Donato Lanni

OCALA, FL - The juvenile sales season, which set records at all its major 2026 stops, continued to churn out new highwater marks as it reached its conclusion with the end of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale Thursday. The three-day auction had its highest-priced offering ever when a filly by Justify sold for $1.4 million Wednesday and it concluded Thursday with its highest-ever gross and an average that just edged past last year's previous record figure, while the median tied last year's record mark. Through...

OCALA, FL - With a colt by Early Voting topping the day's results, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its first of three sessions Tuesday with an average and median ahead of last year's record-setting figures. During Tuesday's session, 163 horses sold through the ring for a gross of $9,066,000. The average was $55,620--up 26.5% from last year's opening session--and the median of $30,000 was up 15.4% from the corresponding 2025 figure. The cumulative average from last year's two-day June sale was $51,107 and the...

TIMONIUM, MD - Midway through Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Timonium, one bloodstock agent quipped, "Turns out untimed works, work." The final figures of the auction's opening session--conducted a week after the company's first untimed under-tack preview show--seemed to bear the sentiment out, with the session's average and median concluding well ahead of last year's sale record-setting figures. "It was a tremendous start to the Fasig Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training sale," Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning said Monday evening. "There were pretty...

The Flightline colt who sold for a record-setting $10.5 million at the OBS Spring sale Friday arrived at the Southern California barn of trainer Bob Baffert Saturday night shortly before 9 p.m. "He's a specimen," Baffert said Sunday morning. "A man among boys really. And with his pedigree, you know why he cost so much." Bloodstock agent Donato Lanni signed the sales ticket for the colt on behalf of Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing. The purchase price shattered the all-time OBS record of $3 million, which Zedan paid for Grade I...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, Fl - Following its third of four sessions Thursday, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training needed just north of $14 million to secure its highest-ever gross. That amount was almost entirely secured Friday through the sale of one horse when Donato Lanni, bidding on behalf of Saudi businessman Amr Zedan, went to all-time high $10.5 million to acquire a colt by champion Flightline from the Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbred consignment. By the close of business Friday, the Spring sale had...

There's breaking records, and then there's what happened midway through Friday's final session at OBS April. After a week of build up, the bidding came to a head as a son of Flightline (hip 1056) absolutely demolished the OBS record, selling to Amr Zedan for an eye-watering $10,500,000. "There was a lot of hype on this horse and he followed through with the hype," said bloodstock agent Donato Lanni. "When he worked, everybody got on the rail and watched, and he delivered. Bob [Baffert] loved him. [Flightline] is one of...

by Jessica Martini & Stefanie Grimm OCALA, FL - With vibrant trade throughout the day, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its third session Thursday with figures still well ahead of its 2025 renewal and on track for a record-setting gross, average and median ahead of the auction's final session Friday. A filly by Bolt d'Oro became the auction's fourth million-dollar juvenile when purchased by Bill Childs's CSLR for $1.3 million. The session-topper was consigned by Raul Reyes's Kings Equine. Through three of four sessions,...

Later in Thursday's session, Hip 840, a daughter of Bolt d'Oro, brought $1.3 million from Bill Childs. Consigned by Kings Equine, the filly is out of GSW Gas Station Sushi (Into Mischief). Bred by Spendthrift Farm, the Feb. 22 foal breezed in :9 4/5 during last week's under tack show. Spendthrift purchased Gas Station Sushi for $675,000 at Fasig-Tipton November in 2018. The mare, a half-sister to GSP Miss Costa Rica (Hit It a Bomb), is the dam of Starlit Daydream, who in turn produced SW Sandy Bottom (Omaha Beach).

With a victory in Saturday's $12-million G1 Dubai World Cup--a fait accompli in the eyes of many--reigning Japanese Horse of the Year and GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) would leap-frog Hong Kong superstar Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) as the world's richest racehorse with over $36 million in career earnings, accomplished in the space of just 15 races. Heady stuff. Unfathomable stuff, really. And to think that the 5-year-old is out of a mare that fetched just $8,000 as a yearling, well, you just...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - With one more million-dollar juvenile bringing its three-day total to a record-tying seven, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training concluded Thursday with its highest-ever gross and increases in both average and median from a year ago. "Gratified, pleased and happy for the consignors," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said of the auction's record-setting results. The consignors bring the horses and the quality of the horses that they bring is what brings the prices. So I...

A colt by last year's leading freshman sire Yaupon (hip 576) was the first to hit seven figures during Thursday's third and final session at the OBS March Sale, bringing an even $1,000,000 from the Three Amigos. "I bought him for the Three Amigos," said bloodstock agent Donato Lanni. "So he's going to go to California. He was beautiful and fast and sound, came out of the work really good. These horses that bring this kind of money, they just have to do everything right. They've got to vet at...

by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis OCALA, FL - Brisk trade continued from start to finish of the second session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training Wednesday in Central Florida and the day concluded with figures well ahead of the auction's 2025 renewal. The session was topped by a filly by Nyquist who sold for $2 million to Boyd Racing from the Wavertree Stables consignment. Through two sessions of the three-day sale, 295 horses have sold for $51,336,500. After two sessions in 2025, 269...