By Sarah Mace
A New York-bred filly from the second crop of Uncle Mo was the top New York-bred juvenile to change hands during the first session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s 2016 March sale of 2-year-olds in training on Tuesday. Three other New York-breds, all fillies, fetched six-figures during the session.
Dennis O’Neill went to $350,000 to secure the bay topper (Hip 40) from the Mayberry Farm consignment after she posted a :10 1/5 breeze in the under tack show. Bred by Joe DiRico and foaled at Keane Stud in Amenia, the sale filly is out of Jessica’s Halo and a half-sister to seven winners, led by Jessica is Back (Put It Back), winner of the Grade 1 Princess Rooney H. in 2010 and earner of over $836,000. Hip 40 sold first last summer at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred preferred yearling sale to Chace Stable for $130,000.
Hip 178, who turned heads with a co-bullet :9 4/5 breeze on the first day of the under tack show, was purchased from the Woodford Thoroughbreds consignment by Westrock Stables LLC for $185,000 via private sale. From the first crop of Mclean’s Music out of Placerita (Gilded Time), she is a half-sister to stakes winner Saturday Nite Ride and issues from the family of Grade 1 winners The Big Beast and Slew the Dragon. Bred by Canyon Lake Thoroughbreds and also foaled at Keane Stud, she went for $50,000 as a short yearling at last year’s Keeneland January mixed sale before being purchased by Woodford Sales for $117,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale.
A pair of chestnuts consigned by Sequel Bloodstock also met the six-figure threshold. Hip 55 from the first crop of New York sire Mission Impazible brought $150,000. Bred in partnership by Sequel Thoroughbreds & Twin Creeks Farm and foaled at Sequel Stallions in Hudson, she breezed a :10 flat eighth under tack. Out of Kettle’s Sister, a Maryland-bred daughter of More Than Ready, she is a half-sister to Vinceremos (Pioneerof the Nile), winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes, and one other winner. The filly’s second dam is stakes-placed Safe at the Plate, who is a half-sister to champion sprinter and $2.1-million-dollar earner Safely Kept. Hip 55’s half-sister by Majestic Warrior, now a placed runner, sold for $300,000 on the first day of last year’s OBS March sale.
Finally, an Awesome Again filly bred by McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, LLC (Hip 133), where she was foaled, was hammered down to Kenwood Racing LLC for $100,000 after posting a :10.2 breeze. Out of stakes-placed runner Money My Honey (Red Bullet), the filly’s second dam is Grade 1 winner Collect the Cash, producer of Grade 1 winner Stately Victor. She too is a graduate of the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale, purchased by $50,000 by Global Thoroughbreds.
Of the 14 New York-bred 2-year-olds on offer Tuesday, eight sold (including the private sale) for an average of $125,875 and $97,500 median.
Overall in the opening session of the OBS sale the average price was $160,741, down 11.5% from last year. The overall median dipped 4.2% to $115,000.
