Ready to ‘Seize the Day’ at OBS March

By Steve Sherack 

With a bolstered catalogue of 610 offerings, the new-look OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale begins its two-day run in Ocala, Florida, Tuesday. Both sessions kick off at 11 a.m. 

Three horses reached seven figures during last year’s record-setting and re-scheduled one-session auction, including the co-topping coverboy and GISW Carpe Diem (Giant’s Causeway). Stonestreet Stables and WinStar Farm’s $1.6-million acquisition (consigned by Northwest Stud) and ‘TDN Rising Star’ began his 3-year-old season with an emphatic score in the GII Tampa Bay Derby. 

In 2014, new highs were established for gross ($37,627,500), average ($187,201) and median ($135,000) from a 411-strong catalogue. No fewer than 201 horses changed hands, good for a buyback percentage of 23%. 

“It wasn’t an easy decision because we had such a good sale last year,” OBS President Tom Ventura said of changing to an open format in 2015. “But, after talking with the buyers and consignors about opening it up a little more, it seemed that the timing was right [to expand the sale].” 

The three days of under-tack shows went off without a hitch last week, according to Ventura. 

“I think we had ideal conditions for the breeze shows,” Ventura commented. “The weather was nice, and even on the last day when the times were a little quicker, there was a bit of a tail wind most of the day. I think the horses had plenty of opportunity to strut their stuff out there.” 

He continued, “There was good attendance for the breeze shows and the barn area has been very active. It’s a good sign. Hopefully, that’ll translate into a good sale.” 

Activity on the sales grounds has continued to pick up throughout the weekend with all of the regular players in town, including bloodstock agents Alex Solis II and Jason Litt, Christina Jelm, David Ingordo, John McCormack, Nick Sallusto and Steve Young; and trainers Bret Calhoun, Chad Brown, Gary Contessa, Jerry Hollendorfer, John Sadler, Linda Rice, Mark Casse, Rick Violette, Ron Ellis, Steve Asmussen and Todd Pletcher. Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier, Darley’s Charlie Boden, Eclipse Thoroughbreds’s Aron Wellman, WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden, and a large contigent of the West Point team have also been spotted making their inspections. 

The response to the expanded format for 2015 has been extremley well-received from buyers and consignors alike. 

“I was all for it,” Casse commented. “I’ve said all along, you just never know what horses are going to go to the 2-year-old sales and do well. It had gotten to where I felt like some of the middle-range buyers were getting shut out with that [select] format. Now, I think, the more horses, the more people come, and the better the sale is. Hard work and doing your homework pays off in these bigger sales. I wish there were 4,000 [horses].” 

Consignor Nick de Meric added, “I encouraged the board [to expand the sale] and everyone seemed to agree that it was time to make a change. I think the depth of the horses on offer are what keep a sale vibrant and healthy, and the wider your cross section of horses, the wider your cross section of buyers, and the healthier your sale.” 

Bloodstock agent and Director of Bloodstock Services at Hill ‘n’ Dale Donato Lanni applauds OBS for expanding to a three-day breeze show format. 

“At the end of the day when you sell horses, you’ve got to cater to the buyer,” Lanni said. “After eight or nine hours at a breeze show, you start to see double. I think it was much needed that they added a third session. With the breeze shows finishing early in the afternoon now, you can still get some work done after–look at the videos or look at the horses that breezed the day before. Before it was just a mad dash. I like it a lot. Three days of breezes and two days of sales–that’s perfect.” 

Consignor Shari Eisaman concurs. 

“I love having the three-day breeze show,” she confirmed. “And I’m really going to love [the expanded format] if the people show up. There’s a lot of 2-year-olds to sell and you can’t sell them all in April, so this is good as long as we get the buyers here. The horses are here. You know OBS sells good horses. If you want a racehorse, this is where you’ve got to go.” 

For more information, visit www.obssales.com.