Ocala officials exhausted a full range of superlatives describing this week’s OBS 2YO Sale in Florida.
The four-day auction set a record in gross receipts with $48.55 million spent on 802 lots. The average of $60,535 was also a record after going up 39% from last year. The median price also established a new standard of $35,000 and the clearance rate was a healthy 85%.
“A sale like this is extremely gratifying,” Ocala president Tom Ventura said. “Buyers know they can get top runners here. Graduates of this sale continue to perform at the top level, and consignors have become more confident in the sale. The quality of horses in this catalogue was a key factor to why we had a record sale.”
For the fourth and final session on Thursday, 178 horses sold for $9.89 million and an average that increased 14% to $55,604.
A flashy Street Sense colt consigned by Rice Horse Stables topped Day 4 at $425,000. He was purchased by David Clark and is from Spoken Softly (Notebook), a full sister to G1 winner Spoken Fur. He was a $30,000 buy at the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale.
“He is built with all the right angles and structures,” said vendor Brandon Rice. “Our job was just not to drop the ball and have him primed and ready to sell. He was forward as anything. We know his biggest days are yet to come.”
Second on the leader-board was a $410,000 colt by Harlan’s Holiday. He will race for The Three Amigos – Karl Watson, Mike Pegram & Paul Weitman – and will be sent to trainer Bob Baffert.
“They are great guys and are good for the game,” agent Donato Lanni said. “They were looking for a horse to run this year at two. He looks the part. This colt had a nice work and galloped out great. He’s sound. He came back from the preview in good shape and carried good weight throughout the sale process.”
The Harlan’s Holiday colt is from Unbridled’s Song mare Tinca’s Song. He was bred in Florida and was worth $110,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale.
The Three Amigos bought 2012 Ocala 2YO Sale topper Executiveprivilege for $860,000. The daughter of First Samurai has won twice at G1 level and was runner-up to Beholder in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last November.