Competitive June Sale Marches On

By Jessica Martini

Just a day after it was set, the sale record price was tied at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Old Sale when a colt by Into Mischief sold for $575,000 to Frank Fletcher during Wednesday's second session of the four-day auction. The colt (hip 509) was consigned by Jaime Mejia's Thoroughbred Champions Training Center, which purchased the youngster for $11,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. The juvenile was one of four to bring over $200,000 Wednesday in Ocala, bringing the two-day total to nine. That figure was four at this point a year ago. 

“We're very happy with how the sale has been going–we equaled the record right out of the box and that was great to see,” said OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski. “And it was great to see Mr. Mejia–new to the game and new to the area–have success.” 

Through two sessions of the June sale, 288 juveniles grossed $10,684,900. The average is up 22% to $37,100, while the median dipped 13.6% to $19,000. There were 125 horses reported not sold over the two sessions, for a buy-back rate of 30.3%. 

“There was a lot of strength at the top,” Wojciechoswki continued. “We'd still like to see the middle market coming. I think it was a little stronger Wednesday than Tuesday. And hopefully as we move forward, we'll continue to see that improve.” 

The competitive nature of the top-end of the June market has come as no surprise to bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, who has noticed the trend at all of the season's 2-year-old sales. 

“It has been a dog fight all year long,” Lanni observed of the juvenile market. “It's the toughest it's been in a long time. You see good, solid racing operations that have really good broodmare bands and who buy yearlings who are now buying 2-year-olds and you wouldn't have seen that in the past. I think you are starting to see a lot of horses coming out of the sale healthy and going on to run in good races and people are trusting 2-year-olds sales more than they ever have. It makes it hard for us to buy because there is a lot more competition. We've had a hard time buying 2-year-olds this year–you just have to come to every sale.” 

Lanni thinks the increased strength of the OBS April sale has led to a more competitive June sale. 

“I think the June sale now is like the old April sale used to be,” Lanni said. “There is a big catalogue, the numbers are there, because there are a lot of horses that just needed that extra time and the consignors have given those horses the extra time. And they have come here healthy and sound and are being rewarded.” 

The OBS June sale continues through Friday with sessions beginning daily at 10:30 a.m.

Into Mischief Colt Ties OBS June Record… 

Just a day after a colt by Scat Daddy set an OBS June record when selling for $575,000, a son of Into Mischief tied the mark when selling to Arkansas owner Frank Fletcher. Hip 509 is out of Kiss the King (Roman Ruler), an unraced half-sister to Italian Group 1 placed As You Like (Trempolino) and from the family of Grade I winner Alphabet Kisses. He worked a quarter last week in a co-bullet :20 3/5. 

The juvenile was consigned by Jaime Mejia's Thoroughbred Champions Training Center. Mejia, in just his second year of operation at the 100-acre Ocala Downs, purchased the youngster for $11,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. 
“He had great conformation, he was a little small, but he was a late May foal,” Mejia, a native of Columbia, said through an interpreter. 

Asked if he was surprised to get the youngster for $11,000 last fall, Mejia said, “I buy horses in my range and I don't usually pay a lot for my horses. But I like to buy horses with pedigrees and this horse had good conformation. He worked great and vetted well.” 

Wednesday marked the colt's second trip through the OBS sales ring. He RNA'd for $95,000 at the OBS March sale after working in :10 1/5. Mejia said the colt was still green at the March sale, but has grown and matured in the interim. 
A racetrack owner in his native country, Mejia pinhooks approximately 30 to 40 juveniles a year and races what he doesn't sell. 

Thoroughbred Champions Training Center made its debut at OBS last June and was represented by a colt by Candy Ride (Arg) who worked in a bullet :10 flat before selling to Three Amigos for $110,000. Now named Still Standing and racing for Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman, the colt graduated on debut at Santa Anita May 2 for trainer Bob Baffert. 

Asked if he was surprised to have sold a record horse in just his second year of operation, Mejia said, “It was very satisfactory. Because it's a very challenging business. And it's tough to open doors, but I think I'm doing it.”

Bernardini Colt Proves Popular at OBS…

A colt by Bernardini attracted a final bid of $350,000 from bloodstock agent Steve Young, acting on behalf of an unnamed client, during Wednesday's second session of the OBS June sale. Consigned by Niall Brennan Stables, the Canadian-bred colt (hip 355) is out of Flawless Diamond (Saint Ballado) and is a half-brother to stakes winner Blue Heart (Exchange Rate) and graded stakes placed Henshin Hero (Dance Master). He was bred by Anderson Farms and was purchased for $300,000 by Ontario Bloodstock at last year's Keeneland September sale. 

