By Jessica Martini
With Tropical Storm Colin bearing down on Ocala, the under-tack show for next week's OBS June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training was able to avoid the worst of the weather as it continued with its second session Monday.
“The weather kind of dodged us,” OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said after the conclusion of breezes early Monday afternoon. “We had about a five-to-10-minute delay at one point where we waited on some rain to go through, but all in all, we were fortunate.”
Wojciechowski added, “It's pretty ominous-looking right now. There is a strong likelihood that we're going to get a wallop of it here soon. We were fortunate to get the breeze show in today and, if it works out the way we hope, it seems like this little tropical storm is moving pretty rapidly and it very well could be out of here by tomorrow morning.”
OBS will be monitoring conditions and is prepared to make a game-time decision on the status of Tuesday's session of the under-tack preview.
“The good news is that, with our synthetic racetrack, we don't have to worry about the mud,” Wojciechowski said. “With the track and the cover over the three-quarter shoot, we can protect people from the inclement weather. We do have the luxury of a few extra days before the sale [if we're forced to cancel Tuesday]. We want to make sure that we give the consignors an opportunity to show their horses to the best of their ability. We'll keep an eye on the weather and continually monitor it.”
Hip 215, a colt by Gemologist, became the first horse of the preview to shade :10 when he worked a furlong in :9 4/5 Monday. Out of Distant Storm (Storm Cat), the chestnut is from the family of Oustandingly, Bernstein and Wiseman's Ferry. The juvenile is consigned by Top Line Sales.
“He's a good-looking colt and he's been really precocious all year,” Top Line's Jim Gladwell said. “You never expect them to go that fast, but we were hoping for pretty fast.”
Gemologist, winner of the 2012 GI Wood Memorial, had a colt sell for $550,000 at the OBS April Sale, and Gladwell has high hopes for the young WinStar stallion.
“He has had a lot of fast babies here at the sales and they seem to have been well-received by buyers,” Gladwell said. “I would expect them to come on running this summer.”
Of the weather, Gladwell said, “It's brutal right now. We breezed one of our fillies right after a torrential downpour and it didn't help a whole lot. It has the potential to be cancelled tomorrow, but we are all hoping it blows out tonight.”
Tuesday's third session of the under-tack preview is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. The preview continues with sessions through Friday. The June sale will be held next Tuesday through Friday, with sessions beginning daily at 10:30 a.m.
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