.
“She had a beautiful breeze and a beautiful gallop-out,” Frommer added. “And she is an Iowa-bred, which was a big appeal to a lot of people.”
The bay filly is out of stakes winner Sea Bloom (Sea Hero) and is a half to Panamanian champion Tale of Angel (Tale of Ekati).
Dominus, winner of the 2011 GII Dwyer S., stands at Spendthrift for $3,500. The stallion was represented by a $250,000 yearling colt during last year's Fasig-Tipton July Sale and his success in the OBS sales ring was no surprise to Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey.
“Right from as soon as they were foals on the ground, we've been hearing from breeders and then from people who bought them as weanlings to pinhook, every step along the way we've heard really good feedback,” Toffey said. “So we're really excited about him. He's a beautiful horse with a great pedigree. He's doing all the right things so far.”
Dominus, who is out of multiple graded stakes placed Cuando (Lord at War {Arg}), has a further four juveniles expected to sell this week in Ocala.
“It didn't look like there was a bad breeze among them,” Toffey said. “So we are really tickled about that.”
Mulligan Gets Back in the Game
Mike Mulligan, whose Leprechaun Racing Partnerships was one of the preeminent 2-year-old consignors in the early 2000s, has been out of the game since suffering injuries from a fall in 2009, but the native New Yorker is back at OBS April both as a seller and with a new business venture.
“Once I got involved in the Thoroughbred business, it's all I've wanted to do,” Mulligan, who served as president of the National Association of 2-Year-Old Consignors for nearly a decade, said Tuesday. “I love it, it's in my blood. I've been in it since 1997 full time. I had to take a little vacation due to injury, but I've been wanting to come back and I just wanted to make sure that I was good enough to fairly represent the people who invested with me and trusted me to make sure that we put the horses in the right place and do the right thing and buy the right horses and have financial success and to have our buyers believe in the horses that we buy and have respect for us and to have repeat business like we did in the past.”
Mulligan returned to the sales sheets at last year's Fasig-Tipton July Sale and in the name of his newly formed pinhooking partnership Emerald Bloodstock purchased five yearlings. Among those youngsters was a colt by Majesticperfection out of Magic Belle (Gold Case). Consigned by RiceHorse Stables as hip 1090, the colt turned in a co-bullet :9 4/5 work during last week's under-tack preview.
“I scored that horse a 6F, which is the best score I gave at the July sale,” Mulligan said of the speedy youngster. “And I think he is one of the best physical horses. He may be lacking in pedigree, but what he is lacking in pedigree, he more than overcompensates for in ability. He is beautiful on the end of the shank and he galloped out in :9 4/5, :20 flat, :33 1/5 and :46 4/5.”
There are eight members of Mulligan's pinhooking partnership and, in addition to RiceHorse, Grassroots Training and Sales is also handling consignor duties for the partnerships.
“I have three partners from my old partnerships,” he said of the group. “Then I have some people who are involved in the training process who asked to get involved financially as well. One of them is a longtime client who I have bought horses for a number of years and believes in my program. And there are two people who aren't in the Thoroughbred business, but know me well enough and decided to invest with me.”
Mulligan, whose pinhooking graduates include $1.7-million Fasig-Tipton Florida graduate Munnings, has also launched a new initiative featuring in-depth analysis of breeze show results.
“I felt like there was a need in the marketplace,” Mulligan said of his analysis, which ranks juveniles by work time, gallop-out time and barn number, as well as providing observations on wind directions and incidents prior and during a work. “I wanted to put something together that was as much information as I could do and put 100% effort into it and make it market-friendly from a financial standpoint to where there are a lot more informed buyers who have information that helps them make good decisions. Because I think what we need is more racehorse owners that are having good experiences and are going to continue to buy 2-year-olds in the marketplace. And I think this is a good way to do it.”
Mulligan is clearly enjoying his return to the industry.
“I'm loving it,” Mulligan said. “I feel better than I have in years.” –@JessMartiniTDN
All Star Sighting at OBS April
At 6'8″ tall, Hall of Fame NBA forward Scottie Pippen was easy to spot sitting at a table in OBS's tiki bar beside the walking ring.
“I just came here with a friend, Sam Herzberg,” Pippen commented. “He is big into horse racing, so I am just down here enjoying the day with him. He had Black Onyx in the Derby a few years ago, but he got scratched.”
The Arkansas native, who joined forces with Michael Jordan to lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles, is a new face on the Thoroughbred scene, but isn't looking to buy any racehorses of his own just yet.
“I would say it's enticing, but I don't have any plans of investing,” Pippen offered.
However, the 50-year-old does have a few Quarter Horses that he uses for trail riding on his property in Hamburg, Arkansas, which is about three hours outside of Hot Springs. Despite being a lifelong Arkansas resident, Pippen has never been to Oaklawn, but does go to Churchill Downs for the GI Kentucky Derby.
“I don't really ride them much,” Pippen said. “My nephew pretty much does the horse stuff. I tried it for a couple years, but it wasn't my thing.” –@CDeBernardisTDN
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