Ocala Breeders' Sales Company

A colt by Lemon Drop Kid and a filly by Majesticperfection turned in the fastest furlong works and fillies by The Big Beast and Liam's Map shared the fastest quarter-mile time during Wednesday's fourth under-tack preview for next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Randy Miles sent a son of Lemon Drop Kid (hip 701) out to work a furlong in :9 4/5 Wednesday in Ocala. The gray colt is a half-brother to stakes placed La Dame Blanche (Point of Entry). His unraced dam Adjudication...

A filly by Into Mischief (hip 429) turned in the fastest furlong work of the week so far (:9 3/5) and a pair of juveniles shared the day's fastest quarter-mile time during Tuesday's third under-tack preview session ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. A filly by Street Sense (hip 493), consigned by Pick View, and a colt by Runhappy (hip 1266), consigned by S B M Training and Sales, both covered the quarter-mile distance in :20 3/5. Five juveniles have turned in...

A filly by Not This Time, mirroring the quick start of her freshman sire's progeny on the racetrack, claimed the fastest quarter-mile breeze time of the week so far when covering the distance in :20 1/5 during Monday's second under-tack preview ahead of next week's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Consigned by Top Line Sales, hip 1254 is out of graded stakes winner Sheza Smoke Show (Wilko). "When we led her up there, we knew she would go fast, but we had no idea she...

The juvenile sales season, on pause since March due to the global pandemic, began its return to action with the first of seven under-tack sessions for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's delayed Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training in Central Florida Sunday. A New York-bred filly by Into Mischief (hip 1240) recorded the day's fastest furlong breeze when covering the distance in :9 4/5. Consigned by Hartley/DeRenzo Thoroughbreds and part of the sale's supplemental catalogue, the filly is out of Miss Vigilance (War Pass), a half-sister to Grade I winner...

The juvenile sales calendar, interrupted by the coronavirus epidemic, is scheduled to resume in three weeks with the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-year-Olds in Training and the OBS board met Monday to discuss the implementation of safety protocols ahead of the four-day auction. OBS held the only 2-year-olds in training sale of the year so far in March, just as the pandemic was starting to cause mass cancellations. Precautions for the Spring Sale will continue on from protocols put in place prior to the March sale, according...

Bob Verratti, who has done a little of everything in racing for the past four decades, decided to purchase a small group of pinhooking prospects at the 2018 yearling sales and, with the help of bloodstock agent Dennis O'Neill, the Pennsylvania businessman came away with a pair of home runs, albeit to opposite sides of the park. The first of the trio to go through the sales ring was a colt from the first crop of Constitution who Verratti bought back for $200,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. The...

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has added a supplemental catalogue to its upcoming Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and the 78 additional horses are now listed on its website, www.obssales.com. Among the 15 siblings to graded stakes winners in the supplemental catalogue are a half-sister by Frosted (hip 1271) to GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Spun to Run (Hard Spun); a half-brother by Runhappy (hip 1266) to GII Amsterdam S. winner Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) and a half-sister by Outwork (hip 1261) to GIII Honeybee S. winner Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil). The...

While the pause button was hit on the juvenile sales season following the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March Sale, the youngsters destined for auction rings this spring have an expanding body of works on their resumes as consignors make plans and contingency plans ahead of the delayed OBS Spring sale. The Spring sale, originally slated for Apr. 21 through 24 and now expected to run from June 9 through 12, features a catalogue of 1,231 juveniles, a handful of whom had published works at Central Florida training centers Tuesday. Based...

A lifelong racing fan, Angelo Freda decided to make his dream of racehorse ownership into a reality and, along with his son James, started Ilium Stables with the purchase of two yearlings at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Already with a stakes winner on its resume, the stable added a daughter of Into Mischief purchased for $200,000 at last week's OBS March sale. "This is something that I always had a dream about doing," Angelo Freda said. "But I didn't want to do it alone. My son does a...

Bloodstock agent Mike Ryan went to $600,000 to secure a colt from the first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Upstart (Flatter) during Wednesday's second session of the OBS March sale. The bay colt is out of Blue Beryl (Bernstein), a half-sister to multiple graded placed Brigand (Flatter). He was consigned by Woodford Thoroughbreds, which purchased him for $220,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale. The colt is the sixth six-figure juvenile for Upstart at the two-day March sale.

by Brian DiDonato & Steve Sherack Under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp stock market reaction, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale kicked off Tuesday with mixed results for sellers--as expected--but probably with better trade than some may have feared. At the end of selling Tuesday, 134 head had changed hands for a combined $12,550,500 at an average of $93,660 and median of $50,000. Those stats are expected to change as buyers continue to shop the RNA list and subsequent post-sale transactions are...

Hip 237, the only quarter-mile breezer to stop the clock in :20 2/5 during last week's under-tack previews, brought a current sale-leading bid of $650,000 during Tuesday's opening session of the OBS March 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. The bay filly was purchased by Japan's Katsumi Yoshida, who also scooped up a $420,000 Medaglia d'Oro colt (hip 65) earlier in the session. Hip 237, a $70,000 KEENOV weanling and $165,000 KEESEP yearling, was consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, Inc.