Strong Opening to OBS April

By Jessica Martini
    The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training opened its four-day run in Ocala, Florida Monday with average and median up from last year's opening session. In all, 173 horses sold for $11,512,000. The average was $66,543, up 15.6% from a year ago when 202 horses grossed $11,632,000. The median was up 26.8% to $45,000. 
    “We were very pleased,” commented OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “For starting off the four days, it was a good, solid sale.” 
    The buy-back rate was 23.5%, up from 13.3% a year ago, but that figure didn't concern Wojciechowski. 
    “The caveat in that buy-back number is that last year's figure includes all the post-sales which were accounted for at the end of the sale,” he explained. “And we've had a lot of activity as far as post-sales through the office already, so that number can change. Last year, the number was at almost 19% for the opening session and it went down to 13% by the end of the sale.” 
    In all, eight horses brought $200,000 or more, compared to seven a year ago. Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Frank Fletcher, purchased the day's top-priced lot, going to $550,000 to secure a colt by Mineshaft from the Eisaman Equine consignment. One other offering topped the $300,000 level, with trainer Randy Morse purchasing a colt by Bellamy Road on behalf of David Clark for $340,000. The top price during last year's opening session was $320,000. 
    “The two session toppers were beautiful horses who worked nicely in :10 1/5–they didn't have to set the track on fire to sell well,” Wojciechowski added. 
    A deep buying bench continued to be an April hallmark, according to Wojciechowski. The top 10 lots were purchased by nine different buyers. 
    “The usual players are here, as well as players you haven't seen before,” he said. “That's one of the things that April seems to draw; it has such a large base of buyers.” 
    The OBS April sale continues Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.