The tail end of 2-year-old fillies during the training sales season has traditionally been a tougher market for consignors and buyers with quality being unpredictable from year to year, but the fillies Ocala Breeders’ June 2-Year-Old in Training and Racing The yearling promotion that ended June 14 delivered solid results over the 2023 edition.
A total of 582 2-year-old horses were sold for a total value of $21,386,800, down 11% from a year ago, but the number of horses sold was down 9.1%. The median dropped 2.2% to $36,747 and the median held steady at $20,000. Including racing-age horses, the auction sold 596 horses for $21,730,300, creating an overall average of $36,460. A total of 144 horses fell short of the reserve and gave an overall buyback rate of 19.5%.
“I think it’s very solid with almost the same results as last year,” said Tod Wojciechowski, director of sales at OBS. “I think overall it’s been a good market that’s been around for two years. I think the demand is similar to what we’ve seen. We’re in an election year and sometimes that affects things, But the bottom line is that quality horses sell well.” .”
Two colts shined especially in the final session, bringing the second and third highest overall prices (the two colts previously sold for $400,000 each).
Julie Davies as dealer sold the colt (Hip 1021) of the June 14 session Uncle Mo get out Will be responsible bet winner Kim K. . Davies sold the colt, which galloped in the under-hand show, for $375,000 to Marc Tacher. Kim K was a $335,000 2-year-old filly when purchased in training in 2018 in the Barretts Spring 2-Year-Old Trainer Sale, purchased by Rockingham Ranch from the Sequel Bloodstock consignment. She went on to win the Debutante Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course and earned $213,700 for her career.
The colt Uncle Mo, bred by Rockingham Ranch, was her first foal.
Perfect timing also fueled interest in the sale’s third-highest priced yearling, a $330,000 freshman sire (Hip 1017). Vekoma the winner of the bet amount Grace’s Treasure . Hidden Brook consigned its purchase for $160,000 in the 2023 Fasig-Tipton New York-Breds Yearling sale at Saratoga Springs, NY, out of the Turning Point Bloodstock consignment.
“I expect her to sell well,” said Mark Roberts, a partner at Hidden Brook. Her wind was good but her gallop was as good as anything on the day.” “The thing about her is that at the end of a leg, she’s beautiful.”
The Vekoma was consigned as a Hip 1017 at the OBS June sale
Also helping to create buzz before she entered the auction ring were Vekoma’s first two winners at Churchill Downs.
Spending Farm’s freshman sire was represented in race 2 by Louisiana Jess , who won his race debut by half a length ahead of trainer Bret Calhoun and owner Mansfield Racing. Two races later, CJ Stable’s Viggiedal , a March graduate of the OBS 2-Year-Old Training Sales Program, won on his debut five lengths ago for trainer Steve Asmussen. The filly was purchased in March for $350,000 by her current connections from the Wavertree Stables consignment. Vekoma started third in race 6, pray Nearly had a hat trick on Churchill’s card for Vekoma but lost the lead in the deep to finish second for owner Jeff Prunzik and trainer Robert Medina.
“As soon as the second one crossed the finish line, I was at the OBS update office to make sure they had it,” Roberts said. It’s a good day”.
Vekoma’s first crop have got off to a brilliant start, with six first-time winners and one second-place finish among eight starters so far.
The top three finishers in race 6 at Churchill were actually all OBS graduates. Winner, dreamy girl Who is dirty by Mo town , sold for $65,000 to DKW Racing in the Junior Training and Sales consignment at this year’s OBS Spring 2-Year-Old Training Sales. She is owned by Three Diamonds Farm and trained by Mike Maker. Second was Praying, who sold for $410,000 in the Stone Bridge Farm spring sale from Mayberry Farms, and third was Trouble maker daughter of Instagram who sold for $250,000 in OBS’s March sale to Robert Masterson from the Eddie Woods lot.
“There’s a lot more to come,” Wojciechowski said. These consignors do a wonderful job not only in selecting these horses but also preparing them for races. That has been proven time and time again in race results.”
While Hidden Brook was lucky to sell one near its peak, Roberts said the June sale — like the junior sales season in general — was a “tough market.”
“June is always a tough time for skiing because it’s the end of the season and most of your buyers have spent money. You talk to dealers who might order a horse against an earlier sale when they have orders for four or five horses, there’s just less money to go around,” he said.
“Light wind days are like race day; you only get one chance to enter. So you’ll get horses that may have stubbed their toes at a previous sale. That doesn’t mean They’re bad horses, they’re just having a bad day. There’s been some nice horses here this week.”
As for the 2-year-old season overall, Roberts said it has been a tough year, especially for horses in the middle and lower end of the market.
“Some had a few top horses and the rest came through. In my years in the horse business, I don’t remember an election year that was a good year for anyone. No matter what side of the aisle you were on ,” he say. speak.
Roberts hopes this model will carry over into annual sales.
“I think the market is expecting to see a similar correction,” he said. The top will work fine and the middle and bottom will struggle. I thought pickpockets would be more cautious, and they are.”
