Hip 468, a filly by Mendelssohn who breezed an eighth in :10.1, sold for $360,000 Wednesday to highlight a big day for New York-breds at the OBS March sale. Photo courtesy of Top Line Sales.
By Tom Law
Led by a filly by Mendelssohn from the family of Hall of Famer and leading sire Curlin and a Practical Joke colt from the family of Grade 1 winners Siphonic and Laragh, seven New York-breds sold for six figures to spark a strong final session of the OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training Wednesday in Ocala.
WinStar Farm’s Maverick Racing and Siena Farms LLC purchased the $360,000 Mendelssohn filly, selling as Hip 468 out of the Top Line Sales consignment and ultimately the most expensive New York-bred filly at the sale.
Bred by Magnolia Mares, LLC and Pony Express Sales, Inc., and foaled at Sequel Stallions New York in Hudson, the filly is the second foal out of the Smart Strike mare Good Omen.
Good Omen is out of the Saint Liam mare Deputy Saint – a half-sister to Curlin – and she is also the dam of the unraced 3-year-old New York-bred Distorted Humor colt Sight Unseen. He sold for $70,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern fall yearling sale.
Hip 530, a colt by Practical Joke from the family of Grade 1 winners Sophonic and Laragh, sold for $315,000 Wednesday at OBS March. Photo courtesy of Eddie Woods, agent.
Lane’s End Bloodstock, agent for West Point Thoroughbreds and Talia Racing, purchased the session’s most expensive New York-bred colt when it went to $315,000 for Hip 530, a son of Practical Joke out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Juliette Ava.
Bred by Vallera Bloodstock and foaled at Stone Bridge Farm in Gansevoort, the colt sold to Quarter Pole Enterprises for $150,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. Consigned at the OBS March sale by Eddie Woods, agent, the colt breezed a quarter-mile in :21 during presale workouts.
Juliette Ava is the dam of seven other foals including multiple winner and $242,520-earner Commandeering and two other winners.
The strong demand for New York-bred juveniles Wednesday followed Tuesday’s opening session, which saw the sale of a $1 million colt by Into Mischief out of Grade 1 winner Artemis Agrotera.
OBS reported sales on 28 of the 32 New York-breds offered at the two-day sale for a total of $3,893,000, an average of $139,036. Led by the seven-figure colt sold Tuesday, 10 New York-breds elicited bids of $105,000 or more.
Wednesday’s sales also included Hip 360, a colt by Bolt d’Oro purchased by Dennis O’Neill for $285,000 from Pike Racing.
Bred by Thomas/Burleson and a $145,000 purchase by Al Pike at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale, the colt is out of the unraced Street Cry mare Cloud Jumper. Out of the Storm Cat mare Storm Beauty and a half-sioster to stakes winners Buffum and Stormy West, Cloud Jumper is the dam of two winners.
Hip 567, a colt by Malibu Moon and full brother to Grade 3 winner Leavem In Malibu and Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes runner-up Danzig Moon, along with six other winners, sold for $250,000 on a bid from Centennial Farms LLC.
Bred by Dr. Jerry Bilinski and a $100,000 purchase by Noreaga Stable at last year’s Keeneland September yearling sale, the colt out of the Danzig mare Leaveminthedust was consigned by Eddie Woods, agent.
The day’s other six-figure juveniles were Hip 528, a colt by Munnings out of the First Dude mare Judy’s Chance bred by Carrington Holdings, LLC, which sold for $200,000 to Down Neck Stables out of the Niall Brennan Stables consignment; Hip 616, a filly by Bolt d’Oro out of the stakes-placed Tiznow mare Miss Centerfold bred by Thomas/Burleson, which sold for $130,000 out of the Sequel Bloodstock consignment; and Hip 551, a colt by Goldencents out of the winning Quiet American mare Kiss the Flag bred by Scott Pierce and purchased by Franklin Ave. Equine out of the White Lilac consignment.
