The cancellation of Fasig-Tipton’s Bay Area Promotion, the airline’s select 2-year-old promotion in South Florida, spurred growth predictably at Sale for Sale. Ocala Breeders’ March 2-year-olds, has been expanded to three sessions. , according to OBS in a January 20 announcement.
The OBS March sale will now be held from March 20 to 22 to accommodate an increase in entries, with each session starting at 11 a.m. ET. The sale will expand to four sessions, starting Tuesday, March 14 and continuing through Friday, March 17, instead of the previous schedule of March 16-18. All sessions begin at 8 a.m. ET.
The March sale, often the most important time for 2-year-olds in North America during training season, is a consistent source of elite racehorses. From 2018-21, the auction offered 91 horses (5.6% of the total offered) that became black bet winners. Of those bet winners, 31 became classified/grouped winners.
In terms of financial performance, the March drop was strong before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the average of the drop rising to $186,727 in 2017. The sale was held in 2020 as impact of the pandemic began to peak and the turmoil of the times was reflected in the $92,710 average. Since then, sales have recovered with last year’s average rising to $132,416 and the buyback rate dropping to a remarkably low 13%. Total revenue for 2022 is over $49.6 million, the highest since 2017.
This year’s OBS March offerings could be significantly stronger due to the failure of Gulf Sales, which generated 7.8% stakes for winners from horses offered during the period. 2018-21 (Gulf sales not held in 2020).
Deals and discounts will be streamed live via the OBS website at obssales.com and also passed BloodHorse.com. The catalog will be available after the end of the OBS Winter Mixed Sale, which will be held January 24-25.
Current information on OBS sales, shippers and graduates is also available through the social media sites Facebook and Twitter. A link on the homepage directs the user to either website.
Sales results will be available on the OBS website, updated in a timely manner during each March sale. In addition, the latest news on OBS graduates, sales schedule, nominations, inquiries credit, travel information and other information relating to OBS shippers and customers are also available.