“He is a horse that I saw as a yearling at Keeneland,” Young commented after signing the ticket Wednesday. “He has always been a nice horse and he comes from a running family.” 

Young admitted the colt's Canadian-bred status was a bonus. 

“He is on the outside looking in,” Young continued. “He's not a Canadian-bred, he's a good horse that is born in Canada. It's nice to have that. They run for a lot of money up there as two and 3-year-olds.” 

Asked if the colt's new owners race in Canada, Young laughed, “They are going to now, whether they know it or not.” 
The Bernardini colt reflects the growing status of the June sale, which now attracts horses specifically targeted at the juvenile season's final auction, Young agreed. 

“I think there are quite possibly nicer horses in June than there has been before,” he said. “I think there is enough money where some of these people don't feel they have to gamble into March when they can wait. And if they deliver the product, they will get paid for it in April or June. There are a lot of nice horses here and because of the better horses, the people are here. It's not just the last sale of the year, as it was maybe in the past.” 

Malibu Moon Colt to Sea Gull… 

Trainer Tim Hills, bidding on behalf of Pat Welsh of Sea Gull Associates, signed the ticket at $300,000 to secure a colt by Malibu Moon early in Wednesday's second session of the OBS June sale. The chestnut (hip 294), out of Easy Action (Crafty Prospector), is a half-brother to stakes winner My Due Process (Henny Hughes) and is from the family of graded stakes winner Itty Bitty Pretty. The May foal worked a furlong in :10 1/5 during last week's under-tack preview show. 

“Even though he is a late foal, he looks like a 3-year-old,” Hills said of the youngster. “He's a big, powerful horse. He obviously vetted well and I really liked the breeze.” 

Of the colt's final price tag, Hills admitted, “I stepped up a little bit over my budget, but my owner is still ok with me.” 
Welsh, who campaigned the Hills-trained graded stakes winner Toll Taker (Bernstein), was looking to add some ready-to-run 2-year-olds to his stable. 

“He has a couple broodmares, but he wanted to step up and buy a couple of 2-year-olds who are ready to go,” Hills explained. “We got a couple at Timonium, but didn't spend all the money that he had allocated. So we came here.” 
The stable's June acquisition will ship to Hills's Monmouth Park base and “hopefully end up running at Saratoga,” according to the trainer. 

Last week's furlong work wasn't the Malibu Moon colt's first trip over the OBS oval. The youngster was also entered in the OBS April sale.

“This horse was in the April sale and he worked :11 1/5 in April,” explained consignor Mike Dennis of Circle D Thoroughbreds. “He needed just a little bit more time, so we scratched him out of the April sale, rode him right back into the June sale and he just needed the 45 days. That is what it took to get to :10 1/5, to where he is right now.” 
Dennis purchased the chestnut colt for $72,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. 

Asked what he saw in the colt last fall, Dennis said, “The pedigree. And then when I looked at the horse, everything balanced out. He was a little small, but he was a late foal. And there were a couple other Malibu Moons that came through the sale. One brought $250,000, the other brought $300,000. I wasn't able to afford those, so when this one came in, he was affordable.” 

Dennis, who has been operating as Circle D for the last two decades, was selling his final horse of the season Wednesday. “We used to pinhook 18 and then we dropped down to 10 and this is the first year that we've only pinhooked three horses,” he said. “We'll probably pinhook another three this year.”

Shanbally Legacy Runs On…

Shanbally Acres's Richard “Red” Curtin passed away last week, but the Shanbally legacy shone bright at OBS Wednesday as the pioneer pinhooker's son John Curtin sold a filly by Drosselmeyer for $90,000. The younger Curtin had purchased the pretty chestnut for $52,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale. 

“He showed me a lot,” Curtin said when asked if his father had taught him about pinhooking. “He wasn't a big talker, but he showed me a lot. He mostly taught me how to train them. I had to learn to pick them out from my own mistakes.” 
Asked what attracted him to hip 458 last September at Keeneland, Curtin said, “I liked her body, the way she was built and her walk.” 

The juvenile is from the first crop of GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer and is out of a half-sister to graded stakes winner Around the Cape (Carson City). Bloodstock agent Dennis O'Neill made the winning bid Wednesday. 
Curtin looks to expand his pinhooking ventures in the future. 

“This is probably my third pinhook,” he said. “I'm going to keep going, see if I can do some weanlings maybe, flip them as yearlings and keep on doing the yearlings to 2-year-olds. Plus we have horses in training.” 

Asked what he liked about the business, Curtin said, “I like getting up in the morning and going to the track. I like breaking them and seeing them change as you go through the process.”