by Sarah Mace
While a $475,000 colt by former New York Sire Read the Footnotes (Hip 298) stole the New York headline for Session 2 of the 2012 OBS March Sale of Selected 2-Year-Olds in Training, the remainder of the New York-bred population performed extremely well, posting a 50 percent increase in the median price from last year.
A simple comparison of the New York-bred results for OBS March in 2011 and 2012 masks just how well New York-breds performed this year. The 2011 sale included an “off-the-charts” result, namely the sale-topper Brigand (Flatter/Silence Please), who was purchased by trainer Bob Baffert on behalf of Kaleem Shah for $925,000, which inflated the numbers for both gross and average.
Despite the eccentricity of last year’s numbers, the New York-bred average at OBS March 2012 still increased 3.9% over last year to $140,923. The median – which in this context becomes the most significant number – was up a very impressive 50% over 2011 to $80,000. The smaller number of New York-breds catalogued was in keeping with the reduced scale of the sale overall, and the clearance rate (which includes one private sale) was outstanding, with only one of the lots failing to sell, which reflects the well-publicized demand for Empire-breds in the marketplace.
| OBS March 2012 2YO Sale Overall | NY-Breds at OBS March 2012 | NY-breds at OBS 2011* | |
| Number catalogued | 362 9 (-25.7%) | 20 | 35 |
| Number offered | 240 | 14 | 22 |
| Number sold | 181 | 13** | 17** |
| % Not Sold | 24.58% (25.9% in 2011) | 7.1% | 22.7% |
| Total Sales | $24,819,500 | $1,832,000 | $2,306,000 |
| Average | $138,656 (+33.0%) | $140,923 (+3.9) | $135,647 |
| Median | $105,000 (+50.0%) | $120,000 (+50%) | $80,000 |
*Includes $925,000 sale-topper Brigand
**Includes private sales
Consignor Greg Dodd with hip 298 (Photo: Lucas Marquardt, courtesy TDN)
The New York-bred OBS headliner – the $475,000 Read the Footnotes colt (Hip 298) – was purchased by Toyomitsu Hirai’s Eishin Farm and will go to Japan. He was the fourth highest-priced colt in Session 2 and sixth top-seller overall.
Bred by Shirl Penney and foaled at Waldorf Farm in North Chatham, the chestnut colt is out of Dixie Talent, an unraced daughter of Dixie Union, who has produced one winner from two foals to start. She is a half-sister to graded winner No Giveaway and to multiple stakes-winner and multiple stakes-producer Youcan’ttakeme. Greg and Karen Dodd’s Southern Chase Farm consigned the April colt after buying him as a short yearling at the OBS Winter Mixed sale in January 2011 for $27,000. He put up the co-fastest quarter-mile of the two under-tack shows (20.8).
Before the colt went through the ring, consignor Greg Dodd said, “He’s a nice horse. He’s really good physically and he’s fast. We thought he would work very well. If everything went 110%, he might work 20 and four [fifths], and he did. Everything went perfect. He’s the kind of horse that anybody would like. He’s a real smart horse.”
Post-sale Karen Dodd said, “All the right people were on the horse, and he was just a real nice horse, He was a nice, natural horse when we bought him and he’s only gotten better. He got bigger and prettier. He’s a real good doer. He’s got a great mind.”
The colt’s sire Read the Footnotes stood in New York for Sequel Stallions from 2006 to 2011 before relocating to Oklahoma for the 2012 breeding season.
The top New York-bred filly in the sale (Hip 297) changed hands for $220,000 and was the co-second highest-priced Empire-bred (with the Ready’s Image colt who sold in Session 1). A daughter of Freshman Sire Majestic Warrior named Musical Soulmate, the filly was bred by Eaton & Thorne, Inc. – who also bred of the top two New York-bred sellers in Session 1 (read more).
Consigned by Becky Thomas’ Sequel Bloodstock (agent), the Majestic Warrior filly sold to Klaravich Stables. Her placed dam Dixie Lyrics (Dixie Union) is a half-sister to multiple stakes-winner Leo’s Last Hurrahy. Thomas said after the filly’s one-furlong breeze (:10 2/5), She’s a great mover. She’s been very popular and has the New York program going for her.” Thomas purchased the filly at the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York sale for $75,000.
