OBSMAR SALE CHANGED TO SINGLE SESSION

By Steve Sherack 

   The OBS March Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training has been rescheduled and the entire auction will now be held in one session Tuesday, March 11, beginning at 10:00 a.m., it was announced following the conclusion of Friday’s breeze show. The sale was originally slated to be held during two sessions on Monday and Tuesday. Following the postponement of Thursday’s under-tack show due to heavy rain, prospective buyers will now have two full days to do their inspections following the second breeze show Saturday. There have already been 78 juveniles withdrawn from the 411-head catalogue. 
   “We’ve been battling the weather and we thought it was the right thing to do Thursday [postponing the breeze show] to give the horses an opportunity to show themselves,” OBS President Tom Ventura commented. “That created an issue with getting the horses looked at, and with the 2-year-old in training sales, you have the added equation of having to watch the breeze show, the videos, etc. We thought it was too consolidated and we had the flexibility with the number of horses that are at this time scheduled to go through the ring–that number is about 330–that we could do that all in one day and kind of accommodate both sides.” 
   Ventura concluded, “By making it a longer day Tuesday, everybody will have a fair chance to get around and look at all the horses. It’s something that you don’t plan for, but we needed to be flexible and make sure that the buyers have a shot to look at the horses and also give the sellers an opportunity to sell their horses.” 

Chilly Temps Rule the Day… 
   Conducted on a windy day under overcast skies with temperatures struggling to get out of the high 40s, a son of freshman sire Midshipman led the way during Friday’s rescheduled and well-attended breeze show. Consigned as Hip 139, the bay worked a bullet eighth in :9 4/5. Consigned by Halcyon Hammock Farm, Agent I, he was picked up by Hal Hatch for $120,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling. Hip 51, a colt by Street Boss, worked the fastest quarter mile, stopping the timer in :21. The $105,000 KEESEP graduate hails from the Nick de Meric consignment. “We’ve really had a tough couple of days with the weather,” OBS President Tom Ventura admitted. “Today was a little tough in that the cold wasn’t as much as the wind, and the wind, of course, was going in the wrong direction. I thought the track played fair across the board from beginning to end, but I think because of the wind, it may’ve been a tick slower than normal. But the buyers are smart enough to take all of that into account.” Ventura continued, “You hope for an ideal day, but short of doming the racetrack, you have to deal with what you have.” The under-tack show resumes today at 8:00 a.m. with Hips 207–411 scheduled to breeze. 

What They’re Saying… 
  “The cold we can deal with. The headwind, we’d all prefer we didn’t have. Obviously, there’s nothing we can do about it and it’s the same for everybody. It did seem, from where I was standing, to be fairly even most of the day–the track and wind. Some horses do struggle through that a little bit. The headwind doesn’t flatter these young horses. I think it was a fairly fair day, though. I think a lot of us were expecting or hoping that some of our horses would work a little quicker. But I think when you go through that breeze, it’s just a question of making the corresponding adjustments, and it’s all going to level out.” -consignor Nick de Meric.